How hard would it be to get into CompSci with my stats? (Below-avg/avg)

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
1

Asian Female (Texan In-State)
First Generation
Single Parent Income: $45k
UW GPA: 3.65/4.0
W GPA: 5.3/6.0
Rank: 40/751 (Top 5.3%) - That means I’m within the top 7%, but I’m guessing they don’t accept majors using this criteria?
First SAT: 1250/1600 (I can never focus on these timed tests. I don’t plan to retake, but I will if I REALLY have to.)
First ACT: 28 Comp, 27 English, 27 Math, 35 Reading, and 21 Science + Unknown Essay

Courses:
Summer: Algebra 1 PreAP
Year1: AVID, Bio PreAP, Eng PreAP, Geometry PreAP, World Geo PreAP, French 1, PE
Summer: Speech, Health
Year2: AVID, Algebra PreAP, Chem PreAP, Eng 2 PreAP, World Hist AP, French 2, Computer Science 1 PreAP
Year3: Art, AP Physics, AP Eng 3, AP US Hist, Game Design PreAP, PreCal PreAP, Computer Science 2 AP
Year4: AP Eng 4, AP Govt, AP Econ, AP Psych, AP Environmental Sci, Sociology, Computer Science 3 Honors
For my senior year, I’m taking two periods off to work and study. Psychology AP, Sociology, Government AP, and Economics AP are all half-semesters.

I don’t really have any ECs or volunteering hours because my mom is a single mother who works far away and I don’t have any form of transportation except the school bus.

I sort-of volunteered for a environmental club for two years until I couldn’t go anymore. I participated in a religious trek for a week once over the summer. Once I volunteered to teach middle schoolers how to publish a website with some basic html (4 hours), but that’s it.

Awards: AP Scholar, Honor Rolls, Academic Excellence
This year, I got my driver’s license. I might get a job at Walgreens also as a cashier.

2

UT has two variables (Academic Index and personal Achievement Index) to decide majors.They use class rank, test scores essays, leadership, extracurricular activities towards your major to come up with your score. At this time make sure your essays are really good and improve your test scores to 32 ACT or 1400+ SAT. CS is very competitive. Good luck.

3

Components of PAI are below:

The Personal Achievement Index (PAI)

o Scores on two essays o Leadership o Extracurricular Activities o Awards/honors o Work experience o Service to school or community o Special circumstances:  Socio-economic status of family  Single parent home  Language spoken at home  Family responsibilities  Socio-economic status of school attended  Average SAT/ACT of school attended in relation to student’s own SAT/ACT  Race/Ethnicity (beginning with fall 2005)

Despite your lack of ECs, you’all get some credit here for some of the other factors. Do you care for younger siblings? Include that in your application.

Your lack of ECs and your test scores are probably your biggest obstacles.

Make sure you talk to your family about finances. UT does not meet full need so your financial aid package will likely include loans.