Chances for UMass Amherst, U Pitt, Penn State Honors College, Purdue, and UCs...I'll chance back!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey, CC! I’m applying to certain universities/colleges to major in Computer Science! If you could give me an estimate of my chances, I would really appreciate it!

Schools
UMass Amherst
University of Pittsburgh
Penn State Schreyers (Honors)
Purdue
UC San Diego
UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine
UC Davis
Boston University

Grades:
WGPA: 3.20 [My school only reports weighted GPA]
My bad year of High School was Sophomore year. Although things such as the passing of my grandfather and my dad having a serious head injury occurred, I have no excuses. This year was my worst due to my own lack of effort.
Best Year: Junior Year

13 Honors, (4 Senior Year)
4 AP’s ( 3 senior year)

AP Computer Science
AP Psychology
AP US Government & Politics
AP Statistics

Tests:
SAT: 2020 (this was the june test, where the last 2 sections were not counted :frowning: )
ACT: 30 (found out at test ti-89 was not allowed so I took it without a calculator)
SAT Math II: 750
SAT Math I: 670
Biology M: 630
AP Computer Science: 5

Extracurriculars:
-Head developer and Administrator of a site that is dedicated to facilitating the learning process for children to learn programming through games. The site has over 7k registered members.
-Own my own development company consisting of teenagers throughout the world; made 2.7k profit last year
-Wrote a book on programming supported by two college professors
-Wrote a research paper on specific takes on certain programming paradigms
-worked with Rotary International and programmed them a pen-pal system to connect deaf children in Japan and the United States
-taught computer science in India in the slums to people who could not afford formal lessons(this was during the summer; no charge)
-Communicated with Royal Mail while co-managing a post office in London (during summer)
-Varsity Tennis Player
-Debate Team President
-Computer Club President
-People to People Technology Summit Ambassador
-I can play the Chinese Erhu quite well (my favorite instrument)
-I tutor current Computer Science majors who are attending NYU, UCSD, and Queens College
-Tutored individuals who wanted to get into the Technical ROTC program

Awards:
National Piano-Playing Auditions Finalist
Debate Best Speaker

Languages:
English - fluent; first language
Hindi - fluent;
Italian - read and write
Japanese - read and write (I know most of kanji; know all of Hiragana and Katakana (including modifications))

Demographics:
-Asian Male [specifically Indian]
-Income Bracket: My dad has a job based on commission so it can unpredictable throughout the years but for the 2014 fiscal year it was 120k+ (including my mom)

Application in General:
-Strong Essay 10/10
-Photo of me on resume: 4/10 (I’m a derp)

I’d love chances, suggestions, criticisms, and really just anything! Since I’m a first-generation college student, you guys are really my biggest source of help! If you know any schools that could also be good for me, please do let me know (though I really want to go to a reputable school; Just awaiting that MIT rejection letter in 1 day)

2

Oh, right! And in terms of employment, aside from my company, I do work as an online marketer and freelance programmer. Thanks again!

3

Penn State weights GPA heavily in their decisions, and Schreyer doesn’t even look at test scores…with a 3.2 WEIGHTED you might have some trouble getting into Penn State period, let alone Schreyer (8% acceptance rate).

4

@bodangles Aye. I am hoping to show my qualification and clear up some things during the interview. I saw that Schreyer does not look at GPA (they look at the courses you took), so hopefully that may help me a little

5

If I was an adcom reviewing your application, with your average stats, I would have a hard time believing your claim:

“I tutor current Computer Science majors who are attending NYU, UCSD, …”

So make sure that you do not sound exaggerating in your application.

6

They do publish the mid-range of both GPAs and SATs for Schreyer: https://www.shc.psu.edu/about/annual-report/
(pg. 4 in the most recent report). Whether they select for high GPAs or not (and I personally have a hard time believing that past academic work doesn’t predict future academic work) it certainly seems to end up that way. 4.00 weighted was the 25th percentile for fall 2014.

7

Take the UC’s off of your list. Your GPA will not be competitive regardless of your EC’s.

If your parents make $120K per year, the cost of the UC’s is $55K per year. That would be a big jolt to their income having to pay that amount of money per year.

8

Your ECs are amazing (congrats!), but like everyone else has been saying, your scores and GPA definitely lack… it’s probably too late to push up your GPA (equivalent to a 82 on a 100 point scale, right?), but you could try retaking SAT/ACT? You could also try mentioning in your essays/application the extenuating circumstances that caused your grades to drop maybe…

Chance me please!

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1840503-chances-at-rice-yale-university-of-chicago-princeton-stanford-will-chance-back.html#latest

9

Your list doesn’t work as it is.
First, most of these colleges will be unaffordable. => clearly you haven’t run the Net Price Calculators. I assume no one’s told you about those, but you need to do so ASAP (like, now.)
Second, your GPA will hold you back.
If you’re OOS for the UCs, they won’t even look at your application because they only read those 3.4+ (which is explained in the instructions). With a 3.2 instate CA, you’d have a shot at UCR and UCM but it’s too late now.
Also, it’s really too bad you took Math Level 1, which is a waste of time, but neither Japanese nor Italian, which would have helped you stand out.
UMass Amherst would be a possibility except you’re applying for CS, which is the most competitive major. AND it’s not affordable.
Penn State weighs GPA 2/3 of admission, so you’re likely to be offered Altoona (perhaps Erie but I doubt it). There’s a Schreyer college there and you’ll transition to Main Campus Schreyer after 2 years but you’d need to maintain a 3.4. That’s like taking 5 hard AP classes that go twice as fast as your AP CS class and three times as fast as your AP Psych class, and getting 4s and 5s, each semester. You will NOT get into University Park, let alone UP Schreyer. UP Schreyer students tend to be kids who were strong enough to hope for Harvard and such but didn’t get in. If you get Penn State Altoona, costs would be 35K. Would that be affordable?
Pitt will likely offer you a branch campus too (Johnstown?)
Purdue is dubious.
BU will be too expensive.
In short, if this is your whole list, you may well be shut out, either academically or financially.
Since I assume you don’t want to start at a community college, you need to be very fast and apply to more universities. would recommend smaller colleges where admissions is more holistic than the behemoths you applied to and which are unlikely to even know about all your impressive extra-curricular activities (since it’ll basically be GPA X ACT/SAT).
The CC community can help you provided you indicate

  • your home state
  • your parents( budget
  • whether you plan on retaking the SAT in January
  • if you’re willing to go anywhere in the country provided it’s a good college
  • any other issues that would be a dealbreaker (religion, Greek/not Greek, liberal/conservative) <- although in your current situation, you can’t really be too difficult.
10

You can calculate your own unweighted GPA. I’m guessing less than 3.0, which is going to be near-fatal. What is your home state?

11

@uclaparent9 But I am not exaggerating at all. I can get these students to also verify my claim. In fact, I have been doing it for a year now. Everything I have posted can be verified by multiple sources

@“aunt bea” My parents worked out some financials during my Freshman year and we have been able to save up a good amount of money for colleges. Additionally, I have family who live in California who are willing to help me out. In 2013, my dad’s income itself was over 200k. Thus, it varies at times and this year he is having a great year. I am not taking out the UC’s from my list (especially since I applied already)

@MYOS1634 Aye, it is true about the Math and Japanese subject test parts. I only found out those language tests were offered once a year, but it was too late. Also, those were just the ones I was hoping on for mainly. I already got acceptance from Baylor and I will be hearing from Rutgers soon. Also, my AP CS class was a joke; I can handle twice the speed or more of that. In fact, I’m doing great in my senior year AP courses.

Thank you all for the suggestions however! I’ll definitely try for a transfer on my second year of college to perhaps one of the top CS programs if I can.

12

Can you indicate

  • your home state
  • your parents( budget
  • whether you plan on retaking the SAT in January
  • if you’re willing to go anywhere in the country provided it’s a good college
13

-NJ
-60k a year (for colleges since a lot has been saved up)
-Should I?
-I can go anywhere in the country

14

@MYOS1634

15

Having 240K saved up seems like a LOT for a family that makes 120K a year so check with your parents.
So essentially you’re a full-pay applicant, something that will play in your favor at most private and OOS colleges (since most are need-aware). A problem, of course, is that you’re only applying to public universities, except for BU (which may well admit you, because they’re need-aware, ie., they prioritize kids with money - and they are lousy with financial aid).
Penn State Altoona would be 35K so within budget the first two years, and 45K the last two, also within budget.
The UCs are barely within budget but your application won’t even be read since OOS applicants need a 3.4 (UW). So you wasted the application fees there.
Why aren’t you applying to universities where your EC’s will be appreciated and taken into account for admission? Is there a reason why you chose these universities where the formula is likely to disadvantage you?
Marist, with its ties to IBM, would be an obvious choice for you - they do look at EC’s since they’re smaller and have more time to look into your whole application.