<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I am in desperate need of help in choosing CS schools to apply to. I am a senior from northern New Jersey.</p>
<p>SAT: 2160 (670 CR, 800 Math, 690 Writing)
ACT: 33 (33 Eng, 34 Math, 33 Reading, 30 Sci)
GPA: 3.63 UW (Poor freshman year, 3.9+ since)
APs: 10 by graduation
ECs: Varsity Track, Varsity Football, NHS President, Model UN
I currently work for a software development company in Ohio.</p>
<p>I am planning to apply ED to University of Pennsylvania. I am lost beyond that, however. Do you have any suggestions on well-regarded schools that I would have a chance at getting into? I heard that Stanford disregards freshman year GPA. Do I even have a shot at Penn?</p>
<p>PLEASE HELP!!!</p>
<p>Seriously, you don’t haven’t researched schools except Penn and Stanford and it is almost November 1st?! </p>
<p>What has your guidance counselor suggested?</p>
<p>CMU recalculates GPA eliminate freshman year grades and it is one of the best programs in the country. Extremely competitive to get into though.
CS is usually good at the good engineering schools but also many LACs so it depends on what type of environment you are looking for.</p>
<p>I suppose I should re-word my post. I have looked into many schools, however I am lost as to where I have a chance at due to my low freshman year GPA.</p>
<p>You haven’t specified anything about where you’d like to go to school, what your financial parameters are, etc. My son was focusing mainly on the northeast with a bit of mid-Atlantic mixed in, so here are some suggestions from his list:</p>
<p>Check out Drexel, NJIT, RIT, WPI, Northeastern, RPI, UMass Amherst</p>
<p>I think those are all safety/match level for you. </p>
<p>At Drexel, you’d likely get merit aid from them and qualify for their honors program. They have a very nice co-op program (RIT and Northeastern also have significant co-op programs.) RIT generally offers less merit than Drexel, but is often willing to match.</p>
<p>For a reach, consider Cornell. You can apply for CS through the school of engineering, or arts and sciences. (Decide according to which curriculum is a better fit for you – I don’t think one is any easier to get into than the other.) </p>
<p>I don’t think your freshman GPA closes too many doors. Schools like the “upward trend”.</p>
<p>What schools were you considering?</p>
<p>Which state is the one of your residency (NJ or OH)? What are your cost constraints?</p>
<p>The state universities of your state of residency (e.g. Rutgers or The Ohio State University) are obvious ones to put on your application list.</p>
<p>Lower cost out of state schools include Stony Brook, Virginia Tech, NCSU, Minnesota, and Cal Poly SLO.</p>
<p>My state of residency is Ohio. I do not really have any financial or distance restrictions. I really wouldn’t mind traveling to California, or somewhere such as UIUC or Drexel.</p>
<p>I was considering schools like Harvey Mudd, UTexas at Austin, Georgia Tech, and UC San Diego. Again, I am not quite sure if I would be eligible for such elite schools.</p>
<p>Do you have cost constraints? Out of state public universities are usually not very generous with need-based financial aid, although some offer large merit scholarships.</p>
<p>California publics calculate an admissions GPA without freshman year, but the cost of attendance is over $50,000 for UCs, and about $30,000 for CSUs.</p>
<p>I am not restrained by any costs. The UCLA, UCB, and UCSD are all very appealing to me. I have heard that they are near impossible to get into out of state though.</p>
<p>Your stats do appear to give you a decent chance at the UCs, but you also need to write a good essay.</p>
<p>Note that at Berkeley, you can choose either the College of Engineering (EECS major) or College of Letters and Science (undeclared; declare L&S CS major after completing prerequisites).</p>
<p>At UCSD, you need to choose one of the six colleges, but they are not aligned by majors (you can do any major in any college). However, they have different themes and breadth requirements, so check carefully before applying.</p>
<p>Which is more difficult to be accepted to, EECS or L&S? Thanks for the info on UCSD, I’ll make sure to look into it further.</p>
<ol>
<li>You apply to Ohio State as your safety</li>
<li>Other schools that are not far BUT has good CS programs include, U-Illinois and CMU.</li>
<li>You are in Big-10 country…any of the CS programs will be OK</li>
<li>Then add the Penns, Cornells and Stanfords for the reaches</li>
<li>IT’S COMPUTER SCIENCE…any school in the Top-50 or Top-100 will get you hired</li>
</ol>
<p><strong><em>doesn’t understand why folks put so much un-needed stress on themselves</em></strong></p>
<p>CMU School of Computer Science is amazing but extremely competitive for entrance – on a level with Caltech and MIT it seems.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Probably should read something like “top 50/100 in CS or ABET accreditation in CS” means at least decent quality (although there may be some other decent ones not in those categories). Some schools in the top 50/100 in general prestige are rather limited in CS offerings.</p>
<p>However, on-campus recruiting is likely to be better at schools better known in CS and for schools local to employers, so students at other schools need to be more aggressive at applying for internships and jobs. But also note that the big companies that people seem to talk about all the time recruit widely, as they have the resources to go to a lot of schools (and you know who they are anyway so you can apply to them); it is the smaller, less well known companies that recruit at fewer schools.</p>
<p>I have a slight preference for engineering schools since you have the option of taking courses or perhaps a minor in another technical field. For example, a CS with a minor in ECE. Just being able to take other engineering classes might help direct your future plans and a good engineering school will have good recruiting/job placement. Case Western, U. Rochester, Bucknell, etc.</p>
<p>All you can do is apply, write amazing essays, and hope that they will look beyond your freshman year grades. If your family has enough money to spend $60K per year on college, they have enough for you to do a few applications. Good luck!</p>
<p>You’re actually in range for all but the “elite” schools, and even in those you might have a shot if you have something strong in another area (such as being an elite athlete). I think Harvey Mudd is as hard as MIT to get into.</p>
<p>There are many really good CS programs, as others have said, you don’t need to shoot for the elite schools.</p>
<p>I’d suggest the Big10 schools, and some of the ACC schools (has nothing to do with the sports, it’s just easier for me to group them this way). For example, NC State has very good engineering & CS, is not as hard to get into as (say) Cornell or CMU.</p>