I am a Junior; i will be completing my IB program in May 2021. My GPA is 4.0(UW). My school doens’t rank so I don’t know. My ACT is 35 (R-36, Eng-36, Sci-35 ; Math-33). I have taken most rigorous couse load thats available in my public school.
Completed 6-APs (5s -3;4s -2; 3s -1) in my Freshman and Sophomore years + 2-SLs for IB diploma. I will be taking another 5-APs + 4 IB HLs in my Junior year. I am also doing AP German self study. I love lanuages. So I am interested in Linguistics +Computer Science options for my BS.
I have attended many summer programs at Duke-TIP , JohnHopkins-CTY and Ohio State -Linguistics programs. I did take some college level courses in UCB last summer. I am a Karate black belt kid(2 times goal medal winner in two categories) and also teach karate to younger kids. I used to teach Java, Python and Scratch at our local CoderDojo pre-covid. Currently looking for research opportunies in Computational Linguistics.
Can you please suggest some good universities for CS ? I want to specilize in Computational Linguistics.
My current list is UW-Seattle, UCB.
My ACT score in math section is 33. This my first attempt. I am interested in CS, which a math heavy speciality. Do I need to retake ACT to improve my score?
Both UW-seattle and UCB are excellent for CS. So are quite a few other universities.
By the way, one thing that I have wondered about: Is karate hard on the hands? Could someone do karate and also play piano without putting too much strain on the hands? Thanks.
Thanks for the response. My home state is WA. I will not be eligible for any financial aid due to my parents income. So budget is not a constraint.
I have been practicing karate for last 9-years;also I do rock climbing as a hobby for years so my hands are rough now. Sure , one could do both karate and piano with out putting too much strain. It’s all practice and your hands will be strengthend over the period of time.
Yes, UW is few miles from home. UW admits by major for CS. CS admission rates are very low compared to general admission rate. I don’t know CS admission rates, but I was told it’s very competitive so have other options.
I might guess that admission at UW-seattle is competitive because people like you apply. It is a great university with a great CS program and you are a very strong in-state applicant. If you live on campus, it will be like living in a different world compared to living at home. If anything goes wrong and you need some support or help, it will be nearby.
There are also a couple of great universities just a few miles to the north of you in Canada. UBC is very strong for CS. SFU and U.Victoria (which might be west of you) might be worth considering.
I think that you need to double check with your parents that they are okay with being full pay.
I think that you also need to find a solid safety. Your guidance counselor should know better than I how likely UW is for admission to CS for you. It is very obviously worth an application but whether it is a safety I do not know. UC Berkeley is excellent, but you would be full pay and it is not a safety.
On the West Coast my son will be applying to HMC and USC (we are trying to stay with private colleges schools) we are getting a feeling that CS at UCs seems to be way too crowded … those are NOT safeties …
Safeties we’ll keep on the East Coast. But for you Cal Poly SLO could be a decent match/safety?
Otherwise maybe add Purdue, Michigan to your list (once again, NOT safeties)
Thank you @DadTwoGirls & @dimkin for your responses.
I haven’t thought about universities in Canada. Let me do some search on UBC and U.Victoria.
I am fine with options in Midwest (purdue & UofMich) as well as East coast. Any suggestions on east coast universities ?
Another question is , do I need to retake ACT again since I got only 33 in Math section?
No on ACT, but it’s up to you
(maybe add Rose-Hulman to your list in the MidWest?)
Good CS schools on East Coast ?
Reaches (don’t get me started so many … )
Half reaches (private): NYU, BU
Slightly easier to get in:
Privates: RPI, WPI, Northeastern
Public: UMass, VTech, UMd, Rutgers, Stony Brook, UT Dallas (that’s going south)
If you’re open to East coast schools, you should check out Carnegie Mellon for CS. Of course, there’s MIT and Cal Tech if you’re shooting for the best.
UW is a great program, especially if you are in-state. OOS admission is nearly impossible.
My D is in a similar position - 4.0/1580/CTY/Etc. her list:
There are the obvious reaches for everyone - MIT, Stanford, CMU, Berkeley, Caltech
Next tier, still tough - Michigan, Georgia Tech, Cornell
Closer to a “match” - Purdue, Maryland, Wisconsin, UIUC
She left out all but the top CA programs, and her safeties are local (Penn State, etc) which wouldn’t be good safety matches for you.
FWIW, she’s been doing Tae Kwon Do for 11 years and playing piano for 10 and never had any issues. There’s something in both the technique and repetition. It took her 21 attempts to complete the 5 board break required for her 4th Dan Master black belt and she had no pain/problems.
Another vote for UMass Amherst. Top 20 for
CS and top 10 for AI. Also I believe only second to MIT for linguistics departments. Best food of all colleges is a pretty nice perk too. Kids love it there including my D22. Worth a look.
Actually I would argue budget is more of a constraint if you are not eligible for financial aid :). There are a handful of colleges where it makes sense to me to pay 300k for an undergraduate degree even if your parents are willing to do so. Most are not worth it particularly when you have a good instate option (UW is excellent for CS and has great job prospects with SV and FAANG).
Most CS schools admit by major and CS is often the most competitive major.
I would retake the ACT. Math is the easiest section to bring up if you are a strong student which you clearly are. Just doing practice tests over and over and focusing on questions you get wrong and why (and which ones you got wrong) is probably enough to get you a couple of extra points.
My son had a similar scoring pattern to you but with a 34 composite. Math at a 32. He took it two weeks afterwards because we signed him up and then his school offered it and we were afraid one/both would be cancelled. He went over what he got wrong (they even tell you the section and it was in two areas) and worked with a teacher for a couple of hours. Took it 2 weeks later and got a 35 on math which gave him a 35.
We were told by a couple of counselors that there is a big difference in 34 and 35 as far as number of kids who actually get those scores.
True. Certainly needs to talk to his parents and confirm though even if both things are true. Even if you are able to pay out of your income or assets for college, you may not be willing to - particularly if fall will be remote or online.
Isn’t the marginal diff:
for most privates: 4*(55k-11k) ~ $176k
for most publics : 4*(38k-11k) ~ $101k
OP seems to imply that his family can easily cover that
(especially if they over-contributed to 529 plan in 2008 at the lows of S&P)
Also I think OP is happy to go to UW (and rightfully so, but he wants CS!!!),
but is looking to expand his net in case he falls through
(there is a lot of randomness to the process, isn’t there?)
We have some real life experience with that exact scenario.
There are a lot of factors that go into it - being able to doesn’t mean it makes sense. In our case, our oldest is in state at Ga Tech studying engineering with free tuition and will have a fully funded masters because of it. There are also two behind him so we could decide to move some of his money down the ladder if needed. The only school he applied to that we would have come out of pocket and paid the extra for was probably MIT:)
Oh, for sure.
I don’t think there are many CS programs out there out there to pay a premium over UW.
I believe OP recognizes that. But if UW doesn’t pan out - he needs QUALITY alternatives.
