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<p>All courses that fall into the a-g categories taken in 10th-11th grade count for your UC/CSU GPA. You can check which courses are in the a-g categories, and which are counted as “honors” by looking up your high school at <a href=“http://doorways.ucop.edu”>http://doorways.ucop.edu</a> .</p>
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<p>Not at UCs and CSUs, which do not use recommendations. For schools that do, it may help if you took an actual college course from that professor and did well in it.</p>
<p>OP, you’re measuring yourself against a very high standard when you say you don’t have a lot to brag about. Your grades and test scores are quite decent and there are a lot of schools that are looking for students like you. No, you’re probably not headed to Stanford, but did you really want to go there anyway? My daughter also has anxiety and she has no desire to go to a school where she will just stress herself out, even though her grades and test scores put her in range. Think about where you will actually be happy and have a successful college experience. Also think about whether you want big campus or small, party school or not, etc. </p>
<p>And, why shouldn’t you major in computer science? Did you think that only math geniuses who get perfect SAT scores become programmers? San Jose State turns out large numbers of CS majors every year, and they find jobs.</p>
<p>Figure out your CSU eligibility index (link is in ucbalumnus’ post #6). You should also look at private schools, since based on your SAT score your GPA should be higher and you have your diagnosis to explain why it isn’t. Schools that look at holistic factors will take that into account, but CSUs go strictly by the numbers (except Cal Poly SLO). In CA, your SAT score makes you competitive for Occidental (you’re in the top 25% of SAT scores there, though their average GPA is 3.65) and even more competitive for Whittier and Loyola Marymount. If you’re interested in going outside of CA, the options become practically overwhelming. You have lots of choices, so quit beating yourself up!</p>
<p>However, I think you should find out a little more from your parents than “don’t worry about the money, we’ll take care of it.” I know they just want to be supportive and not make you worry, but they can’t pay with money they don’t have. They need to seriously figure out how much money they can spare each year for tuition. That will help you narrow down your search.</p>
<p>Someone sent me a nasty private message on how I’m apparently “fighting” all of you and how I’m living in a fantasy and need to come back to reality… OK… 
I’ll try to be picky. I prefer a big campus, major US City (big PLUS for New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland), not really interested in partying. My parents are asleep now, I will ask them again tomorrow regarding how much money they can actually spend… but for now, I guess you can disregard that factor.
For another major, I was also thinking economics, maybe?</p>
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<p>However, CS is the most competitive major for admission (both frosh and transfer) at SJSU. The similar but apparently overlooked software engineering major is less competitive. See the eligibility index (frosh) or GPA (transfer) thresholds in recent past years at <a href=“http://info.sjsu.edu/static/admission/impaction.html”>http://info.sjsu.edu/static/admission/impaction.html</a> .</p>
<p>@se1997: Younger son applied this past year as a CS major. He had a UC GPA 3.73, Unweighted 3.4 and Fully Weighted 4.0. ACT score of 31 with 10 AP Classes and 2 Honors. Here are the schools he applied:
Cal Poly SLO (ED): Rejected
UCI/UCD/UCSB: Rejected
UCR: Accepted with $5000 scholarship
SDSU/SJSU/CSULB/CSUF/CPP: Accepted
Currently attending SDSU. CPP has a great program but too close to home.
CS is very competitive but you have a lot of options as you can see my son had several good schools to choose from in the end. Just apply and be realistic with your chances</p>
<p>If your parents can pay, what about Pace in NYC? They are not terribly selective, and you would have lots of great internship opportunities available. You can walk to Wall Street from there. Stevens Institute might be more of a reach, but it’s right across the river from Manhattan, in Hoboken. You might have a shot at Drexel in Philadelphia, also. </p>
<p>Is economics a very competitive major? Is it considered “impacted”? Would I have an increased chance of getting accepted as an economics major? Would it be considered unethical to get in as an econ. major and then switch to CS? Is that even possible?
Sorry for all the questions, just curious. Again, I appreciate all of the help!</p>
<p>If CS is more competitive at frosh admission, it is likely to require another admission process based on college courses and grades to enter the major if you are undeclared or in a different major.</p>
<p>How about UoP?</p>