CS @ UIUC; Really of Scared, Chance me if you can

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
1

Heres my Rundown

Illinois Resident

American/Asian

SAT: 1360 (700 Read/ 660 Math/ 8,7,7 in the essay)

Semester GPAs (All Weighted)
Freshman: 5.4 & 5.4
Sophmore: 5.2 & 5.2
Junior: 5.6 & 5.2
On my app I put my current average GPA: 5.3
Senior: N/A (Current Senior)

Clubs:
2 Years Speech Team (State Qualifier in Radio Speaking; Forgot to mention this in my App)
2 Years Math Team (Medalled several times, Also forgot to mention in App)
1.5 Years Sci Olympiad
High Honor Roll every year thus far
NHS
3 Years Tech Crew & Stage Design

Out of School Endeavors:
Various Computer Science Courses
Gavel Club / Toastmasters Club (Public Speaking clubs)
Lots of community work, It would take a while to detail all of it

I’ve constantly taken the hardest possible courses for Math and Science in my school, and have always done very well, never getting lower than a high B at worst.

AP Courses:
AP Human Geo 4
AP US History 5
AP Calc AB

AP Calc BC
AP Phys C
AP Lang. & Comp 4
AP Lit & Comp

AP Gov 4

No disciplinary actions or criminal records

I’ve maintained regular contact with the school and Deans if that matters at all. I went to some college seminars and quite a bit of them said that it was good to have contact with the schools.

Basically, I’ve come to terms with not entering in as far as Computer Science goes. I mean it’s insanely competitive, and looking at some other people’s resumes on here, they are WAY more qualified than me. I think I may possibly have a shot at Electrical Engineering, but worst case I think I can make it into Pre-Eng, as a friend of mine with nearly identical coursework/ test scores made it into there, and as far as the course work that Ive seen from that program is, I think I can easily get a 4.0 and hopefully make it into the Comp Sci in my second year

Please, if someone evaluates me, don’t sugar coat anything, be brutally honest with me. I would really appreciate the honesty.

2

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I have submitted my app already for early action, and was also one of the major editors in the school newspaper

3

Your 660 Math score will hurt you a lot, as most of the people applying have very high math sections. Your course rigor and GPA are pretty decent. It’s good to see that you have quite a couple of extracurriculars, but I heard from many other UIUC students that it’s best if you had PROVABLE ec regarding computer science (such as releasing an app or placing top 5 in a state competition)

4

Male or Female? CS Engineering admits almost 50% women, so being female may be a slight advantage since engineering majors are otherwise mostly male. I think CS Engineering would be a long shot, because most acceptances I’ve seen have very high test scores and GPA, plus relevant extracurriculars or experience in CS. I’d think you have a decent chance at Electrical or Computer Engineering. Those are big programs that admit a lot of students, and other than your SAT that is borderline, you have a solid application for those majors. So did you pick CS/Eng as 1st choice and EE 2nd choice? I think EE is a good target major, but I wouldn’t consider it a safety.

5

If you have a strong interest in CS/CE, make sure to apply to other colleges. Don’t comprise too much on your field of interest/studies. With respect to CS/CE, while UIUC has a strong program, it doesn’t matter as much where you graduate from, as long as it’s a decent program.

6

EE/CE at UIUC is notoriously difficult, I wouldn’t bank on a 4.0 in that major.

7

Yeah thats what I did. Im also looking at the Engineering Pathways Program as well.

8

Thank you everyone who responded, I really appreciate it.

I retook the SAT, Nov, expecting a 750+ on math after about 2 months of extremely rigorous practice (Id been planning on it since before I made my post), although I think I got 2 wrong in math only. I still dont think this is enough, but It may help. Ive been looking at other schools (UIC Cs in engineering accepted me thankfully), so even if I dont get in to UIUC, oh well.

9

Got my score back, didn’t do as well as I thought, but I still did get a 1470 (740 Eng. 730 Math). I think this should be well enough for ECE? I’ve decided I’d be fine with ECE, as the major does pertain to careers I am looking at, and are genuinely interesting topics.

10

In Fall 2017, the male-female ratio was much lower than 50% for CS Engineering. I think it was less than 30%. So ,it is likely to be equally tough.