Hi, I was refining my list of colleges and I just wanted to make sure that my list wasn’t too top heavy. I’m CS for VA and my stats are:
SAT: 1330
ACT: 31
Math II (projected): 800
Physics (projected): 750
Rank: Not high.
Major: Computer Science
GPA: 3.45 
Extracurriculars:
Computer Science Internship last summer at NOVA Systemic.
5 year tournament-winning VEX Robotics leader (engineering, design, programming).
^ mentored 3/5 new members last year and still did well. Been to worlds and states multiple times.
Chapter leader of a local volunteer organization PASTA (Peers And Students Taking Action) Won “Most Involved Chapter Leader” award and “Chapter of the Year” two times.
Volunteer every year for elementary/middle age kids about STEM.
Also, it would be great if someone could confirm that the schools on this list do truly fit into the category I placed them in (reach, match, safety).
Reach:
UC Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon
UVA
UIUC
Georgia Tech
Match:
Virginia Tech (engineering)
UC Santa Cruz
Purdue University
Rutgers-New Brunswick
UC Irvine
Safety:
Virginia Commonwealth University
George Mason University
Old Dominion University
Thanks so much for your help!
For CS, Purdue is a reach.
UCB is a High Reach, think UW GPA of 3.98 and SAT around 1500+.
UC santa Cruz would be a High Match and UC Irvine a Low Reach with your GPA.
Did you calculate your UC Capped weighted GPA?
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Is $65K/year affordable to attend the UC’s? No financial aid for Out of state students.
For SAT, it matters what the individual scores are. Subscores, for the ACT. Your SAT total and ACT Composite are lower, for the reaches, and you can’t go on projected scores.
Not a high rank can be a real competitive issue, if you’re from N. VA. And, looking for a stem major. Though rank itself isn’t what pulls a kid in, you hint you’re middle of the pack. Those kids at the powerhouse hs are knocking themselves out.
It’s not solely gpa. For most of the schools on your list, they’ll look at the transcript, see the rigor and what grades. Most important will be those in stem.
Right now, with limited info, I think your best shots are the safeties.
Getting “most involved chapter leader” will be less important than what you actually describe that you do- not as leader, but your real service. Things with little kids can be nice, but that’s little kids.
Too reachy. You may be okay with taking that risk so long as you would be happy to attend any of your safeties and can afford them. However, I think you may be overestimating your chances at the match schools.
You have great ECs, but for CS and for the schools on your list, stats matter more. And for some of those OOS publics (UIUC, Purdue, the UCs), the admit rate for CS is considerably less than the published rate that reflects each university on the whole.
@lookingforward Thanks for the reply. Related to the major, I’ve taken AP Calculus AB, AP Computer Science, and AP Chemistry and I’m currently taking AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C: Mechanics, and AP Biology DE. Are these courses rigorous enough to give me some sort of advantage that can make AOs look at my GPA with less “weight”, or is taking these courses and getting average grades just proving that I can’t do well in college?
@Groundwork2022 Thank you for the reply, and I do agree with that. Currently, I’m focusing more on Virginia Tech right now than the others on that list, do you think I would be able to get in with my 33 ACT Math and 34 ACT Science + I’ve taken AP Calculus AB, AP Computer Science, and AP Chemistry and I’m currently taking AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C: Mechanics, and AP Biology DE.
It’s not just the rigor. It’s your performance in those classes. Any low grades can fade you, when competing against top performers. High scores are nice, but grades reflect your ongoing effort, how well you learned the material.
Plus, an internship and robotics seems a light pattern of ECs. No other interests? We have no idea what you do for comm service, except serve as one of the leaders.
Adcoms will read your whole app, looking for the strengths that make you prepped and qualified for their level of classes, once there. The look for a range of ECs, the depth and the breadth, to see if you extend yourself, try new things, etc, and will fit the community they want to build.
Since all the top contenders are taking those courses, it’s not something unusual. You need a better idea of the competition.
What are the AP scores?
@lookingforward Thanks for replying again. I have other ECs but didn’t list them, I think I’ll go through and think about those and also think about ways to somehow improve my “strengths that make me prepped and qualified for their level of classes.” Thank you for your help.
I am interpreting your post as meaning that you are from Virginia. Is this correct? If you are not from Virginia, then I will want to redo most of this post!
Are you okay being full pay at the various Universities of California?
I think that of your reaches, UVA is truly a reach, and the rest are very unlikely, perhaps very high reaches. Your GPA and SAT are both very low for anything that is ranked in the top 10 for computer science (such as Berkeley, CMU, Georgia Tech, or UIUC). I would have expected UC Irvine to be a low reach, but worth applying to as long as you are fine being full pay for four years. If you get into UVA, then of course it will be a great school at a relatively reasonable price for you.
I agree with others that your rigor is good, but other applicants will have gotten A’s in the same courses.
One thing that I wonder about is your grades and test scores in different types of classes. What is your split between the two parts of the SAT? The math section is going to be more important for a potential CS major. Similarly, how do your grades work out for your 3.45 GPA? Do you have A’s in your math and science and CS classes and B’s in English and Literature, or do you have B’s in your AP math and science classes? I think that this will matter quite a bit.