Hi, I am wondering about the chances I have to get into my top schools for Computer Science with these academics.
Top schools: MIT, Dartmouth College, Northeastern U, UMass Amherst, Carnegie Mellon U.
Ethnicity: White
SAT score: 1580 (800 math, 780 English)
ACT score: 34 (likely not sending, 36/35/34/29 for m/eng/read/sci)
SAT 2 Math 2: 790
SAT 2 Chemistry: 740
SAT 2 Biology: 710
Honors/AP classes taken/enrolled in:
Honors Biology
Honors Chemistry
Honors English 9, 10, 11
AE US History, self studied for AP, (4/5)
AP Chemistry (5/5)
AP Statistics (5/5)
AP Computer Science A (?/5)
AP Physics C mechanics (?/5)
AP Calculus AB (?/5)
AP Economics (?/5)
AP Psychology (?/5)
Design Engineering
Cumulative GPA: 3.7 (unweighted), 4.0 (weighted), competitive school (as many are).
I taught myself Python over the summer and am currently learning Swift for iOS app development
I also worked as a lifeguard for two summers
Extracurricular Activities:
Volunteering (president's bronze award)
National honor society
Student government (elected all four years)
Leadership workshop (sharing leadership training/experience to high schoolers)
Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Conference, attendee and junior staff member
What are my chances?
What other schools should I look at for Computer Science?
Depending upon the variety of your alternative interests you might want to look at WPI and Lehigh. If highly motivated by your college experience the data says you are CAPABLE of doing the work anywhere, but this cannot assure your admission. Find some schools that really capture your interests with more than just name recognition. ALL of the schools mentioned excel in meeting your graduate school/employment opportunities if you do well in their different environments. You want the backups to also represent an approach that fits you well. Think of your personal fit as making up more than 50% of the “right stuff” needed to optimize your educational experience.
Find out what makes each of the schools different or unique. What makes you unique? :bz
I think that you have a very good chance at UMass Amherst, which as I am sure you know has a very good computer science program. I would expect you to also have a good chance at Northeastern – although personally I wouldn’t pay full price for it if you are in-state for UMass.
The rest IMHO are reaches. I would probably add another safety, but I think that you are going to do well.
I’m a college freshmen. Had the same SAT as yours, a bit higher SAT2, higher GPA, somewhat similar extracurriculars, many AP… Top 1% in my graduating class of 520. White male, public school (this is important!). Did NOT get into MIT, UPenn, Dartmouth, CMU, Georgia Tech. Best of luck!