Comp. sci reach, target, and safety schools

Hey guys, can I have some suggestions of schools that seem to fit me as a safety, match, or reach?

About me:

  • Senior at small christian private school in MI
  • From South Korea, came here when I was a sophomore
  • 1510 in SAT (710 R&W, 800 M)
  • haven’t taken any Comp. sci course yet. Planned to take AP Comp. sci this year, but our school couldn’t make a class cuz no one chose to take the class.
  • GPA: 4.0/4.0
  • AP: 5 in calc bc, 4 in Macro, Micro, and Stats / our school only offers calc bc, World history, APUSH, psych, art, Comp. sci
  • subject test: Took math 2 and physics, now waiting for the score to come out
  • Very, Very involved in music as a percussionist/drummer (Symphonic band, symphonic orchestra, Chapel band, Percussion ensemble, Jazz band, Jazz orchestra, pit orchestra, church drummer)
  • Other ECs: Calling All Colors (diversity club), International club (president), Science Olympiad for 3 years, tutoring,
    Korean → English simultaneous translator for 3 years in our church,

What I want in a school:

  • Tuition doesn’t really matter, but it s good if I can get any financial aid (kinda hard for International students?)
  • Location doesn’t matter, tho warmer weather is more likable than cold/snowy weather
  • Research or internship opportunities
  • good alumni relationships.

Thx guys

Reach: USC, Vanderbilt, Wash U St Louis, Emory
Safety: TXAM, Purdue, Iowa, Florida

If you need money, then you need to know that now. If you need to seek merit due to $$, you need to know that now. You are a senior, it is late to be asking this now? Where are you applications completed at?

Yeah, thanks for pointing that out. I know I am late, but I thought it would be better to be late than real late.
First or all, since i couldnt make a firm decision of my major, I was not able to make a full lists of colleges that I would apply to. I knew Cornell, Purdue, UIUC, Umichigan, Georgia tech has great engineeing program in various ways so I filled up few supplemental essays except the one that asks “why this major?”
Are all of those schools the ones that I should consider as a reach? I think I ll apply those schools (except GT) as an ED or EA, + UW, UT Austin, UCSD in my regular. Is there any schools u guys recommend? Or is there any schools that I should delete from my lists?

This link below was posted on CC that I found useful for CS programs with research focus areas. It may not be 100% up to date. But, a great starting point nevertheless.

http://csrankings.org

Awesome. I really appreciate that

Purdue would be a match for CS, not a safety.

Do you think I should write Purdue in Early Action?

Since you are instate, you’ll probably be accepted to Michigan and it will be cost effective.

For Cornell and GT 1510 is low.

UW and UT are difficult to get into from out of state, even more so for CS. UT is expensive.

UIUC will be too expensive.

You’ll be accepted by Purdue EA. UCSD might accept you but that will be expensive.

I give you CS acceptance chances of…
70% Purdue
50% Michigan (because you are instate)
30% UCSD
20% UW, UT, UIUC
10% GT
5% Cornell

Reach - Harvey Mudd.

Thanks @Greymeer .
How would you consider NorthEastern CS? Better than Purdue?
Also, then should I give a shot for another SAT in Novermber? (past deadline so should register ASAP) or should I focus more on my essays since +10 or +20 from 1510 would not make a huge difference?

Can you definitively state you can be full pay at 60K a year schools? $250K undergrad or so?

It would be helpful to know your budget. I think you’re right that the process is more competitive for international students.

To give you an idea…

Number of CS & Engineering Applications
GT ~30k
UCSD, Purdue ~22k to 24k
UW, UT, Mich, UIUC, Cornell ~15k to 17k

@Sybylla @austinmshauri
Tuition is not my huge concern since I got a confirmation from my parents. However, it would also be a good choice for me to go schools that s cost effective.

If you apply to Purdue before Nov 1 you can be considered for merit scholarships and honors college so definitely worth applying now. You will also get your decision in mid January.

Purdue is a match. EA is a good idea.

@momofsenior1 @Otterma
Thx guys, I apply to Purdue in EA

  • I don't know if it s for every school but for some schools you can choose between BA and BS degree for CS. Is BS degree better than BA degree?

When a school offers both for a specific major, the BS has more requirements and is the more rigorous choice. There are good reasons why someone might choose the BA instead though (which is why the school offers it): the BA might be more feasible if you’re doing a double major or if you’re taking a lot of non-major classes. People who want to be teachers might get a BA in their specialty subject while taking additional education courses.

CS is applied to all sorts of different fields. For people who want to approach CS in a cross-disciplinary way, the BA can be a good choice. When a school offers both, don’t be afraid to ask when you have to declare your intended degree. Some may not even let you declare BS or BA until your junior year or so.