Future Comp Sci Major, need help finding more "match" and "safety" schools

College Search & Selection
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TL;DR at bottom
Currently a senior, I’ve had a lot of uncertainty figuring out what would be some good match schools for my qualifications. Especially with the super competitive state of Comp Sci right now, I’m quite worried I won’t get into any of my schools. Plus there’s the X factor of being a middle class Asian male, which according to many sources is a significant disadvantage in admissions? I’ve already applied to a lot of top schools like CMU, UC, various Ivies etc. but it goes without saying that those are a long shot.

Anyway, hopefully without this sounding too much like a “chance me” I was wondering if someone could suggest some schools that I have a decent/likely chance of admittance based on my qualifications. I greatly appreciate any help I can get cuz I’m feeling really lost right now!

ACT: 36, 34 writing
SAT: 1580, 18 writing
Subs: 800s in Math II, US History, Physics, Bio E
9 APs so far, 5s: HumanGeo, Bio, CalcAB, Lang, PhysCMech, USH; 4s: Chem, Phys1, PhysCEM,
Senior Year APs: Spn Lang, Eng Lit, Music Theory, Us gov, Comp politics, Statistics, also self learning Calc BC and Comp Sci A
3.8 unweighted, 4.35/4.8 weighted GPA. Small private school with very rigorous courses, does not rank.

ECs:
Long-time competitive chess player, top under-18 in state, chess club president, school team captain, various state awards
Band senior officer, 1st chair trumpet, solo and ensemble superiors
Varsity archery captain, got the top score on school team at a tournament last year
Interned over the summer for my school’s IT department
Do some stuff on my own like coding, built my own PC, set up a Linux-based server etc. but not sure colleges count those

Awards: not any prestigious ones tbh.
Technology Student Association - 1st place state for CAD engineering, finalist at nationals
National Merit Semifinalist
AP English 11 book award at my school
NHS
National Spanish Exam Level 5 top score in my state
1st place in biology at this random STEM tournament my state had

Volunteer work: Over 150 hours. Mainly as a chess coach for local elementary school and as a lab assistant for a medical research professor, some miscellaneous hours thrown in

No hooks whatsoever. None. Does being an Asian male count as a reverse hook?

Anyway, TL;DR Looking for Comp Sci match and safety schools. Have no idea what qualifies as those anymore because admissions is hell for asian males in comp sci apparently so I would like some input. Would especially appreciate perspectives from other comp sci majors admitted in recent years although any advice is always appreciated! Much thanks

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Try some of the schools in this related thread:

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2043111-looking-for-college-that-offer-merit-or-need-based-aid-for-a-computer-science-major.html

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Also, sorry if I violated any rules or posted this in the wrong place. Total newb to CC so I may have missed something.

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So between now and potentially January 1st? You are in an interesting situation, but not one without options. Beyond CS, how wide-ranging are your interests in the greater arts and sciences? This will partly determine the suitability of any recommendations.

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Do you have any geographical preferences or financial requirements?

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@merc81 Yeah I’m one of those weird cases that wants to do Comp Sci but is spread between diverse interests. Very involved in band, somewhat of a music geek (I’ve been self learning piano and composing stuff). Been playing chess competitively for like 10 years now. Also a decent writer, occasionally write for fun. English teacher had a pretty high opinion of my work. I don’t think I have a least favorite subject, although I have multiple tied for favorite. I just picked the highest paying one that I could see myself doing happily (CS) lol.

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@bouders I’m willing to take out student loans if need be, though merit and need-based aid is always a plus. Geographically I’m preferential to East and West Coast but for my safeties I honestly will take just about anywhere that has a decent learning environment.

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@FashionablyLatte Do you want to play chess competitively in college? Webster would be about $22k/yr with their top scholarship. You’re eligible for some of UT Dallas’s scholarships as well (not chess scholarships unless you’re over 2500 FIDE.)

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Yeah I lived in Texas for a bit so I know all about UTD! Definitely on my radar. I hadn’t considered Webster, I’ll look into it as well.

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Budget, state of residency, and schools already applied to?

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@ucbalumnus Budget is a secondary concern as of right now.

Applied to:

Carnegie Mellon University

Duke University

Georgia Institute of Technology

North Carolina State University

Northeastern University

Rice University
University of Chicago

University of Michigan

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of Virginia

Washington University in St. Louis

University of Texas - Austin
UCLA
UC Berkeley
Texas A&M
Ohio State University
+Ivies

A doozy, I know. Parents and counselor suggested the shotgun method. I’m just concerned that my list is way too topheavy with no schools I can really be relatively certain of admission.

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Are you likely to become a National Merit Finalist? All universities on this list should be safeties if so, as presumably anywhere you’re guaranteed a scholarship, you’d be admitted.

http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/

Also, anywhere here should be safeties (auto-full tuition scholarships, so you’d be admitted if guaranteed a scholarship).

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

Your state flagship and/or directional could be safeties, depending on your state. You probably don’t need too many safeties… you have already applied to 24 universities, and you should have good chances (IMO… I’m 17 so I don’t know much) at TAMU, UT Austin, Ohio State, and probably others.

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Your parents have assured you that they will pay the full price of the out-of-state publics that will give you no financial aid?

What is your state of residency? Some of the public schools’ admission likelihoods are affected by whether you are a state resident (and tuition and financial aid of course).

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@CharlotteLetter Thanks for the redirect to those sites! Will do some digging. And yeah I would be inclined to agree about the few you mentioned if it weren’t for the CS major handicap. It’s just such a wildcard for me right now because I know it’s far more competitive than just a generic admission. TAMU, Brown and a few other colleges have an extra essay to write if you major CS (I tried selecting other majors. no extra)

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@FashionablyLatte , I think you have enough safety in the list, such as:
North Carolina State University (especially if you are in-state NC)
Northeastern University (should get merit aid)
Texas A&M
Ohio State University

If you are sure of the CS major, some schools look out of place (high ranked school but not known for CS):
Duke University
University of Chicago
University of Virginia
Washington University in St. Louis

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Add WPI.

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Case Western in Cleveland, though it doesn’t like to be treated as a safety for kids applying to top 20 schools, and may be tough to “show the love” quickly enough. Signing up for mailing list, contacting admissions rep will help.

Indiana University, Purdue, University of Wisconsin, though deadlines for being considered for merit aid at IU and Purdue have passed, and UW does not give financial aid to OOS students, so a family must be ok with full pay at UW.

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NC State and Ohio State will be safeties/matches for you. Your list is definitely top heavy with reach schools. Why so many? That is just too many applications. 17 applications PLUS ivies?

Pitt would be a good safe alternative to CMU.

RIT and Virginia Tech are another two that would be safeties for you.

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My concern was just if my matches and safeties really qualified as those. I agree, it’s definitely a top-heavy list. Reasoning (as suggested by various people including GCs and admissions officers) was that since my test scores and profile do at least match bare minimum requirements for all the reaches I should shotgun and just hope that probability works in my favor. I brought it up with parents as well but they were kinda like, well we’re probably going to be paying a lot of tuition anyway so best invest some application money and hope you get a good school. It’s reassuring to know at least a few of those have a decent chance of admission. I also have a few local fallback options (automatic admission based on my test scores) if everything goes really poorly so there’s that.