Chances for CS @ UIUC, Berkeley, ETC

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Current HS senior with 33 ACT and 1450 SAT. Will be taking math lvl 2 and physics subject tests this month. I have a 3.97 gpa and should be in the top 2-3 in my class if not #1, although my school doesn’t do rankings. Currently in Multivariable calc, ap physics c, ap lit, independent cs, video and animation (art class is req for cal schools), ap bio, and ap gov and econ this year. I have taken both other AP cs classes with 5 and 4 respectively on the tests. I know many programming languages and frameworks and have won some hackathons in categorical prizes with my hacks. I also co-founded an MLH sponsored high school hackathon and am in the works of starting a district wide student hackathon. I also helped found a cs club at my school. My extracurriculars are math team in which I’ve won some medals, scholastic bowl, Tennis in which I’ve won as well at the conference level, student council, NHS. I also have a cousin that will be graduating from UIUC in computer engineering this year as well if that makes a difference. I am in state as well. As a side note, I have individual projects on github to show as well. What are my chances at schools like UIUC, Berkeley, caltech, Carnegie, purdue honors, etc for CS? Of course from my username you can tell I am Asian as well.

Forgot to add in I have logged 40 hours volunteering at a hospital and have held a retail job as well, if these matter at all.

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UIUC CS, UCB EECS, Caltech, CMU CS should be considered reach for everyone.

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@ucbalumnus so am I a good candidate or not?

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Somebody help lol

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For Berkeley you are competitive, though your EC’s seem to be a weakness in your application. For Caltech, it depends on your Subject test scores. I was told that if you score below 750 then you have a very low chance to be considered.

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@Dovahkiin012200 so by that analogy am i more competitive for uiuc cs? While caltech is my dream school, UIUC is my #1 followed my berkeley in terms of realistic goals.

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@Dovahkiin012200 also, can you elaborate on my ecs and how they are weak? I always assumed I’d be far ahead with my ecs with math team, scholastic, student council, nhs, tennis and especially because of the MLH hackathons that I founded. What do stronger ecs entail for a candidate?

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@indiankid005 Yes, you are competitive for UIUC CS. Your EC’s aren’t weak by any means, they just may be a little weaker than your academics. Like how you are a part of NHS but are you an officer? also, other applicants will have much more volunteer experience. Your academic EC’s such as the MLH hackathons are impressive. This would be for Caltech by the way, however, Berkeley applicants will have more volunteer experience but probably nothing else on you.

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do you think i’d be better off applying for CE instead?