Chances for UCs, CMU, UChicago, MIT/CalTech/Harvey Mudd? (Incoming Senior)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone! I’m going to be a senior next year, so it’s time for college apps! I need to know which schools I should apply to, and my relative chances. Here are the ones I’m considering: (Of course, I won’t apply to all of these - I just need ideas about which ones to consider. Please suggest other schools I might be interested in!)

Safeties:

  • A local CSU
  • UC Riverside
  • UC Merced

Safety-Targets:

  • UCSB
  • UCSC (maybe)

Targets:

  • UCSD

Reaches:

  • Harvey Mudd
  • Caltech
  • MIT (probably won’t even try haha)
  • UC Berkeley
  • UCLA

Unknown:

  • UChicago? (not really sure about how good the CS/Eng program is there, and don’t know about selectivity with my stats)
  • CMU (not sure about selectivity, but I would be going for CS or Eng)

Intended Major: Probably Engineering or some sort, or computer science. I want to minor in math.

Now for my stats!

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550 (780 CR/W, 800 M), E 7/7/7
ACT (breakdown): I’m bad at the ACT so didn’t take
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math Level 2, 680 World History (probably won’t submit), scores to come for Chem and US History (expecting a 750ish and over 700, respectively)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (somehow)
Weighted GPA: 4.35 based on school calculation, but 4.25 UC GPA
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3 (but top students is graduating early, so then I’ll be 2nd)
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc BC (5, AB subscore 5), World (4), APES (3), APUSH (expecting 4), AP CSP (expecting 5), AP Stats (expecting 4 or 5), AP Lang (not sure, but I most likely passed)
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): no major awards, I just won a regional competition and a few small AcaDeca awards

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):

  • Math Club (Treasurer 10, President 11/12)
  • CSF
  • NHS
  • Academic Decathlon (captain 11, few awards)
  • 1st place in pretty big competition related to Biotech (gave speech)
  • CyberPatriots (my team was decent, made it to state level in high category)
  • A school leadership position, very minor (9, 10, 11, 12)
    Job/Work Experience: None
    Volunteer/Community Service:
  • 100+ hours at the library over a few summers
  • Minor stuff here and there for CSF, NHS, etc. (should I include this?) - [probably total of 50-75 hours?
    Summer Activities:
  • Volunteering at library
  • COSMOS (math cluster, research project, before 11th)
  • Internship at Intel (this summer, before 12th)

Other
State: CA
School Type: Public, 1500+ people
Ethnicity: Asian Indian
Gender: F
Income Bracket: 60K-100K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Female in engineering?

2

Chicago does have engineering as far as i know.

CMU CS is a reach, engineering is high match depending on major.

I think you’re spot on with where you placed these schools.

3

Wow, thank you!

4

UChicago and CMU (especially CS) will be reaches for you since they are pretty much reaches for everyone who applies, but your academic qualifications and ECs are really impressive so I definitely think you have a great shot at them as well as some of your other reach schools. Good luck! I would appreciate it if you could chance me back here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1995754-chance-me-low-gpa-rank-cornell-rice-wash-u-ucla-etc-p1.html

5

CMU SCS admits 5 out of every 100 eligible kids. And CMU is big on demonstrated interest so you must visit if you can.
I have heard its grueling and brutal.

Its considered to be among the top 5 undergrad CS programs in the country, some say its second only to MIT.

My child was admitted
Ranked within Top 10 of his 430 odd grad class
700 each on Math & Physics II
We visited last summer
ACT 34

Really insightful, personal meaningful essays ABOUT CMU

6

@lifeisgood1234 It looks like you put them pretty much in the right categories. Being female helps a bit for the private schools on the list, but not for the UC system.

I’d suggest adding Calpoly SLO, because it’s a great school for hand-on engineering and is probably a safety for you or a safety-target.

You don’t need to pay the $70 to apply to UC Merced, because that is automatic if you don’t get another UC. I would bet that you could count UCSC as a safety. Does your high school have Naviance? If so, see if your dot is in the green area.

Learn what you can about the culture at the private colleges on your list. Caltech and MIT in particular ask for extensive essays asking about how you would fit there. Can you or have you toured any of them? My son is going to Caltech next year, but it is quirky.

CMU wants you to do an interview, and figuring out how to do that takes some planning if you aren’t able to tour. Mudd would also like you to interview. MIT has interviews with local alumni. Caltech does not do interviews.

By the end of senior year will you have taken all three of: physics, chemistry, and biology? Both MIT and Caltech want that.

As others side, UChicago doesn’t really have engineering–I think they added Molecular Engineering last year. They do have computer science.

CyberPatriots might help for CMU, as the CyLab there is big on getting females into cybersecurity. (If you have a team that might do well at CTFs, try CSAW HSF in September.)

What was your PSAT? If you might be NMSF, then you might consider applying to USC by Dec. 1 for a reasonable chance at a 1/2 tuition scholarship.

If you want a private that is a low reach compared to your high reaches, you might consider Rice. (But it’s in Texas.)

Stanford is so random. Many kids in CA with scores like yours have it on their list.

P.S. You said “1550 (780 CR/W, 800 M)”. So is that 1580 or what?

7

Thank you so much @BoiDel and @Ynotgo!

I’ll learn more about CMU and tour if I can.

I’ll definitely consider CalPoly SLO! I’ll try to tour at CalTech, but MIT is probably too far.Yes, I will have taken AP Physics 1, Honors and AP Chemistry, and Biology. My PSAT was 1510 - I will most likely apply for the 1/2 tuition scholarship at USC. I probably won’t apply to Stanford just because I wouldn’t be interested in going (same for the Ivies - I know I wouldn’t be happy there and am interested more in UCs and techy schools).

8

Oh and sorry about the score confusion - I got a 1550, with 750 CR/W and 800 M, on my first and only try.

9

<< You don’t need to pay the $70 to apply to UC Merced, because that is automatic if you don’t get another UC. >>

In theory, this is true – if you meet the minimum UC standards, and you aren’t accepted by any other UC campus, then you will be invited to attend UC Merced under the “Count Me In” program – even if you did not apply to Merced. At least it has worked that way for the past several years, and I haven’t heard anything about the program being discontinued.

However, the “Count Me In” program has possible drawbacks. For one, it does not guarantee that you will be able to enroll at Merced in the Fall – you may have to wait until the Spring semester. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it puts you at the end of the line for popular majors or getting housing. The regular Merced applicants probably get there first.

So if you want to use Merced as a safety, your best bet is to actually submit a Merced application, rather than waiting for a “Count Me In” invitation.

10

Hmm, maybe I can apply to Riverside or Irvine as safeties instead? So Merced would be a final option?

11

I hate typically saying this, but I’d try to increase your EC’s a little more. Leadership positions look the best on applications to high level schools where everyone applying has the grades.

12

@RoadTriptoCollege2017, yes, I agree my ECs are my weak point. Is being Math Club president, serving as AcaDeca captain, and having a school leadership position not enough? Do you have any ideas for other leadership positions?

13

@lifeisgood1234 I disagree that your ECs are weak, because you will also be using those 10 activity slots on the Common Application for your summer activities. It looks like you have (in no particular order):

  1. Internship at Intel
  2. COSMOS
  3. CyberPatriots
  4. Academic Decathlon
  5. Biotech competition (if this was an activity besides just the competition)
  6. Library volunteer
  7. Math club
  8. School leadership position
  9. CSF and NHS

So, you probably just have room for one more activity.

Include all the volunteer hours.

Not all leadership positions are offices. You may be showing leadership in your library volunteering or other activities because of how you would describe what you do/did rather than because of an elected office. Be sure to describe what you have done as Math Club president, for example, rather than just listing it.

14

@Ynotgo, thank you so much! Yes, the Biotech competition was not a one-day thing, it involved creating a website and took a lot of effort. I would be describing my duties in the description box, correct? Also, this is kind of unrelated, but do you think Programming Club should be included with CyberPatriots, or does CP merit its own activity? Thanks!

15

@lifeisgood1234 Yes, you will be describing what you accomplished in the Common App description boxes and can include your title in the title box. It is short, so there is an art to getting it all in and making it descriptive. Sort of like tweeting.

If the Programming Club is pretty much the group that did CyberPatriots, then yes, combine them. There is also a place for I think 5 honors/awards and those can be awards that came as a result of the ECs.

For CMU, you will want to submit the optional resume that would include whatever programming languages you have learned.

The UC application has similar description boxes for activities. I checked and it looks like they allow up to 5 “coursework other” (where you would put COSMOS type things), 5 volunteer & community service, 5 work, 5 awards, and 5 extracurriculars. You don’t have to fill them all, of course.

MIT, on the other hand, only has space for 4 activities, 6 summer activities, and 10 honors.

16

@Ynotgo, wow, thank you SO much for the information!! I will mention Programming Club in the CyberPatriots description then. Hmm MIT seems to have a lot of focus on summer activities and awards…

17

@lifeisgood1234 Yeah, but they don’t have to all be formal activities. They can be things like trained for and ran a race, learned to cook, or whatever. I think MIT likes a bit of stuff like that, but don’t quote me, because my son wasn’t admitted.