CS Major Chances at UT-Austin, UCSD, UCLA, Univ. of Washington, Rice, Stanford

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys. I took the ACT in September and just got my scores back. I got a 34 composite (36 English, 28 Math, 34 Reading, 36 Science). I plan to apply to UT-Austin, University of Washington, UCLA, and UCSD as a computer science major… but I’m worried the math sub-score will really hurt my chances. Also, since my programming experience is limited (I’ve self-studied CS some and am doing an elective course right now in JavaScript), I would think a high math score would be very important. What do you guys think?

By the way, I took the ACT last April and got a 31 composite (32 English, 32 Math, 31 Reading, 30 Science). I’m taking the SAT on Saturday and am really going to try to get a high math score. I took the Math 2 subject test and got a 710, and I got a 5 on the AP Calc AB exam if that stuff matters.

I will also apply to Stanford and Rice as my most selective schools – will the 28 in math matter a lot there? I believe it won’t hurt as much because they are liberal arts universities at their cores. On the commonapp, I will say that I intend to study computer science as my first choice, though.

I also know that Univ. of Washington doesn’t admit based on major but it would be nice to be directly admitted as a CS major because I could always switch if I wanted, plus, getting into their CS department as a sophomore is difficult. At UCSD I think they limit enrollment to the CS major, and if I don’t get in then I might consider another school where I know I’ll be able to study CS.

2

The 28 Math subscore won’t hurt as much as the fact that you don’t have a writing score. If you are planning to send your ACT scores, Rice requires that you take the ACT plus writing.

3

All the UC’s also require the ACT with writing. What is your UC GPA? http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

4

I did take the ACT plus writing, but that score will be released later. My UC GPA is 4.5. Thanks for the help!

5

Your Math 2 score is also rather low for CS iof selective schools. If I was you I would consider retaking it (but only if you could cope with your workload).

6

I won’t retake Math 2… I don’t think a 710 is going to be the deal-breaker. I think colleges will be more concerned withe the 28 then the 710.

7

bump