Help Narrow Down my College List

College Search & Selection
1

Hello! I am a senior in high school and I am really interested in computer science. I have been trying to decide which colleges to apply to and so far I have narrowed it down to 10 colleges. I have been advised to shorten the list to 6, but I can’t decide which ones to scratch out! So please contribute any information about these colleges’ computer science programs, student life, student activities, city life, diversity, professors, or anything else at all. What I am looking for in a college, besides a good computer science program, is cost of attendance, financial aid, career & internship opportunities, housing, diverse student body, and great professors. Thanks for your help! :slight_smile:

  • Stanford University
  • University of Virginia
  • Virginia Commonwealth University
  • James Madison University
  • George Mason University
  • UC Berkeley
  • UCLA
  • University of California, San Diego
  • University of Southern California
  • University of Maryland, College Park

My Profile:
3.9 GPA
2070 SAT Score (Math: 660 Reading: 650 Writing: 760)
Math & Reading: 1310/1600
3 extracurricular activities related to Computer Science, 1 IT internship, 2 community service activities, 1 athletics (Frisbee), FBLA, and International Club.

2

What state are you from? What will your parents pay each year for college?

3

I am from Virginia

4

^ You left an answer out of your response. If you can’t pay much then drop the UCs from your list. You’ll get no aid there except a $5500 loan.

5

Sorry, but scores are low for UCLA, UCB an USC CS and you need science and math subject test (with high scores >700) to be competitive there. Not required but recommended, which in engineering and CS, means required.

6

Cut all the California schools as explained above no FA at the UCs and you are low chance for the privates. Where else do you like t add a few in?

7

Definitely cut out the UCs, if you’re out of state. If you really want to go to school in California, UCSD or UCSB might be your best options. Consider cutting Stanford as well, as your SAT score is in their bottom 25% and they often reject those with perfect test scores and 4.0 GPAs. Hence the 4% acceptance rate.

Frankly, you’re at a disadvantage at any top 5 Computer Science school with a Math score of 660. Unless you’re going to reattempt the SAT to get 700+ in Math, aiming for schools like Maryland would be more realistic.

8

Agree with the above that you need to be more realistic. Drop Stanford, UCs, USC - you already have a reach with UVa. And add schools that you have a chance of getting into with your scores so that you have more options at acceptance time. That increases your chances of getting accepted to a college that you can afford.

Also consider applying ED to UVa to increase your chances of getting in there.

9

Virginia Tech should be on that list as well.