I’m in the early stage of the college selection journey (junior). I am a Ca resident, girl, 4.2 weighted GPA, ACT 35 (first attempt, without prep course). Unweighted GPA 3.8. SAT Math 2-800. By the time I graduate, will have 10 AP’s, including Calculus BC. Lots of strong, unusual EC’s and awards.Also received a Presidential Service Award for 400 plus hours of community service.
A few days ago I got my PSAT scores. 1480 out of 1520 with the new PSAT (223). I think I might qualify for National Merit.
I would love to go to UCB, UCSD or UCLA. I know these colleges are very competitive, so I need to start expanding my list.
I am leaning toward Computer Science but I know students change their majors, so I want to go to a school which offers more than a strong CS program.
I currently go to a competitive large public school in CA. A recent school wide survey revealed that while most of the students in my school cared a lot about grades, they admitted they didn’t care about learning. More than 80% said the were just "doing school and derived no pleasure from learning ". For college, I would like to go to a school where kids care about learning.
Internet searches keep bringing up University of Illinois (Urbana-Champagne) as it has an incredible CS program and also strong in other areas-- in case I don’t pick CS in the end. But I am therefore concerned that some of the large out of state public schools might be exactly like my high school ( I’m not being judgmental, I just don’t know!)
So far I have 1. University of Washington- Seattle (honors program)
Can you help me? I also read that some honors programs are great, others are merely clever marketing to attract students.
Your test scores are really good, so I think you have a strong chance at all the UC’s you mentioned. University of Illinois is also a great school, and not as hard to get into. U of I, like most large schools, has an honors program, so definitely look into that. If money isn’t an issue for a private school, I think your stats are good enough to have a shot at the ivy’s and places like MIT.
Unless your California GPA is negatively affected by something which is not apparent, it is unlikely you will have to look further than the above schools unless you choose to do so. However, the body of your post indicates you may be interested in exploring highly selective schools outside of this nexus. For suggestions along these lines, you might want to state some of your other considerations and preferences, particularly financial and geographic ones.
I am south Asian, only child, both my parents have professional degrees. I am extremely fortunate that my parents have saved up for my college education (including private school). I live in the SF bay area.
If I had a reasonable expectation that I would get into either UCB, UCSD or UCLA i would relax and enjoy my last two years in school. :).
The NY Times article underscores the randomness of this process
You have an excellent chance at the UC’s based on your posted stats and do not let that article question your chances. GPA and tests scores are by far the more important factors for the UC’s. Essays and EC’s do impact your chances and many times the “holistic” review can lead to some surprises in admissions but overall you look like a competitive applicant. It is always good to have a variety of schools on your list. Since you are in-state California, I would suggest you consider Cal Poly SLO. Excellent CS program, highly regarded, as competitive as most of the UC’s and graduates are sought after by employers.
CS is not an area I know that much about (at least, not anymore - I did in a previous life…), but Harvey Mudd and Caltech come to mind as reaches. Reed will have the love of learning crowd; at USC you’ll get 1/2 tuition if you’re a NM. For a safety (and I mean total safety) Santa Clara. But I think you’re fine for any of the UCs
Aim high with your stats. Stanford and ivies that appeal to you. Then come up with some 2nd and 3rd tier schools and safeties that you won’t even need. How on earth did you get a 35 on the ACT with no prep? Tell us your secret!!
If you want a school where the kids really like learning for learning’s sake, then you might want a liberal arts college with an intellectual vibe like, Swarthmore or an univ like Univ of Chicago
The Times article, a familiar one, chooses an extreme example to illustrate a process. However, once the impact of the example has taken effect, the writer softens it and then nearly reverses it. We quickly learn that the hypothetical applicant who was rated a 2 has been given this number under consideration as an applicant for the engineering program at UCB, the most selective program within the UC’s most selective university. We then learn that a 2 may be sufficient for admission into even this very selective program. The implications of the article for you in terms of admission into at least one of the non-engineering programs at your UC choices are negligible.
For computer science, check each school carefully on how difficult it is to enter the computer science major if you enter the school not in the major. For example:
UCB EECS: apply to the major; you may be admitted in the major or not admitted at all. Entering the major otherwise (except from Engineering Undeclared) requires a competitive admission process.
UCB L&S CS: apply to L&S (all L&S frosh enter undeclared); to enter the L&S CS major, you need a 3.30 GPA in the prerequisites: http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/csugrad/#petitioning
UCLA CS: apply to the major; you may be admitted in the major or not admitted at all. Entering the major otherwise requires a competitive admission process.
UCSD CSE: apply to the major; you may be admitted in the major, or in the school not in the major. Entering the CSE major requires a competitive admission process (does not say how difficult): http://cse.ucsd.edu/ImpactedMajor
Washington CSE: apply to the major; you may be admitted in the major, or in the school not in the major. Entering the CSE major requires a competitive admission process (40% of applicants admitted, typically with 3.4-4.0 GPA but also needs an essay): https://www.engr.washington.edu/current/admissions/admitstats
UIUC CS: apply to the major; you may be admitted in the major, or in the school in your second choice major (see https://admissions.illinois.edu/FAQ/second-choice-major ). Entering the CS major requires a 3.67 GPA and at least A- grades in two specified CS courses: https://cs.illinois.edu/prospective-students/undergraduates/transfer-students/transferring-another-university-illinois-major . Some “CS+X” majors require “only” a 3.50 GPA and B+ grades in specified CS courses.
You probably want to apply more widely in the UC system than just UCB, UCLA, and UCSD in order to be more assured of getting into a campus in the CS major or into a campus where entering the CS major is not difficult.
The NYT article is just one admissions reader’s limited view of the process. The entire process is described at http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/05/16_houtreport.pdf , although the relative selectivity of different divisions and majors should be treated with caution, since they are based on applicants and admits of many years ago.
Merci81, Thank you! I never quite thought of it that way! That makes me feel much better.
Citymama9, I apologize. I actually worded my initial post inaccurately. I didn’t take a commercial prep course for my ACT, but I did prep on my own using the big ACT book.
My parents have taken many exams in their life and gave given me many exam tips. I try to follow most of them. These are a few of my tips ( in case a younger student reads this post)
Start early but not too early ( I studied about 2-3 hours each Sunday for about 5 weeks)
Pace yourself . I took the PSAT in October and ACT in December. Most of my friends took both tests (SAT) in October, but my mom said I would get test fatigue or just get fed up and not do my best if I took two tests back to back.
Treated homework like test prep to build endurance. Instead of taking lots of breaks while during hw, i tried to work in long segments of time to build up for the long ACT.
Most importantly, because I knew I will have 6 more shots to take the test in 2016, I went into the test without anxiety. If I had waited till the fall of 2016, I would have been very stressed as time would be running out.
5.My mom makes me drink lots of water and get enough sleep before exams. Also eat eggs for breakfast. I'm not sure whether being well hydrated actually helps, but I do it as it makes my mom happy, and doesn't bother me anyway.
Thanks for everyone who posted and helped me.
I hope my tips help a younger student.
ucbalumnus, Thank you! That was super useful info. Its good to know I can balance the risk by applying directly to the major for a few instances and general admission to the rest so that I will get in somewhere good.
The 35 ACT should be fine – your score on the ACT will not be what keeps you out of a college (but by itself will not get you into a highly selective college).
The only other standardized tests you may need are:
SAT reasoning if you make NMSF and need it to “confirm” your PSAT score to advanced to NMF. But if you did that well on the PSAT, the similar SAT should not be difficult.
SAT subject in a science (in addition to math which you have an 800 on) is recommended (but not required) for some divisions (which CS may be in) or majors at UCs, see http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/examination-requirement/SAT-subject-tests/ . Some non-UCs may have other SAT subject test requirements or recommendations. If you are taking the associated high school course, and it covers all topics on the SAT subject test (be careful with physics if you have not taken a good one year high school physics course, or both AP physics 1 and 2), then that probably won’t be difficult – think of it like a final exam for the course.
AP tests associated with any AP courses you are taking. Again, you can think of the AP test as being like a final exam for the AP course.
Don’t want to hijack the thread, but as far as self-study test prep goes, there’s a former frequent poster - @xiggi - that had a very useful method.
For the record, D17 self-studied and got a 35 the first time out as well, so it is quite doable (and fingers are crossed for national merit). Just dig up as many released tests and practice tests released by the ACT as you can.
But check any college where you apply for general admission, or where you get admitted for general admission after applying to the CS major, is one where the CS major is not extremely difficult to get into.
Here are some more UCs:
UCD CSE: apply to the major; you may be admitted in the major, or in the school not in the major. From another major or undeclared, entering the CS major requires a 3.0 GPA: http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/undergraduate/cs-major/change-of-major/ . It is not obvious from the web site what the criteria for entering the CSE major are.
UCI CS and CSE: apply to the major; you may be admitted in the major, or in the school not in the major. From another major or undeclared, entering the CS major requires a 2.0; entering the CSE major requires a 2.7: http://www.changeofmajor.uci.edu/CoM_ICS.html
UCR CS: apply to the major; you may be admitted in the major, or in the school not in the major. From another major or undeclared, entering the CS major requires a 2.0 GPA overall with 2.7 GPA in CS and math courses: http://student.engr.ucr.edu/policies/requirements/majorchange/cs.html
UCSB CS: apply to the major; you may be admitted in the major, or in the school not in the major. From another major or undeclared, entering the CS major requires a competitive admission process (3.0 GPA minimum with 3.2 in specific CS courses, but that does not guarantee admission): https://www.cs.ucsb.edu/education/undergrad/admissions
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/freshman-admission-matrix.pdf describes whether your intended major affect admission selectivity at each UC. For UCs where admission to the major does not affect selectivity, indicate CS, but check admission letters to see if you are admitted to the CS major or to a second choice major or undeclared. Where major does affect selectivity, it is likely that changing into the CS major later is highly competitive, so it is generally best to apply to the major, unless you are willing to attend the school and do some other major if you are not admitted to the CS major.
CMU - arguably the best CS program in the country - and one of the hardest to get into. But if you want a school where kids are there to study hard, look no further. Also a smaller school can result in a better experience as an undergrad. UCB might be better for graduate school than undergraduate.
UChicago - if you want more than just a CS focus, Chicago is great for getting students to “think”.
Harvey Mudd - small, very selective, but excellent undergrad education
Those are all reaches for anyone (CMU officially has a 25% acceptance rate, but it’s acceptance rate for CS is much lower, in the single digits), but it looks like you’ll have good grades/scores.
I’d encourage you to look at some LACs or small research uni’s with a CS/tech bent as you might find them a better fit than huge schools like UIUC or UCLA.
Due to the popularity of CS these days, introductory CS courses are likely to be large at many schools. A look at the class schedule at CMU shows that the introductory CS courses have large numbers of discussion sections associated with each lecture, indicating large overall class size. Even Harvey Mudd’s introductory CS course has 200 students.
