CS Chances with low GPA

Colleges and Universities A-Z Purdue University
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I am a senior now and am applying EA, so I want you guys to chance me and let me know if there is anything I can do to increase my chances of getting in.

Stats :

Asian Male, Big, competitive public school from New Jersey (OOS)

SAT - 1540 (770/770/19), only taken once. Got a 740 on Bio-M. Taking Chem and Math II subject tests this week and expecting close to 800.

GPA - 3.68 Weighted and 3.41 Unweighted. Mostly B+ grades on transcript with some As. One C+ in Calc BC (got a 5) which caused a downward trend in GPA.

Courses - Taking Data Structures and Physics C this year, took BC and Stats last year. I am also pretty strong at CS and self-learned most of it. I have some projects on GitHub too.

Essays - I think these are very good due to my unique background and cultural situation.

PSAT - 1500. I am a National Merit Semifinalist.

I took 10 AP tests so far and am taking 4 more this year. I only took five of these APs in school; I self-studied for the rest. (five 5s, two 4s, and three 3s.). I will have around 50 college credits just from AP tests by the time I start college.

ECs - Summer Research Internship at a Medical School. Helped produce data about cell bio/ neuroscience. My prof. is working on publishing a paper.

Currently at a part-time internship in computer science for the next 3-6 months.

Also part of NJ Science League, Math Honor Society.

Tons of really smart people with stellar stats (4.2+, 1550+) and ECs are applying from my school so am kinda worried my GPA won’t cut it due to the competition. I am not applying to any Ivies for the same reason. The only thing I have going for me better than them would be my essay (I guess).

So what would be my chances at Purdue CS ? I heard it is getting really competitive.

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CS has become so selective it’s a reach for all applicants. Your GPA is low and the C+ in Calc could hurt. You know that. That said, you still need some reach schools on your list so IMO, you should give it a go. Your SAT score is high, you’ve taken the STEM APs Purdue likes to see, and you have some real world experience with your CS internship.

Word of caution, if you aren’t accepted to CS know that it’s very, very difficult to transfer into the major later, regardless of how well you are doing.

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[edit] replied in wrong thread

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If you do get in, you should know that it is highly unklikely that all of your AP credits will count and/or can be used at Purdue. Purdue is pretty strict about requiriing a significant amount of credit hours to be done on campus. I attended a Women in Engineering day there last week with my daughter and someone in the audience with a similar number of AP credits asked about using them.

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@EThom68 - My D is a sophomore at Purdue. Purdue accepted about 35 of her AP/DE credits. It helped her meet most of the Gen Ed requirements and place into higher levels of math. It also gave her 2nd semester sophomore standing as a freshman which helped with priority scheduling. What it couldn’t do for her is help graduate early because of course sequencing but she has room to add courses for certifications, a minor, and/or concentrations within her major.

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Same here. You can get “credit” for APs, but it doesn’t help much outside of early course and housing selection due to officially being a class ahead. In her case, you still need all of the FYE and required courses for your major - a bunch of History, English, etc. AP credit doesn’t advance that. I suspect CS will be a bit similar.

GPA and course rigor are almost always the top 2 admissions criteria. You have other factors that will help, but the GPA could be a challenge.