<p>My grades and scores are really nothing special, so I'm having trouble finding schools that would be solid matches for me. Basically the schools I'm looking at are reaches and I need some ideas for match schools.</p>
<p>GPA 4.1w/ 3.5uw
SAT 2090- 680Math 640CR 770Writing
EC's:
Red Cross Club President
Student Exchange Program Club Officer
NHS
CSF
Medical Program at my school
IDTech camp
Verified Certificate of Achievement- CS50 through edX
About 100 Community service hours
One season of sports</p>
<p>I want to major in Computer Science, possibly with a second major in Finance.
Help me out? Disregard pricing, and I'm interested in the Northeast and California. Just interested in good fits for me in terms of getting in and prestige of their CS program. :)</p>
<p>Also if anyone has any suggestions for beefing up my resume, please contribute!</p>
<p>What is your home state and what other things are you looking for in a college? Using the college board or CC search option may help narrow it down a bit. Northeastern University may be a good fit, as they have strong programs with CS and business. Their Co-Op option is pretty superb as well.</p>
<p>Your stats aren’t too different from those of my son who is entering college in the fall. Your stats are slightly higher, but he had much stronger ECs, and was not applying to as heavily “impacted” (ie. competitive) a major as you will be. For computer science, I would say that you are not competitive at the top UCs. You should re-calculate your GPA according to the discrete UC formula, but I don’t think that your Math SAT is strong enough. The top UCs are almost as selective as Ivies/Stanford/MIT/CalTech when it comes to STEM departments. I’d say that CalPoly-SLO would be a reach for Computer Science, but San Jose State or San Diego State might be matches with your stats. I think you’d have a reasonable chance at UC Santa Cruz, which has good connections with the Silicon Valley tech community. UC Santa Barbara and Irvine would be high-match, low-reach schools for you, probably. I’m not sure what admissions are like at Davis for Computer Science, but I suspect it’s also “impacted.” Unfortunately, the data sets presented at these universities are mostly aggregate: they do not break down stats by department, and so they won’t give you a realistic picture for Computer Science admissions. My son got into Davis and UCSD, but as a regular Arts & Sciences applicant, not for STEM. In the Northeast, you might have a pretty good chance at Lehigh, Fordham, or Northeastern, although none would be a sure thing for you. Drexel is another possibility, as are Pitt, Temple, and Stevens Institute. Your Math SAT is a concern for any elite STEM program. It is not bad, but I think that most will look for scores over 700. Have you taken a Subject Test? What about AP or IB exam scores in Math. You have a solid resume for most colleges, but it’s a little more problematic for STEM schools. </p>
<p>I live in California!
In terms of campus setting, I would prefer to stay toward suburban. I don’t mind if it’s more toward one or the other, but I’d prefer not completely urban or completely rural on the extremes. Basically, I don’t want to be in the middle of nowhere but I don’t want there to be practically no campus. I would like somewhere where the kids are relatively involved in campus life.</p>
<p>Also: I have 4 AP’s soph and junior year, and will have 6 by the end of senior year</p>
<p>I plan on taking the Math II subject test in the fall which will hopefully improve my standing.
What major would be less impacted? Do you suggest applying to a different major then switching into CS?</p>
<p>If you live in Cali, then you should consult your adviser and your school’s Naviance site for acceptance histories with your stats. You would be pretty competitive at all the UCs other than UCLA and UCB (and they might be reasonable reaches for you) as an applicant to the regular Arts & Science colleges. I don’t know how hard or easy it would be to switch to CS from another major within the university, especially if it means transferring between colleges. That is a question you should pursue with admissions offices. Will you have an opportunity to visit some of the campuses this summer? I think that CS departments are typically housed within Engineering Schools at most of the UCs. You would have to inquire about transfers between schools at each of them. </p>
<p>I apologize for the confusion: I meant that the departments are within Engineering schools, not the general colleges of arts and sciences. Most undergraduates will share housing (not true everywhere). The main thing is to know that these are probably the most competitive departments at most of the universities we have discussed. I can list a number of colleges where you fit comfortably within the statistical profile, but where the Engineering departments are more difficult to get into. Your numbers are pretty good for Tulane, for example, but possibly not for their STEM departments. Wake Forest might be a good option, although it is outside of Northeast or California. It has a Computer Science major within the undergraduate college, and your stats are right within their range. </p>