Chances for CS

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello! I am a rising senior and HS has been a roller coaster for me and mostly for all of us. I went from wanting to go to MIT in 9th grade, to wanting to be a doctor in sophomore to finally settling upon what I really wanted to do since a long time ago which is Computer Science.

I am a female and go to a very competitive school in central PA, and it would be great if some of you highly intelligent and talented people could tell me about my chances at some top CS schools and also even give me suggestions for schools that I could apply to and get acceptance (+ lots of money :P)

My first choice is Georgia Tech, I would go there for sure if I got accepted and I’m applying EA there. Other schools that I am applying to are Carnegie Mellon, UT Austin, Cornell, MIT, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, University of Maryland-CP, Penn State, Virginia Tech

So here is my high school career so far :

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 730/600/750/9 so 2080, but I am taking this again for a min of 700 in CR and 750 in M

ACT (breakdown): 34M/25E/30R/31S composite was 30, bc of time prob, but im practicing and expecting a 33-34 in Sep

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 92.5/100 so 3.75? (ik its kinda low, but i take a shitload of AP every year haha)

Weighted GPA: 100.5/100 so 4.05?

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 42/550+ Top 10%

AP (place score in parentheses): AP Gov (5), AP Calc AB (5), AP Human Geo (5), AP Microecon (4), AP World (4), AP Bio (3), AP Comp Sci (3, :’( will take it again next yr, messed up bc of time prob), AP Physics C Mech (2, i hate physics)

Senior Year Course Load: APUSH, AP Calc BC, AP Stats, AP Environmental, Honors German 6, College Prep English

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):

I did a TON of other clubs, but I am only putting the ones that I really care about

Founder of a club called Girls Compute to promote girls in CompSci
Key Club (9-12, big club with over 300 members, Officer in 11th, Vice Pres in 12th)
FBLA (9-12, Vice Pres in 10th & 11th grade, Pres in 12th)
Martial Arts (6-12th, 2nd Degree BlackBelt, Assistant Instructor, Judge at various competitions, Senior member of the Demo Team)
Co-Leader (4 other leaders) of a CompSci Ed club that promotes CompSci at our district’s Middle School

Job/Work Experience:

Freelancing for a small E-Learning company (Web Developer/Script Writer) (started this summer, will continue till next summer)
Intern at a small IT company (only for this summer)

Volunteer/Community Service:

200+ hours of service with Key Club
100+ hours of service teaching English to unfortunate children in India
150+ hours of service at American Red Cross
plan to do another 50 hours or so at Central PA Food Bank just to experience it

Summer Experience: Independent study of Comp Sci (mobile dev, web dev, other languages like python); will try to get some certifications this summer

Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar, Honor Roll, Won 3 regional awards for FBLA, National Business Honors Society, National Honors Society, won 20+ state/national awards for Martial Arts, 2nd degree Black Belt

I honestly think I will get some awards after the college app season ahaha, but i dont do EC or awards for college app tbh, I do it cuz I actually care about them

So please chance me and let me know how I am doing for them colleges :slight_smile:

2

If you get SATs up:
Georgia Tech-match
Carnegie Mellon-reach
UT Austin-low match
Cornell-low reach
MIT-reach
UNC Chapel Hill-low reach (?)
Duke-reach
University of Maryland-CP-safety (you’ll probably get merit here)
Penn State-low match/safety
Virginia Tech-not familiar

Good luck bb

3

@XCjunior2016 thanks a lot! and im confident that either my SATs will go up to 2200 or my ACTs will go up to 34

4

bump

5

guys please help :slight_smile:

6

I certainly agree with OP. But you would almost definitely get into Virginia Tech and Penn State.

7

@linds248 thanks! do i have any chances of getting some aid anywhere? and are there any other good tech schools that would give me nice aid? i most certainly know that my standardized scores will go up if thats one of the problems right now

8

@nimbooda14 Your unweighted GPA is slightly lower than 3.75 on the 4.0 scale (I have a 3.75 on the dot, and that translates to like a 93.75). If you get your SAT up, I think you have a solid shot at Georgia Tech and maybe UT Austin (be wary about this one, they have steep competition for OOS). UM-CP is your safety, but Carnegie Mellon, Duke, and Cornell will all be reaches for you (realistic, but very small chances, you choose whether or not you want to apply here). As for the case of MIT, you have not taken your subject tests yet (Math 2 and science), and those are used as an indicators for admission.

9

@michelle426 thanks so much for the input! and my school does % to 4.0 like this: 95-100 = 4.0, 94 = 3.9, 93 = 3.8, 92 = 3.7; and oops i have taken subject tests i just forgot to put them on here! i got a 790 in Math 2 and 750 in physics… also do you think that my extra-curriculars will do anything for me or no?

10

@nimbooda14 your ECs are pretty solid. I like how you focus on quality instead of quantity. You certainly focus on a few things and you excel in them. They might make up for your GPA, but there’s no guarantee in that. Regardless, a couple of your schools will really like your ECs.

11

I looked at Carnegie Mellon earlier in my college search, and you have to apply to schools there and the CS one is pretty hard to get in to. I think you’d have a good shot at VT, but I’m not really familiar with the other ones. As far as ECs, they look pretty impressive and they should definitely boost your application

12

Georgia Tech- high match
Carnegie Mellon-reach
UT Austin-match
Cornell-reach
MIT- high reach (high reach for everyone unless a building is named after your family)
UNC Chapel Hill- reach
Duke-reach
University of Maryland- match
Penn State-safety
Virginia Tech-safety

I also recommend Purdue or Illinois because they have great comp sci programs and arent that hard to get into

13

@michelle426 thanks a lot! and it was pressuring at first to see other ppl around me doing a 100 things, but i just tried to stick to what i really liked :slight_smile:

@Murph2244 thank u so much! and ik carnegie mellon is a reach for all :confused: the only thing im depending on to get into carnegie mellon is being a girl! :stuck_out_tongue: thank u for the insight though! i really appreciate it!

@mabdel3487 thanks a lot for the insight! im glad that my list isnt toooo reach heavy and i will definitely check out purdue and illinois as well…ik about them but just somehow never thought of going to either one…but it doesnt hurt to check it out…thanks a lot :slight_smile:

14

Your stats seem good. You have gr8 ECs! Only thing I would try to bring up is your GPA.

15

Thanks a lot everybody! Idk if i can get the gpa up but ill try my best

16

If you get your SAT to like a 2150 you pretty much can go anywhere! Good luck

17

@FLSmartSlacker thank you so much! ahaha, but i wish it was that easy :slight_smile:

18

It all looks really good; I don’t know a lot of those schools, but high change for georgia tech; and a maybe for UT; I’d get my math SAT up for UT

19

I think I agree pretty much with @XCjunior2016, although I think you are a match for Virginia Tech too. I know a friend who got in with about the same stats as you, and your sat score will get up and you’ll do great.

I think that MIT might be difficult as well as CMU because from what I’ve seen, most of the kids who get in have an 800 in math even if their other scores are only a little above a 700. Also the 3 in AP Compsci will hurt so I agree, you should definitely take that again especially if it is going to be your major.

Have you tried looking at Rochestor IT, and Rensallaer Polytechnic Institute? They are two schools that will also be a good match with your current scores.

Hope this helps!