I am struggling to find CS colleges that are attainable for me with a mediocre application

College Search & Selection
1

Hello guys, I have been worried for a while now as my journey through highschool has started to approach its conclusion and Im really struggling to identify colleges that are suitable to my grades and EC’s. I have always been academically driven but I have fell short many times throughout my time and even though I have learned from it, I feel like damage has been done in some regard. I don’t feel like I am actually properly assessing potential schools I can attend, not to mention the added competitiveness that comes with me wanted to major in CS.

Nationality: White
Gender: Male
Residence of CA
UW/W GPA:3.92/3.96
UC GPA:4.05
Rank: N/A (Many kids in my school have a gpa nearing 5, I don’t expect myself to be close to the top 10 or maybe even 50)

Honors Chemistry (B First Semester/B Second Semester)
AP Physics (B/A) (5)
AP Seminar (A/A) (5)
AP Calc AB (B/A) (5)
AP Computer Science A (A/A) (5)
AP Calc BC(A/null)
Statistics 1 at nearby Community College as my school does not allow multiple math courses (A)
AP Economics(A/null)

Note: Only 2 years of language, I cannot take a 3rd definitively.

SAT: n/a
ACT: 34

EC:
I have been a Magic: The Gathering Level 2 Judge for three years, I think I can write about the large amount of cooperation and problem solving that goes into it, it is a bit hard to explain though to people who aren’t familiar. I also have a letter of recommendation from my mentor that I have known for about 4 years, meaning it will be very positive.

I have a chess engine I have slowly been improving on as I use it to learn new coding techniques. The creation of the program taught me a lot of concepts and was a bit of a learning journey for me. It isnt amazing but can beat beginners and some intermediates.

I am developing an app that is capable of calculating the probability of favorable tournament outcomes in Magic: The Gathering. Without going into specifics while it isn’t very complex I think that I will be able to gain a bit of traction with it on the App Store as I am familiar with many of the Bay Area players and know they at least will download it.

Financial/Preferences:

I am upper-middle income and as a result financially have no monetary issues when it comes to selection. I was always hopeful of applying to Harvey Mudd but I feel, even ED, it is a very aggressive reach and not worth my time? NYU was another school I am interested in but again not sure how to assess in terms of my application. I have no preferences though really, I just want to get into the best school possible that provides me with the best chance to get accepted into a very prestigious graduate program as I am tempted to go down the research track.

If I missed anything please let me know!

2

How extensive are your academic interests beyond CS? In college will you want to explore courses in diverse fields such as astronomy, geosciences, sociology, classical studies, government, history and literature? The answer to this could help you shape your college choices as much as other major factors.

3

@merc81 I do think there is a possibility I will pursue a minor in Math, though even if not I do plan to delve into math as far as necessary to assist my ability to code well. At the end of the day though there is not much else I really enjoy to the same caliber so everything is more of a supplement, if that makes sense? If your asking more so what the certainty of me wanting to major in CS is I think its practically absolute at this point haha.

4

Based on the above, you could pursue a tech-focused school, but I’m not sure that would be especially necessary for your interests. Tentatively, I’d recommend you explore colleges such as Hamilton or Carleton. Hamilton might appeal to you for its flexible curriculum, in which you could take nearly all of your courses, if desired, in its strong CS and math departments. Carleton would offer you similar excellence in these areas, but with a somewhat more structured curriculum. Schools of this type offer several benefits to CS majors, most notably that their programs are open to all students without further competition and classes may be capped at enrollments of about two dozen.

5

I have not really thought of pursuing a degree from an LAC, what are the benefits over going to a traditional tech school? From my understanding it seems LAC’s tend to have better options for academic track students? If for some reason I choose to pursue a corporate job should I worry about being at a large disadvantage with a LA degree?

6

Are you a junior or a senior? California has a wealth of excellent public universities. I’d focus on those first. They can certainly get you into prestigious graduate programs.

7

Stop beating yourself up. The uber competitive environment you are growing up in is messing with your sense of reality. Your academic record is terrific. You should apply to Harvey Mudd, NYU and anywhere else you want. There are plenty of terrific CS schools for which you will easily get in. I think many of the top public CS programs outside of CA are at least matches. I’m thinking of Washington, Michigan, Illinois, Purdue, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Wisconsin, Texas. I feel certain that you could get into UMASS or Penn State which have outstanding CS departments. Virginia Tech seems well within your reach too.

For privates, beyond Mudd and NYU, I’m thinking RPI, WUSTL, Rochester, Northeastern, Brandies, Tufts.

I can’t imagine that there exists a Canadian school that will reject you with a complete application. Consider Toronto, Waterloo, UBC or McGill.

Because of your string of 5’s on AP exams, you might even consider places like Cambridge or Edinburgh in the UK which don’t even consider your academic transcript, just your standardized test scores like AP exams and SAT.

I agree that outside of Mudd, a LAC is not the best place for a CS degree.

You have to realize that a good CS program is easier to get into than to get through.

So stop worrying. You are in the driver’s seat.

8

Totally agree with @ClassicRockerDad You should definitely consider the colleges mentioned.

9

A LAC can be a great choice for CS if you are seeking rigor jn both CS and associated fields such as math. LACs themselves of course vary by strength in CS, but this should give you some idea as to the emphasis Hamilton places on its program:

https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/comp-sci-department-hosts-college-computing-conference

https://cs.hamilton.edu/ccscne/

If you’d be willing to accept much larger class sizes in your CS courses, and perhaps less rigor in your classes outside of CS, then some of the other suggestions on this thread (which seem to have been influenced by graduate department rankings) might be appropriate for you. If you’d like simply to specialize in, say, graphics and game design at an early stage, then schools with “tech” in their names – for example, RIT and others – would easily be open to a student with your background.

10

Did you apply to UCs and CSUs?

11

^ I hope the OP is a junior.

12

@merc81,@bouders I am currently a junior, So while it is a bit on the horizon I had a bit of worry last night for some reason haha, @ClassicRockerDad I really appreciate all of the universities you recommended and after looking them over I feel much more confidence on potential choices for me.

13

You should have a good selection of UCs and CSUs that will admit you.

However, it is best to include UCSC, UCR, UCM, and CSUs beyond CPSLO and SJSU when applying for CS.

14

@throwaway1429 are you sure your UC GPA calculation is right? Your unweighted is 3.92, and since you have quite a few AP classes, your UC GPA should be higher than 4.05.

15

You should not have anything to be worried about, your stats and resume sound great. S19 has similar stats and this time last year, was starting to define what type of CS interested him the most. He spent lots of time looking at course offerings and exploring college lists for schools that excel in certain areas.

Are you able to go on college visits? That really changed S’s views and fe found environments that he could see himself in for college.

16

@ProfessorPlum168 I pulled it from my portal, Its due to my poor performance in my unweighted classes from 10th grade, almost all of them being B’s

17

@throwaway1429 I see, so that probably means your 10-11 unweighted GPA is less than 3.92 then…

use this to get all your UC GPAs: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/ and let us know.

I think you’ll be competitive at most if not all the UCs for CS. My kid also had the same 4.05 UC GPA after his junior year but had great stats and unique ECs and got into Berkeley for CS. I think you have some compelling stats and activities.

18

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/ can help you calculate HS GPA for UC purposes from your high school record. Most UC reports use the “weighted capped” version unless otherwise stated.