High school student from Southern California aiming for UCs [3.98 GPA; computer science]

Chance Me / Match Me!
, ,
1

Demographics

  • US domestic
  • State/Location of residency: California
  • Type of high school: Public high school
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Female/ Indian

Intended Major(s)
Computer Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.98
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.8
  • Class Rank: 5 / 559
  • SAT Scores (super score): RW 650 M 760

Coursework
12th:
AP Physics C: Mechanics
AP Chemistry
AP Lit
AP Gov (first semester only)
AP Macro (second semester only)
AP CSA
AP World (taken online)
11th:
Physics E (Honors course)
APUSH (4 on exam)
AP Lang (4)
AP Stats (4)
AP Calc BC (3 AB subscore: 4)
Speech and Debate
10th:
English 10 H
Chemistry H
Math III H
AP Environmental Science (4)
AP CSP (3)
Speech and Debate
9th:
English 9 H
Biology H
Spanish I
AP Human Geo (4)
Math II H
Tennis PE

Awards
State Qualifier for Original Oratory
State Qualifier in Policy Debate
Kuara Academic Award (Given to top 25 in grade)
Scholar Award (Given to top 1%)
NCWIT Aspirations in Computing

Extracurriculars
Selected to attend California Boys & Girls State
Student Commissioner for City
Tutor for the C-STEM program (program to make technology more available) at district
Part of team that helped to build an app for the city
Captain of Girls Tennis Team
Played varsity tennis for 4 years
Selected to be part of the Young Legislators Program
President of COMPACT club at school
Played varsity badminton for 3 years
Volunteered at the Veterans Affairs Hospital
Part of the Science Olympiad Team at School and competing in the robot tour
President of Red Cross Club at school
Peer Tutor for school
Part of Civil Air Patrol
Part of the Speech & Debate Team

Essays/LORs/Other
Essay about leadership, love for computer science, and ways that I have helped the community (Not very strong essays)
One letter of recommendation from a counselor (Not very strong)

Schools

  • Safety: ASU UCR UCD
  • Likely UCI UCSD
  • Match UCLA UCB
  • Reach CMU MIT
2

What are your GPAs recalculated for UC using the method at GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub ?

At most UCs, computer science is a more competitive / selective major than the campus overall. The same goes for CMU.

But ASU is an admission safety (auto admit with 3.0 GPA) even though there are some criteria that are slightly higher for computer science than general campus admission.

3

Congrats to you. Fine record. Will let others evaluate the UCs. ASU is solid abd you’ll get merit but not as much as U of A unless U of A alters their aid downward.

If you’re happy at ASU, then you’re good.

Your reaches are highly unlikely due to your low ( for them) SAT.

There are others like Lehigh or RPI that may be in a somewhat similar vein and give much better odds.

Any budget concerns? Your stats would net you big $$ at some other schools.

Best of luck.

4

I see Spanish 1, but nothing beyond that…Did you continue with a language other than English?

Also UCLA and UCB are reaches, UCI maybe a low reach/high target, UCSD maybe a target although for CS might also be low reach, UCR is a low target, UCD maybe a target (CS bumps it up a bit)? That is my opinion. Likely ASU is your only true safety, but if you’re good with that, then your list is fine.

2 Likes
5

Didn’t notice that the first time, but having only level 1 would not meet minimum admission requirements at UC or ASU.

6

Maybe she just didn’t list it? Because I don’t see a fine art either but I think she must have that in order to graduate in California…Not sure how many years of foreign language you need to graduate - may only be one? Hopefully she will clarify. But, yes, if only one year of language, that will be a problem. And if she does have a second year, and only a second year, that will hurt for competitive UC admissions.

1 Like
7

Congratulations, that’s incredible rigor and academic achievement.

Asu Barrett is a good safety, is it affordable?
(If you’re not done with your Barrett app, complete it ASAP).
What about Cal Poly SLO ?
UCD is more a target for CS.
UCI: look at a CS adjacent major for a match.
UCLA, UCB have a CS acceptance rate similar to Harvard so selectivity alone makes them reach for everyone.

You need 2-3 more matches.
Right now you have 2 safeties, 1 match, and everything else reaches.

What’s your budget? Can your parents afford your EFC (/sai) and have you run the NPC on all the colleges?

If your letters of recommendation aren’t stellar and don’t explain with specific anecdotes how you stand out, MIT is not going to happen.

Trying to figure out what would be a match beside Cal poly Slo…
Are you recruitable at the D3 level for tennis and can your parents afford their EFC(/Sai)? If so, run the NOC, then if they’re affordable contact the tennis coach at top LACs by the end of the holiday - perhaps Tufts, Brandeis, Bates, Middlebury, Connecticut College? Or Colgate, Lafayette… None of these are like UCs though (they’re small, East Coast, very prestigious but not as well-known) and if you don’t qualify for financial aid they won’t be affordable. And to make them less of a reach you need tennis, without tennis these don’t help your list at all.

Is CMU affordable according to their NPC (they’re very stingy with Financial aid)? Do you like their very specific vibe? If so why not apply to Reed or Swarthmore? If not perhaps subsitute another university.

Have you considered adding WPI (good male/female ratio, collaborative&hands-on like Cal Poly, intense schedule) near Boston? It’d be a likely if the NPC shows they’re affordable.

Is Harvey Mudd out because you don’t like their curriculum or because it’s not affordable?

Ps: assuming you took Spanish 2&3 and just didn’t list the course, same for the fine&performing arts requirement.

2 Likes
8

my uc gpa is 4.33

9

I forgot to add the college courses that I took.
9th:
Intro to Econ
10th:
Intro to Computer
Spanish I
11th:
Intro to Business
Intro to Computer Science
College Spanish II
12th:
Art History I
Art History II
Java Programming

10

Were these through DE? If so, this will definitely strengthen your profile for the UCs.

11

I took 2 years of Spanish from a college. I was also thinking that UCLA and UCB are reaches. I am just hoping to get into at least one of them.

2 Likes
12

I think you will get several offers. From where is hard to say as the UCs can be unpredictable. You certainly seem very competitive for all UC campuses, but with the low, low acceptance rate, they are reaches for all students, even the most highly qualified.

13

I have taken two years of spanish from a college as well and for the fine art I have taken Art History I and am currently taking art history II. I forgot to list the college course I have taken.

1 Like
14

I’m not planning to play tennis in college. I was thinking of applying to other colleges, but I feel like it might be better to go to community and then transfer. I’ll add a couple other colleges to my list though. I took two years of Spanish and two art history courses from a college.

15

I was mainly hoping for either UCLA or UCB. Do you think that it’s possible with my stats?

1 Like
16

It’s definitely possible - not guaranteed of course, especially as a CS major, but you are clearly a very competitive candidate.

17

I feel like my academics are good, but my AP scores are lacking will that affect my chances by a lot?

18

Probably not. They are considered, but my speculation is that they can help if they are high, but don’t really hurt if they are low. My daughter actually didn’t submit a single AP test score and is now a freshman at UC Berkeley, so it clearly did not hurt her much, if at all.

19

Thank you so much

1 Like
20

Definitely possible but the odds are about 1 in 20 for CS…
That’s why you need to diversify your list.
The CC->UC path is uniquely good in CA but beware: UCLA &UCB do not have TAG and admission to CS from CC is extremely competitive. In addition, you forego the college experience of living on campus etc.
I hope :crossed_fingers: you get into the UCs of your choice right away of course.
Happy Thanksgiving :poultry_leg:

1 Like