International Student applying for Computer Science Programmes. Chance me and University Suggestions

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi, I’m an international student entering my final year at a Mexican school. I was wondering if you guys could chance me and I’d be willing to chance you back. My goal is to study computer science at a good American or Canadian institution. However, I’m aware that not only is it significantly more expensive it is, unfortunately, harder for me to get accepted.

These are the institutions I’m considering, if you have I would most certainly appreciate it. (Most schools I’m applying to provide financial aid to international students since I’m not going to pay over 45,000 dollars, it a lot of money)
Reach: UPenn, Columbia, Cooper Union (Engineering Programme +Brother is there), Brown?, JHU
Target: University of Toronto, UBC, McGill, Colgate?, University of Washington
Safety: Tulsa (Sweet PE Scholarship/Double Degree), UT Austin

Objective:
•SAT I: 1540 (might retake)
•ACT: Got 33 in a school practice one, I will be taking it hoping for more than 33
•SAT II: Going to take Math and Physics in November.
•Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.785 (Hope I can raise)
•Weighted GPA: 4.45
•Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Not Sure, Top 15%?
•AP (place score in parenthesis): NA
•IB (place score in parenthesis): OPS: 40 points
•Junior Year Course Load: HL Maths (Going to drop), HL CS, HL Business Management, HL Eng first language (Language and Literature), SL Physics, SL Spanish First Language (Language and Literature)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Hard to get in Mexico and Colombia were I lived. Quarter Finalist at the Kolmogorov Math Olympics, Semi-Finalist at the Graham Bell engineering competition.

Subjective:
•Extracurriculars: Student Body Treasurer, MUN 5+ Years (Multiple Awards and Undersecretary General of my school’s model), Co-Founder of the Programing and Robotics Club, Programing Instructor for Students Afterschool, Yearbook Editor. Played Guitar for 4 years, played in 6 concerts. 1 year of Italian
•Job/Work Experience: Former Creative Director for an Online LOL tournament with 300+ regular viewers 1 year. Created multiple websites for customers.
•Volunteer/Community service: Its hard to Volunteer Much in Mexico for security reasons. Will try to get some more don., Although for the School requirement I did 120+ hours of community service.
•Summer Activities: Summer Course at NYU for Computer Science with a 3.0 CEU for the university of Villanova.
•Essays: Still have to write
•Recs: Computer Science Teacher (Good), Mathematics Teacher (Will show me as unique, long story), English Teacher (Good)
•Interview: hasn’t happened yet
•Other: Multiple Certificates for English proficiency (English is my Second Language), Very high ranked LOL player?,

Other:
•Applying for Financial Aid?: Yes
•State (if domestic applicant):
•Country (if international applicant): Mexican
•School Type: Private (Very Highly Recognised Institution)
•Ethnicity: Mixed Race
•Gender: Male
•Income: Around 100k I suppose.
•Hooks : Am dyslexic, but overcame it?, maybe that I have 4 Citizenships?

2

you have very high scores on standardized tests, which prove that the GPA you received is accurate (sometimes low test grades make a high GPA seem faulty). your extracurriculars are also really impressive! i would not say it will be harder for you to get accepted at an American or Canadian school. colleges LOVE to boast high numbers of international students. since you’re from another country, very bright, and very involved in EC’s, you have excellent chances at all of the schools you listed. good luck in applying! i have a lot of confidence in saying that your top choices would take you!

3

You’ve been very kind with your response, thank you very much. :3 (ahhh re-read my post loads of typos or little mistakes ahh)

4

Have you considered top Computer Science schools outside of the Ivy League? Schools like Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and MIT could fit into your “reach” list. And I think you have a legitimate chance of getting into them.

Also, Georgia Tech is a fantastic CS school that you’d definitely get into. I don’t know what kind of international aid they offer, though, so definitely research that if you’re interested.

5

Oh, and by the way, UT Austin is a great choice. It’s actually the best school on your list right now in terms of CS rankings.

6

Yeah, I don’t know much about American Schools so I grabbed overall strong schools, I have seen UT Austin high up CS rankings with Cornell and CMU, the problem with CMU is they don’t offer financial aid to international students. What CS rankings list were you using btw? (or your criteria) maybe I’m missing some more info. MiT and Standford look too insane.

7

Penn would be a good choice for you because they are need-blind to Mexican students! Your CS background is solid too.

8

Please update this when you get an admission decision. I am in a similar situation.

9

I got deferred.