I am currently attending a Community College and plan to transfer to a university for computer science next year. I have completed almost two years so far of CC with lots of credits involving science and engineering. I only now discovered my love of Computer Science, so I don’t have a lot of extracurricular activities and experience in that field. My family and I are currently in the process of obtaining our green card so because of financial reasons, I would have to do another year at the CC until I have my green card to transfer. I will have completed 3 years of CC course work until I transfer (average about 16-17 credits per semester). That also means that I have to wait until I get my green card to work and get an internship (visa forbids me to work). What are my chances that I could get into a good Computer Science Program? What schools should I consider applying to? My local state school is ok ranked in CS (around place 70-80 in the US) so that would be an option too, although if possible I would love to attend a better school. What should I do to improve my chances until I transfer next year? I included my stats below:
CC GPA: 3.85
extracurriculars during CC: 200 hours of volunteering as a hospice volunteer, VP of chem club (one semester), campus leader for a scholarship program (one semester), completed various classes (with certificates) at coursera involving computer science more or less (Machine Learning, Data Science, Python, etc). , currently working towards IT certification (will have that finished before I would have to apply)
HS UW GPA: 3.2 (I know very low, they converted my grades from my home country for grade 9 to US system and included them in the calculation, I did very poorly 9th grade in my country. I took 8 AP classes in HS.)
ACT: 28 (plan on taking again, I started out with a 22 and improved over about five months to a 28 my junior year in HS, so I think there is still potential)
Awards: not much, just Dean’s List every semester and I was an AP Scholar in HS
Ethnicity: female, white
I think you have a great chance of getting into a solid first tier school. What region of the country are you looking to go to school in?
To be honest, I don‘t really care which region of the US. I‘m open to everything.
Once you attend a CC, the HS grades aren’t really considered. The schools look at your CC record. I wouldn’t retake an ACT; it won’t matter.
You need to remember that transfers don’t get very good financial aid, no matter where you go, so look to the schools where you can get in with minimal debt. The universities use their dollars to attract freshman.
Also, if you apply to OOS publics, you will be charged full fees, because most state schools use public funds. If you are not a resident taxpayer of that state, you don’t get funded. You need to consider your instate schools first, if you are on a limited budget. Make sure you check the NPC for each school you hope to attend, so that you have an estimate of your costs. (Net Price Calculators)
I wasn‘t sure if I had to take the ACT again, I just don‘t want my low score to prevent me from otherwise getting accepted. But if it really doesn‘t matter then I won‘t take it again.
I am aware of the financial burden of some of the OOS universities. So maybe I should consider private universities more? I know that some schools have very good financial aid even for transfers but those are then very hard, almost impossible to get in. I think just applying to some universities will not hurt, if it will cost too much, I definitly will attend my local state school.
So far I considered about applying to Vanderbilt, UNC Chapel Hill and Univ of Virginia since they seem to offer better financial aid. However, my chances are pretty slim of being admitted there so my local state school is definitly a back-up.
you have a really good chance. apply to as many places as you can…
if you intend on applying to schools such as caltech and ivies, i’d recommend retaking the sat/act & maybe considering subject tests. however, they will put more weight on your CC record.
you and i have really similar stats however i am a citizen and i applied to 10 colleges for fall transfer this quarter. i don’t view me as not having a person hs record of sat scores as a hinderance… people improve over time & i do poorly on tests in which i’m expected to answer 75 physics questions in 60 minutes haha