Chances for University of Washington CS

Chance Me / Match Me!
,
1

Demographics: WA state unis do not consider race/ethnicity in admissions

  • State/Location of residency: (state is important if you apply to any state universities) WA resident
  • Type of high school (current college for transfers): Public
  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): None

Intended Major(s) Computer Science (want to do computational biology)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
  • UC GPA: 4.26
  • College GPA: 4.0 at community college, 3.8 in one uni college math class
  • Class Rank: No rank
  • ACT/SAT Scores: Good but not considered for UCs/UW

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))

  • IBs: IB Spanish SL (no test)
  • APs: AP Calc BC (5, 5 sub), AP Comp Sci P (5), AP Phys C Mech (5), AP Spanish Lang (4), AP English Lang (5), APUSH (5), AP Spanish Lit (no test), AP Chem (senior), AP Lit (senior), AP Gov (senior)
  • DEs: Calc 3, Diff Eq, Linear Algebra, Vector Calc, Engineering Physics II-III (E&M, Optics, Waves), Cell Bio for Majors, Computer Programming II, Linear Analysis (at uni, not community college)

Awards

  • Presenting research at international conference
  • Bronze award in international synthetic biology competition
  • USACO Silver
  • National Merit Finalist (Semi for college apps)
  • Made it to a state music competition
  • AP Scholar with Distinction
  • Highest academic award at my community college lol

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

  • Research at uni (presenting at international conference)
  • Synthetic Biology competition (led part of the larger team and presented at international competition)
  • Tutor students in STEM at a community college (wide range of topics taught; from remedial algebra to second-year engineering math and physics courses and CS courses too)
  • Varsity tennis captain
  • High up in student gov’t
  • Founder and prez of a math club and a politics club; politics club has done quite a bit of local activism

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.) Essays pretty mediocre, definitely not the top but hopefully shouldn’t disqualify me immediately. No LORs for publics

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.) No cost constraints whatsoever, looking for pure chancing advice

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

  • Safety: WSU (accepted full tuition scholarship + honors college)
  • Match: UW general admit
  • Reach: UW CS admit, UW honors college, UC San Diego
    → I also applied to a bunch of ridiculously high reach schools but I know my chances are minuscule for those so I won’t even bother listing them

UW is my #1 realistic choice, as it’s cheap instate and I will be able to transfer ~90 credits (2 years) with my DE and AP coursework; however, I would go to any of my high reaches over it, if I win that lottery haha. I’m concerned because even though I’m pretty confident I can getting to UW general admit, I might not get into CS and probably won’t get into honors college.

1 Like
2

In-state applicants had about a 26% chance of direct admission last year.

If YOU are not in the top 26% this year, I cannot imagine who is. I think you have a very strong chance.

Best wishes.

3 Likes
3

I know that the University of Washington CS is incredibly difficult. One of the smartest people in my high school class, who had even already taken CS classes there over the summer in previous years, did not get into the program.

1 Like
4

Are you thinking you could graduate in two years, or just take higher level classes? The CS program seems to be pretty regimented.

1 Like
5

Right now, I’m thinking to get my BS in three years and then work towards the 5th year masters in my 4th year, so I can finish my education at the same time as my peers and have a relatively normal college experience.

2 Likes
6

This is my worry. When I was taking my math class at UW with a bunch of Mechanical Engineering and CS majors, every one of them had stats to match the people on here that are doing chance me for the ivys.

1 Like
7

Congratulations on your Washington State acceptance with a scholarship for full tuition!

You seem like a great candidate. Unfortunately, Washington’s CS program is extremely competitive. If I had to guess I’d say 60% chance of getting it, 40% of not. So a toss-up, leaning in your favor.

1 Like
8

Ended up getting in to UW Honors but rejected for CS. I’m going to see if I can appeal it, but I’m so happy to even get in!

(P.S. I know appeals have a 1 in 20 chance of being successful, but I have a backup major that I’m happy to do at UW)

2 Likes
9

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.