Google CSSI 2016 Discussion

@BirdBolt Congrats! Mind sharing your stats?

@gianthawk Thanks a bunch!! sure I’ll share my stats:
GPA: 3.23
Weighted GPA: 3.38
Highest SAT: 1750 (on 2400 scale)
Extracurriculars: Very lame; only soccer team, no recent significant rank or anything, old medals (from high school in my country)
Community/Service Hours: 99 (not very impressive/competitive either)
Awards, etc: African American Achievement Award, Certificate of Participation for …(program you probably don’t know about)

My stats aren’t really competitive, and if you ask me, I say my short answer responses played the biggest roll. There was some good stuff in there (I noticed a few typos a month after submitting them, but it’s engineers reviewing it, not a panel of scholarship application reviewers, so they probably cared more about the technical contents) and I can post my answers if you’re interested.

I was actually hoping those of us who were accepted would post our short answer responses here, so next year’s applicants get an idea of what the guys at Google are looking for.

I got the call yesterday for the seattle session, is anyone else going to that?

@penguinsrfun this guy got the Seattle session: @sigmeister .
Care to post your stats?

Yea @BirdBolt and congrats to all!

I got both Seattle sesh + scholarship from California (LA)

GPA: 3.91
Weighted GPA: 4.2
Highest Combined SAT: 1790
Extracurriculars: Varsity: Bball/ Cross Country (marathon runner). Youth Business Alliance, Student gov’t( pres. of a committee), sat prep class?
Community/Service Hours: My elementary school, high school mentor program, my local sheriff’s station
Awards, etc: Just GPA awards and a few class-specific awards (calc, physics, English 11). Most improved Bball player (ik lmao)
Hispanic

Frankly I was shocked that I got the award, my SAT was far from stellar compared to some other applicants. I guess my essays came thru tho. Talked about my experiences getting into Comp. Sci from a game called HL2:DM and scripting in it and using Source SDK when I was ill.

I didn’t know that engineers were the ones that looked at apps so that’s interesting. I guess they’re looking mostly at our essays. So really focus on a deep interest in CS related stuff. I was really passionate about working with game engines so I mentioned that.

Gpa 3.98 weighted 4.4 sat 2200 extracurriculars: yearbook, band, decathlon. Community service is just tutoring. I mostly think my rec did a lot for me since he was my electronics teacher and how I first got interested in coding and ee.

I don’t think I’ll get in

@BirdBolt What time did you get the email? and did u apply for just CSSI or the scholarship too?

Are any international students around here?
And is it possible to not receive the scholarship but get invited to the camp?
I really want to go to this summer program

@cristina1225 you can get into the program but not get the scholarship. But I’m a domestic applicant (if you couldn’t tell!)

Oh wow i just got an email, what a synchronization
But it’s not good news dang it what am i gonna do now

What I heard one way to check if you got in or not is to check the status of your application. I was accepted and mine says complete, but others who still haven’t gotten the call says in review.

@cristina1225 what’d they say?

They were unable to move forward with both my scholarship and CSSI application @ohwhatalife lmao nice username

Disappointed my DD didn’t get into CSSI. Great stats - 2360 SAT, 5.7/6 weighted GPA, top 3% school rank. Tons of ECs, leadership, and some CS - girls who code, AP Comp Sci, a couple of programming MOOCs. Great essays and recs.

I thought girls were one of the target audience they were going after, to get them really excited about CS.

I guess it’s more complicated.

@austinpop I also did girls who code and I know a lot of girls who applied from the program who didn’t get in. It’s such a toss up when it comes to stats. I have stats that are much lower than your daughter’s (2.95 -3.1 GPA, 1990 SAT) but I was accepted, and I have friends who have a 2250 and top 10% and where not accepted. I also didn’t take any programming classes in school but did a lot of STEM outreach extra curriculars, and I have a friend who took AP ComSci and has tech certifications and was accepted. I’m a girl and Hispanic, which means I fit into a really under represented group, but I know Asian males who were accepted. I think it really had to do with the essays and whether the reviewers thought that you were a good fit for the program and company or not. Your daughter shouldn’t feel bad for not getting it.

@ohwhatalife

Congratulations! I am always glad to learn of girls getting opportunities to get excited about CS. I know from my DD’s point of view, one of the big turnoffs of CS is the male-centric hacker dude cultural stereotype. As an actual SW engineer, I can tell you that that profile, while it exists, does not predominate the industry. Moreover, some of the most talented SW engineers I have known are women! I am sure you will find evidence of that in the CSSI program.

As for my DD - as you can imagine, with her profile, she’s gotten into some excellent colleges and CS programs. She really liked the CSSI program, and was disappointed not to be selected.

But these are the life lessons one has to learn to become stronger and tougher.

Good luck!

@Lemonpopz I got my email last evening. I applied for both the scholarship and CSSI

Well, looking at all the recent feedback, I guess the engineers paid more attention to the content of the short answer responses, as I remember it said they weighed VERY HEAVILY towards getting accepted. Again, I’m suggesting those of us who got accepted post our responses to the questions on here, so next year’s applicants know what Google is looking for when they search online

Aw super sad because I thought I would get it since my essays were pretty strong! Does anyone know if there’s a waiting list?