Chances for CS at top engineering programs?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Just looking for some peoples input on my chances at some of my schools below. Thank you!

Demographics: Male, Native American (not registered with a tribe) & African American

Income: Sub 55k, single parent (also I’m a military dependent).

Major: Computer Science, possibly minoring in math or physics

GPA: 3.94 UW, 4.475 W

Rank: Top 7% - 44 out of 600+

SAT: 1470

Subject Tests: Waiting for math 2 results. Expecting ~ 770

Course load: All honors every year with APs every year - only 1 B ever in sophomore year Honors Chem; everything else has been an A.

AP classes: 6 total (*'ed the ones I’m currently taking)

AP Computer Science A – 4
AP Physics 1 – 4
*AP Computer Science Principles
*AP Physics C E&M
*AP Physics C Mech.

  • AP Calculus BC
  • AP World History

ECs related to major:

Organized a Hack-a-thon for my local community. I was the head of logistics for the project (had 2 other people with me) which included working with companies to get sponsored (food, prizes, etc.), getting approval from MLH (Google them if you’re unfamiliar), and any paperwork that popped up.

Won a Hack-a-thon for Website Design and integration of Google’s cloud services.

Competed in three other college level coding competitions, falling 1 point behind 3rd each time.

ECs extra:

Have had a job for about the past year. (22-27 hours a week)

Volunteered at the same retirement home for 2 hours each Friday going on 5 years (~520 hours).

National Honors Society

Player in my school’s eSports club.

Treasurer of the investing club at my school.

Religious School w/ a $500 scholarship.

Essays: My commonapp essays is great according to the people who’ve read it. Still working on supplementals.

LoR: AP Computer Science A / CSP teacher (10/10) has known me for years, pushed me to do computer science, and I’m one of his favorite students.
AP Physics 1 Teacher (9/10) She knows my work ethic very well as I spent a lot of my free periods at her class doing work, practicing, etc.
Letter from a UPenn alumni (10/10) Letter from a UPenn alumni who has pushed me to apply there and really wants to see me admitted there, obviously will only be sent to them.

RD Schools:
Yale
Cornell (Engineering CS)
UPenn CS
Princeton (Arts Computer Science)
Johns Hopkins
Carnegie Mellon University
RIT
Pitt
Ursinus

Already accepted into Penn State and Drexel (pretty decent aid for the school) as safeties.

Thanks for the help!

2

You are probably into RIT, Pitt and Ursinus. The rest are a roll of the dice.

3

Agree with that. The top 6 listed are quite unlikely, but who knows.

4

I think @ljhhjl has more of a shot at the reaches than with his course rigor and URM/ low SES status. If OP is instate for PA, UPenn may be slightly better odds as they do look closely at low SES , high performing students from the area.

He has acceptances at his safeties.
The reach schools know many URM students apply RD. The student has shown interest through his ECs while working and maintaining a high GPA.

That said, the reach schools he has listed have very intense STEM programs. I am not sure how much support there is for URMs in the STEM tracks at those universities. Something to look into if accepted. CS will be an intense program at the safeties as well, just not as crazy intense as the reach schools.

5

Hey @momprof9904 , thanks for the response! I am instate for for PA. Has UPenn been known to look at URMs with low SES (assuming this is socioeconomic status)? It’s been my #1 choice for years now, and I’m about 40 mins away from it. So far two students from my school have been accepted into Penn ED this year (both legacy), and they normally accept 3-5 from our school, so I’m still hopeful. How do those LoRs I listed factor into admission chances? Finally, the three coding competitions mentioned above were actually hosted by UPenn, does this help at all?

6

Hey @RichInPitt and @retiredfarmer , thanks for commenting! I figured for those schools I was most likely able to get in, but I won’t know about the other 6 if I never tried (I’d hate to regret not at least attempting to get in). One school that I also somehow forgot from the list is Lehigh University, thoughts?

7

@ljhhjl "I am instate for for PA. Has UPenn been known to look at URMs with low SES (assuming this is socioeconomic status)? "

I seem to recall reading this somewhere on their website a while back - so that’s all I know. Since you did not apply ED to them, I suggest you reach out to their admissions rep for your area expressing your interest, so that your application is not lost among the sea of thousands of RD apps. You had an earlier thread with lots of good responses. (I forgot that I also commented on that one. )Perhaps you should go and reread those. Perhaps add Lehigh as well.

None of us can predict these outcomes -we can only give general advice. You seem to be more interested in the name brand rather than what you would actually be doing as a CS major. Investigate the website of the universities you’re interested in and do some more research. A CS curriculum is no joke even at the so-called “safeties” like Penn State or Pitt . CS majors at those universities likely have stats comparable to yours, have also done hacakathons etc.

8

I think you’ve got a great shot at Lehigh. I’d be adding Lafayette too, if I were you. Both schools meet need and are great for engineering. Unlike your super-reach schools, both struggle to attract a diverse class, and IMHO would have to think very hard before turning down a well-qualified URM candidate like you. One of these schools could end up being a real improvement, financial-aid-wise, on PSU/Pitt/Drexel.