Honest Chances (And A Few Questions): Georgia Tech, UT Austin, Cal Berkeley, Stanford

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I know Stanford is a reach school for anyone, but I think it’s worth a chance to ask.

Gender: M
Ethnicity: Black/African American
Planned Major: CS & EE (or CS w/ EE, whatever floats your boat lol)
Location: Marietta, GA

GPA: 3.94 UW, 4.47 W
SAT: 1950 (Bad, I realize. I’m taking this again in October and shooting for a 2150 at least)
MATH: 700, RDG: 650, WRTG: 600
AP Classes: 9, including senior year
Course Rigor 12th Grade: AP Lit, AP Calc AB (BC next semester, but I doubt that matters much), Health, AP Government, AP Economics, AP Physics C Mechanics, Weight-Lifting
Class Rank: 13/450

EC:
Symphonic II (2nd highest) Band (9-10)
Computer Science Club (10-12)
Varsity Football (9-12)
Varsity Track (9-12)
Computer Building/Repair Business (11-12)
APCS Tutor (12)
Algebra Tutor (12)
NHS (11-12)

Awards/Recognition:
Varsity Football Team Captain (12)
All-County Offensive Player of the Week (11)
Offensive Player of the Week 2X in a Row
The Great Rivalry Scholarship Winner (State-Wide)
Placed Top 5 @ HP Code Wars in Austin, TX (Nation-Wide)
UGA Academic Achievement Winner (State-Wide)
HOCO Court (10-12)
Honor Rolls, AP Scholar w/ Distinction

Service:
Build Computers for Charity (Built a dozen so far)
Manager for Girls Lacrosse (12, 50+ hours)

QUESTIONS!
I would love to hear my chances with the schools listed. I’m thinking about going EA for GA Tech but idk if Tech accepts the October SAT (can anyone help me out here?). Also, I have yet to take the SAT IIs, but I plan on taking one for Math and perhaps one for Physics. I know they aren’t necessary (except for maybe Stanford), but will they boost my chances for GA Tech and Cal?

Thank you all that reply!

2

Forgot my AP Test Scores thus far:

AP World 4
APUSH 4
APCS 3 <---- This is really scaring me. I had a bad day during the test and dozed off for 30 minutes or so, only to realize I had to rush the rest of the test. I got a 100 in the class though.
AP Lang 4

3

I think you’re a great candidate for all of the universities on your list, although you should add a safety or two. Ga Tech won’t care about your SAT IIs for admissions, since they use those more to place you in the right classes. I don’t know about October SAT – seems like they’ll go by the scores you already have.

You’ve done really well in high school! I also think you would love living in Atlanta. You should consider applying to some more universities in metro Atlanta.

4

@mommyrocks Thank you! I actually live in Marietta GA which is about 30 minutes away from downtown Atlanta, so it’s convenient that GA Tech is literally next door. I’m also eligible for Zel Miller which will cut down tuition a good bit, so Tech seems to be my best bet, but I want to aim a bit higher too, especially considering Stanford has been my dream school for sooooo long.

I love Atlanta so far, but I really do not like the humidity. Other than that, I wouldn’t mind staying there for the next 4 years. What other schools do you have in mind?

5

You asked about other potential colleges to add to your list. I’m guessing you are interested in computer science. Why don’t you consider some of the following:

Reach:
Harvard
MIT
Carnegie Mellon
Cornell

Match:
UGA and other state universities of your choice (Washington, Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland, etc.)
Stevens Institute of Technology (and similar places)

Safety:
Georgia State
Morehouse
University of Alabama-Huntsville
City College of New York
University of Texas-Dallas
SUNYs (Stony Brook, U at Buffalo…)

I didn’t research these against your stats, so these are guesstimates off the top of my head. I also don’t know to what extent you are looking for scholarships or financial aid, but there are plenty out there you could qualify for if you look for them. Some universities will offer practically nothing, while others will offer a lot. It’s worth researching to find out your best options in addition to Zell Miller. Good luck!

6

Thank you for the informative and quick reply. I appreciate it! I’ll definitely look into other match, and more importantly, safety schools since I don’t really have a safety net built in.

I still really have to research colleges scholarships a bit more since I have been slacking on that big time. Regardless, it feels good knowing that I have a decent chance, even though, ironically, the odds are not in my favor for any of these schools. Lol

7

OOS students, for California public schools, pay full fees of $55k+ per year.

Can your parents afford that? The state public schools cannot use affirmative action for admission, so race doesn’t help.

8

@“aunt bea” Yeah, I had a feeling AA wouldn’t be allowed for public state schools, but I thought it best to add as much information as possible.

They’re willing to go the distance for payment as long as I go the distance myself (apply for scholarships, finacial aid, get a job), but I’m thinking that an in state school is much better for UGRAD, just so I don’t deal with debt afterwards.

9

I think you should apply to the California privates since those schools have the money.

I think you have a good shot at Stanford and USC, for admission and scholarships if you take an ACT and score well.

Everything else looks great!

10

i dont consider myself knowledgeable enough to chance you for most of your universities
for UT austin, though, i will say that their engineering program is extremely competitive even in state. you could probably get in for CS, but for EE it’s going to be a crapshoot.
for stanford, i had a friend with a better rank but less ECs and less academic focus (she didn’t know what she wanted to study) get on their wait list. so i think you’ll get in or get wait listed, but probably not rejected.

good luck!

11

@“aunt bea” Thank you. If I do take the ACT, it would have to be in December (late, I know, but better than never). I’m also thinking about UCLA or USC, but their undergrad for CS isn’t as good as the others I listed, but they’re definitely worth a shot! Still very prestigious.

@sahar1811 Thank you. CS is actually my first choice so that works out if I have a better shot at making that than EE. Wait-listed is fine by me as well. Thank you for the commentary!

12

UT Austin and Berkeley are both reaches for you. You need much higher score for them particularly from OOS.

13

@billcsho In what? SAT?

14

Of course. AP scores do not have much weight at all for admission.

15

@billcsho Well, that calms my conscience. I thought the 3 in APCS would cut my chances down significantly.

Assuming I get my desired score (2150), Berkeley and UT Austin would be match schools I’m assuming? Or am I still setting them at too low a standard?

16

No. SAT 2150 would still not make Berkeley and UT Austin matches for you. Affirmative Act is banned in CA for admission. SAT 2150 is around the admission average while the admission rate is very low for OOS students. UT Austin has slightly lower admission stat than Berkeley, but it also admit very little OOS students due to the automatic admission policy for in state students. So neither of these OOS flagships are a match for you. Before you looking at any OOS schools. Make sure you can afford them as most OOS public give very poor aids, if any, to OOS students.

17

Alright, thank you for the info. I’ll keep that in mind and shoot for a higher SAT score. Lol

18

UT is very difficult to get in OOS for sure…top 8% of TX already get auto-admit and its the main choice for many…
UCBerk is CRAZY expensive from what I’ve seen for OOS

19

Apparently so unfortunately. I’ll keep that in mind when applying. Thanks