I go to a pretty competitive public high school in Texas and I’m afraid that I can’t get into a good computer science program due to just one factor (at most one in my eyes). GPA and Class Rank. I have a 3.88 UW GPA and I’m 85th out 570 in my class. While that may seem bad, I have competed in competitions (Debate, Computer Science, some national), I created machine learning projects which have landed me awards in science fairs , I have presidential roles in 5 major clubs such as Debate, I have a 1590 SAT and a 1510 PSAT, and mostly 5’s on my 12 AP exams.
I’d also like to add that my GPA and Class Rank is mostly low because of my freshman year. While I have gotten near 100’s in all AP classes my junior year, my freshman year holds me back because I had mental problems back then and plus, I really did not know what I was doing back then.
I don’t want to blame all of my problems on my mental problems and make it look like an excuse for my low GPA because I know could have done better despite of it. I was really dumb. What do I do to get into a good computer science program?
The very “top” computer science programs are very hard to get into, but the good news is that you can get an excellent education at many, many schools that you’ll have no trouble getting into.
What’s your budget for college? Are you eligible for need-based financial aid?
Within Texas, you may not be able to get into CS at UT-Austin, but CS at UT-Dallas is excellent too. I don’t know too much about TAMU admissions but presumably you’d have options within that system as well.
There are plenty of out-of-state flagships with strong CS programs, that would love to have a student like you. For example, U of Utah (where you could qualify for resident rates after the first year - great for debate as well, if you want to do that in college), UNevada-Reno, Arizona State… and that’s just looking in the West/Southwest. Plenty of great programs in the South and Midwest as well, many of which could be quite affordable with the merit you would qualify for. (High SAT, and presumably >4.0 weighted GPA) There are plenty of private schools that would work well too - both liberal arts colleges with strong CS programs, and universities.
Also, if you have money to burn and your sophomore and junior year grades are great, the University of California schools don’t consider 9th grade in computing the UC GPA. Use this tool to recalculate your GPA for UC’s - you might be in fine shape, if spending $65K/year is not a problem for you. GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub (OTOH, UC’s are test-blind now, so your stellar SAT won’t help you.)
Basically, you just need to adjust your filter for what constitutes a “good” computer science program. The competition for the schools that are perceived as the “top” 5-10 or even 20 CS school has gotten ridiculously fierce, but honestly, going to one of the many other excellent programs that would welcome you will not limit your prospects at all. It’s just a matter of finding the right fit for the right price.
You might try a strategy of aiming for somewhat less selective schools that nevertheless have ranked computer science programs. You can get the benefit of great professors doing cool things, be the star of your class, and maybe get merit money.
I am not that well-versed in CS programs, but these schools appear in the US News rankings of top CS undergrad programs and have an overall admit rate of 50% or better:
U Mass Amherst
Virginia Tech
U Wisconsin - Madison
Penn State
The Ohio State
You have a 3.88 UW GPA and that lands you at 85th? They must be giving out some pretty fancy grades at your school.
As for the rest of your post, I can’t tell if you are trolling or not. Your resume is incredible, and as a pro tip, it is a bit insulting to others whose resumes are not as strong to complain about how low your GPA is or how dumb you were for getting it when you have a 3.88 and 1590 SAT. As another pro tip from someone who was spent a lot of my career around tech people, the over the top, faux humility doesn’t play well with technology people. This is an industry where a lot of people are self-taught and went to community college, so they are not going to be overly sympathetic to the plight of someone with your grades and scores.
As for the rest of it, you will likely get into a Top 20 Computer Science program as long as your essays are a little more grounded than this post. Don’t get hung up on rankings in STEM majors, because the undergrad programs are going to cover a lot of the same ground from school to school. Find a school you like that has the courses you want, and make the most of it.
How is your mental health holding up? I think you need to maintain perspective on what you can control vs what you can’t control and properly calibrate your expectations to something short of perfection. You have an extremely strong resume and will be a solid candidate at a variety of top schools. You cannot however control which schools will offer you a spot and you can’t achieve perfection nor would even perfection guarantee you a spot.
Slow down and breath, do things you are passionate about and seek out friends and fun. If you start to feel pressure or depression seek out help.
In addition avoid or ignore adults that are insensitive, accusatory or just mean.
I don’t see you as having “faux humility” but as a 17 year old trying to get reassurance having faced a mental health issue. Know that most adults will respond with compassion.
Not the OP, but Texas is very focused on class rank so that is probably where the angst is coming from and it’s not completely unfounded. UT Austin has automatic admission for a certain class rank — top 6%? top 10%? can’t remember exactly — and the OP’s rank is below that automatic admission threshold.
However, if you are open to out of state options, your excellent scores can open up lots of opportunities elsewhere. Texas is a bit of an anomaly on the class rank thing. A lot of colleges don’t even consider it! I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, home of UNC-Chapel Hill and our local school system did away with rank completely a few years ago because the kids were getting too competitive about it. I can assure you that plenty of kids still get into UNC and Duke and the ivies w/o it.
That was my grades before but they adjusted it since it was the end of semester 1. Sorry for not explaining that. My bad. And SAT… yeah, I like to boost a little to see my different chances. Sorry about that.
UT Austin has automatic admission for top 6%, but that does not include automatic admission to competitive majors like CS. All other Texas public universities have automatic admission for the top 10%, but that also does not necessarily include automatic admission to competitive majors. However, less selective Texas public universities often have additional ranges of automatic admission that can go to much lower class ranks (although often in combination with SAT or ACT scores).
Arizona State University has a good computer program and has lower admission requirements because they have a lot of space available. If you aren’t MIT, CalTech, UC Berkeley, or any other elite colleges, it really doesn’t matter where you attend. We know a very smart person who aces tests and the SAT and he said UCB CS was very challenging. While those elite colleges may prepare better and the graduates will have job offers straight out of college, you may have to work some lower level coding job before moving on, you will need work experience. There are tests that CS employers have their applicants take prior to interviews, and books for studying them. The employers want to see what you know, so CS is more about the person than the college. Not everyone is graduating from the elite CS colleges. Best wishes.
Agree with this, if you can afford it, consider applying OOS to a couple of UCs, use rogerhub and see where your weighted GPA and weighted-capped GPAs are. Then focus on private colleges that focus more on 10th and 11th and can see the progression in grades. These colleges will still see your 9th year grades but will look at other things that would balance those grades. I know Stanford is one, but maybe some that are a little easier to get into.
“There are 485 kids behind you.”
Those aren’t the kids applying to UT-Austin stem programs, it will be the 84 kids ahead. I agree on the perspective part though.
These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective).