How do colleges view certain courses in majors admissions?

Applying to College
1

Hey guys! Well this is my first post, so please let me know if I should post this question in another forum. Anyways, since the beginning of junior year, one main question has been bothering me: how colleges view core classes in relation to accepting students for certain majors.

My main issue is that I chose a rigorous course load this year - 6 APs + Dance & Debate (Calc AB, Chem, Physics 1, Eng Lang, Comp Sci, Statistics) and although it can get very stressful, I have maintained As in all but one class - good old calculus. I got a flat 80 the first semester and have basically been getting Cs on every test, either due to silly mistakes, or my teacher’s grading scale. Although I’m not set on anything yet, I’m planning on a computer science or engineering major. However, I’m very worried about how my low grades in math will look in relation to other highly qualified students, especially at UT Austin - they’ll have straight As, stellar SAT scores (I myself got a 2200), awards/participation in various competitions, while I’ll be struggling just to pull through with an A (if even that). People say that to get accepted to UT’s engineering program, one must have around a 2300, As in calc, etc., so I’m afraid I’ll be highly incompetent compared to others.

In addition, if I apply for comp sci at UT, applicants seem to have participated in coding competitions and other such extracurriculars. It is not that I cannot do these extracurriculars ( I have tried Science UIL and stuff), but it is rather that it seems I don’t have time. I’m afraid my application just looks like someone obsessed with APs (although I was/am genuinely interested in learning different subjects - I’m taking AP Econ next year simply bc I wanna learn about fiscal policies), with a couple of regular clubs, around 250 volunteer hours (mostly tutoring) and a regular leadership position (although I’m Prez of AP Ambassadors, and I pour my heart into working for that club lol - the other officers don’t do much and I’m really truly passionate about it).

Anyways, sorry for the huge rant, but it’s a year’s worth of worries typed into one question: how bad are those core class grades gonna affect my choice of major @ Texas public colleges like UT Austin, TAMU, UTD, etc.? And how does an ordinary student stand in admissions, if she doesn’t have anything else going for her except hard work, determination, and a true passion to learn new things?

P.S.: I moved from a small school in Iowa, so Texas was a whole new experience for me - the ranking system, the pressure to do well, and general competition, but it definitely opened my eyes to the real world. My background is part of the reason I didn’t pursue so many extracurriculars as a freshman/sophomore - I simply didn’t know how competitive life was. I wish I could stay grounded and hang on to my idealistic philosophies - why can’t people just be humble and helpful, and not kill each other over grades? At the same time, I too, have been forced to worry about applications, simply because college admissions are so, so competitive, and in the midst of all these amazing students in Texas, I simply feel incompetent…

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Don’t deflect blame.

More importantly, excellent math skills are essential for CS and engineering majors. No way to predict how your grades will affect your chances at particular schools (and this isn’t the Chances forum), but you really should do everything in your power to show you have the ability to succeed in advanced math classes as a high school student.

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Your admission to Texas public universities heavily depends on your class rank.

But, even if you are in the automatic admission category for the school, admission to your major may not be assured. For engineering or CS admission to the major, they may emphasize the math and science courses and grades.

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@marvin100 Thank you, I suppose unconsciously, I did try to deflect blame - anyways, I’m studying really hard to get a 5 on the AP Test (and maybe with enough rigorous study, a 108/108? Prob not haha), as well as taking the Math Level II subject test. I hope that’ll compensate at least a little bit for the lower grades, and of course I’m still working hard for at least an 87 this semester. Thanks for your advice though!

@ucbalumnus I’m not in automatic admission yet, and it’ll probably be hard to get into top 7% what with people dropping and class size lowering. I suppose because of that, I should try to do some CS or engineering related work/courses over the summer to add to my app. Thanks for your reply though

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You might want to ask yourself why you think CS is the right career path? You mention several other ECs that you are doing and appear to enjoy greatly. Maybe those are revealing your true direction.

People that get ahead in CS are the ones truly obsessed by it. They are writing apps just for fun, taking part in hackathons and the like for the joy they get from it. In HS and then in college, showing the motivation hiring companies are looking for. I’m not saying you can’t learn the CS material, BTW, just that you ought to take time to think about why this career for you. Over the years on CC there are posts by kids interested in pursuing the current “hot” fields. We used to see kids that wanted to be consultants, investment bankers, or go into law; that interest seems to have died down. Becoming a doc is still a perennial favorite; every 5th kid you meet frosh year, it sometimes seems, will say “I’m premed”. And CS is hot right now, but if you follow the news some of the “unicorn” companies are already running out of steam. I have no crystal ball to predict what the CS job market will be in 5 years or so when you are finishing college. But there is a chance the opportunities won’t be like they are today.

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@mikemac
You raise a good point of the CS market 5 years down the road - While I do like the “puzzle” like side of comp sci (like trying to solve coding challenges on HackerRank, which I recently signed up for), my true interest is really to get into the business/corporate side at one of those companies, and to do that, I was advised that getting a BA in comp sci and then going into more business stuff in grad school would be a good path. Anyways, thanks for your perspective too.