<p>I am trying to get some info for my child. Interested in Computer Science.
GPA 3.5, Knows C, C++, JAVA, and Scheme
AP Biology 4,
AP Computer Science (not back yet)
AP Spanish 3
SAT Math 690, Writing 660, Reading 630 Essay 11
Math level 2 640
Spanish Sat2 580
Biology sat2 700
National Honor Society
Lacrosse
Junior Statesman
Black Belt
Cello and Trumpet
Tons of volunteer hours
Will retake Sat and Sat2
Summer science courses taken mostly in Computer Programming (twice) and six weeks in Mexico school.
Thanks for any help</p>
<p>Scores and grades could stand improvement. Especially math. Does he have any awards or honors that shows special talent in computer science? That could outweight the other factors.</p>
<p>Computer Science at the university level is very different from what your child is most likely used to now. He could be a gifted coder making huge sums of money writing ingenious code, and could still strugle as a CS major (this is the story of a friend of mine at Cornell). Many of the CS classes are really just disguised math classes. There's lots of complicated analysis of algorythms, induction, discreet structures, flop count optimization, folding splines, blah blah blah. The bottom line is the math scores seem low, especially the SAT Math 2 scores. If you take CS in the engineering school, you are still required to take the core Math and Physics classes, such as Multivariable Calc, Linear Algebra, even Quantum Mechanics, and you are required to get at least C's in these classes. Try to boost those math scores and see how he/she does with AP Calc. Do some research and give it some serious thought, I know too many people who waste a year in college failing engineering core classes.</p>
<p>One other thing to think about, specifically for Cornell, is whether your son/daughter (you didn't say which) would prefer to be in Engineering or Arts and Sciences. A student can major in Computer Science in either school, but the rest of the curriculum is different.</p>