<p>SAT I: 2000-2100, 1300-1400
SAT II: Haven't taken, taking Physics and both Math in October</p>
<p>APs
Physics B: 5
Physics C E&M: 5
Physics C Mechanics: 4
AP Calculus AB: 5
English Lang: 3</p>
<p>Taking English Lit and Calculus BC this year.</p>
<p>Rank: ~7/150</p>
<p>EC: Varsity Soccer, Governor's School, National Honor Society, random school awards</p>
<p>Computer Science Experience: Probably the most, or very close to the most, of any applicant. Everything from personal projects to freelancing to in-house development teams.</p>
<p>So, where do you think I should apply?</p>
<p>Will experience make up for not exactly stellar SATs?</p>
<p>I think your experience is a definite hook. I'd say shoot got the best (MIT, CMU, etc.) but give yourself some nice schools you can count on entrance to, yet still have awesome programs (maybe GA Tech? I don't think OSS would matter with them but I'm not sure since I'm a resident...).</p>
<p>I would suggest (and this may be a completely naive suggestion on my part, in just seems like common sense to me) that you apply to schools that are more focused on their computer science programs. Once again, I may be completely wrong, but some place like Berkeley or Stanford that has an awesome CS program, but also has awesome programs across the board, would be less impressed by your CS experience (although probably still very impressed) than a school that is really really CS (and perhaps just computers & engineering in general) oriented.</p>
<p>Have you considered taking the ACT? I have a score that is similar to yours on the SAT (2080), yet I made an ACT score equivalent to something like 2200 I believe.</p>
<p>In my opinion, hands on experience in your field is far more likely of an indicator that you will succeed in college than a blasted standardized test.</p>
<p>Assuming you are a senior, it seems like you should have more thoughts about a college than you have shown in your post. What influence does size, cost and geography have on your decision? </p>
<p>You don't seem ready to make a decision about ED yet. Get a spreadsheet ready and start looking into schools known for their CS programs - you can do a search here or via other college search engines.</p>
<p>A final tip - you want to work really hard on presenting your CS background on your application. Be sure you reach the "wow" level - no boring lists, for example. If your experience is as extraordinary as you say, it could vault you over kids with higher test scores, but only if you can convince an admissions committee who are usually non-tech people.</p>
<p>Computer science is still a great field to get. Governor's school usually have better computer facilities than most public high schools. If you are trying to get into the top computer school they have been already named. MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon. Georgia Tech does have an extremely good computer science department. Berkeley is hard to get into if you are out of state though. All of the top four computer science programs are extremely competitive and difficult to get accepted. </p>
<p>You may also consider taking an AP Computer Science AB course. If your school
doesn't offer it; you can take an on-line course on your own. Top computer science schools like to see that. You may want to check out the specific colleges here to find out more about their programs. I am sure you will get more specific information than we are giving you.</p>