Is she looking at large schools or would a smaller LAC be more her style? Laid back might be a better fit for something smaller.
I think a smaller, laid back college would suit her better but she has no preference. Do you have any recommendations for LACs?
Some smaller colleges that were recommended were Whittier College and St. Marys of Ca (Moraga)âŠI really like the latter but they offer CS only as a minor.
Yes, but they only offer WUE to the top 10% of applicants. It could be that this studentâs stats put her on the top 10% but something to bear in mind. For reference, my kid was offered the WUE scholarship this last cycle with 3.9 unweighted and 4.34 weighted GPA for a non competitive major.
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Sheâd be dirt cheap at U of Alabama and Alabama Huntsville.Huntsville has an airport. Bama is an hour. Easy shuttle. Huntsville will be smaller, more chill.
I mention these bcuz they will dirt cheap. They are perfect for low GPA / high SAT.
Both solid names. Huntsville tons of jobs in the vicinity. Bama. Just a large national name.
Many on here recommend Iowa State. Not hugely far from des moines
Both Hendrix (not far from Little Rock) and Oglethorpe (Atlanta) are small schools that could match the in state flagship price. Oglethorpe has a CS minor. Hendrix a major.
Run the NPCs for mid size Bradley and Hofstra. Plus SD School of Mines. All can be gotten to air wise.
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Illinois Institute of Technology is a great school in the middle of Chicago.
Rose Hulman
RPI
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She thinks she is interested in CS right now. Not pursuing CS, if it comes to that, will need to be an organic process on account of either not getting a CS major admit or if she is not able to keep up once admitted and decides to switch majors. I wonât make excuses for her grade outcomesâŠthey are what they are. Weâll just have to work with the grades she has and see if there is a spot for her.
She has reasonable chance of getting into SDSU/CPP. Apart from looking at CSU GPA, they do look at GPA in Math Separately.
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UCM and UCR are probably reasonable applications among the UCs. Possibly UCSC, but what are her GPAs as recalculated for UC (see link below)?
Recalculate your HS GPA with GPA Calculator for the University of California â RogerHub . Use the weighted capped version for the table below.
Fall 2021 admission rates by campus and HS GPA range from Freshman fall admissions summary | University of California :
| Campus | 4.20+ | 3.80-4.19 | 3.40-3.79 | 3.00-3.39 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | 30% | 11% | 2% | 1% |
| Davis | 85% | 55% | 23% | 10% |
| Irvine | 60% | 31% | 14% | 1% |
| Los Angeles | 29% | 6% | 1% | 0% |
| Merced | 97% | 98% | 96% | 89% |
| Riverside | 97% | 92% | 62% | 23% |
| San Diego | 75% | 35% | 5% | 1% |
| Santa Barbara | 73% | 28% | 4% | 1% |
| Santa Cruz | 91% | 81% | 46% | 9% |
These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective).
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Her UC/CSU weighted capped GPA is 3.92. This makes it very hard for CS, even at UCR or UCSC. UCM, maybeâŠbut not sure.
In both UCSC and UCR waitlist threads this year, there are people with 4.25+ GPA for CS. With the usual disclaimer that admissions are holistic.
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Regarding CSUs, they use the weighted-capped version of recalculated GPA like UCs, except that a semester college course taken while in high school counts as two courses and grades for CSU but one course and grade for UC.
CPSLO is very unlikely. So is SJSU, since the most recent admission cycle had a CS threshold equivalent to a 4.35 GPA (though students who will graduate high school in Santa Clara County get a bonus equivalent to +0.25 GPA). CPP had a threshold for CS equivalent to a 3.98 GPA for students with no additional points in its MFA model (unfortunately, the point value of such additions is not listed on the web site). SDSU does not seem to be transparent about prior year frosh admission thresholds.
However, many other CSUs, like SFSU, CSUEB, and others, are not all that difficult to get into, including for CS.
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3.75 college GPA should be assumed to be the minimum to get into computer science or computer engineering through ETAM at Texas A&M. In some recent years, those majors admitted no students other than those who had the automatic admission GPA.
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I thought UCB and UCLA were the only holistic schools of all the UCs and CSUs. The rest, as I understand it, are not subjective, with the exception of the choice of non-academic adders in their algorithms.
UCs all use holistic review, although the effect of HS GPA gets stronger relative to other factors when going down the selectivity range (because HS GPA becomes more of a differentiator among applicants, as opposed to readers having to make distinctions between applicants clustered at the top of the HS GPA range).
CSUs all use some kind of point system, but each campus can choose its own point system, and not all campuses are transparent about what their point system is or what past thresholds were.
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LMU might have more merit potential than Santa Clara. Their STEM reputation has been growing, especially since they obtained ABET accreditation for their engineering majors a few years ago. (Not important for CS in particular, but raises the profile of the College of Science & Engineering overall.) Still a bit of a long shot to get down to 45K but maybe worth a look. Redlands is another to check out - at under 3K undergrads, it may be more the size/vibe youâre looking for.
Southern Oregon U in Ashland is a more LAC-like WUE school. (4500 undergrads) An easy safety to lock down early (rolling admissions) and guaranteed affordable with WUE. They offer a CS majors with both BA and BS options. Definitely has a more laid-back vibe; my dâs friends who went there were very happy. Not really urban-adjacent but Ashland is nice and you can fly into nearby Medford.
Aspiring to CS seems to be sort of a default nowadays for a lot of kids who like computing, but many discover that the deep dive into CS theory and software architecture isnât as fascinating (or laid back!) as they imagined. Whatâs the nature of her interest? It can be worth exploring other computation-related majors like data science/analytics, GIS-heavy geography majors, info systems, and so on. Since she likes psychology, cognitive science can be a great CS+psych hybrid. Looking at some even more off-the-beaten-path majors at schools where you know she wouldnât get into CS could also be worthwhile. For example, the Packaging major at both SJSU and SLO is relatively easy to get into, and itâs a very interesting project-based combination of engineering, design, psychology, and business. Small program with small classes and lots of individual attention; and the employment outcomes are fantastic. She wouldnât be wasting a shot at CS at these schools by applying, since she wouldnât get into CS anyway, and it could be an interesting alternative to have in the pipeline in case her CS interest wanes. Bachelor of Science in Packaging | Nutrition, Food Science, and Packaging
Itâs not unlikely that she could get into Merced, and the more intimate vibe of the smallest UC might not be a bad thing for her. Merced has CogSci as well as CS. Hereâs a parent perspective on the strengths of UCM: A very honest opinion on UC Merced from a UC Merced skeptic - 2022
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All UCâs use a Comprehensive application review with 13 areas of criteria. UCB is the only UC campus which will ask for LORâs from a small percentage of applicants which could make them the more holistic of the bunch.
This information is taken from the 2021 UC Counselor Conference:
There are 3 main methodologies that the UCâs use to evaluate applications: Fixed weight, holistic, and hybrid. All of these methods have evolved over time with the growth of the UCâs. In a fixed weight system quantitative values are placed on various criteria. For a holistic review, a qualitative approach is taken where there is no fixed value placed on any one criteria. Finally the hybrid system marries the fixed weight and holistic approaches with both quantitative and qualitative components.
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ASU and Oregon St are good options, though i must admit i do not know the GPA needed for CS admissions. I assume the GPA requirements are lower than UC admissions.
@raj_125 Just scanning through the SDSU Class of 2026 discussion and taking into consideration that CC is not representative of all applicants, the lowest GPA posted for CS admits was a 4.11. SDSU could be possible but I would put it in the Low Reach category.
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Agree 100%. Industrial Technology and Packaging at Cal Poly is one of the coolest (in my eyes) and most overlooked majors anywhere. Plus, due to its lack of popularity, itâs a relatively easy admit.
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ASU is a broad-access university (in addition to a flagship-level university) with transparent admission requirements.
General frosh admission requirements are described at https://admission.asu.edu/first-year/apply . Basically, meet high school course requirements and one of top 25% rank, 3.00 GPA, 24 ACT, or 1180 SAT.
Additional requirements for frosh admission to CS are listed at https://degrees.apps.asu.edu/bachelors/major/ASU00/ESCSEBS/computer-science . Basically, no high school math or science deficiencies, and 1210 SAT, 24 ACT, 3.00 GPA, or top 25% rank (odd that only the SAT option requires higher than for general frosh admission).
ASU scholarships can be estimated at https://scholarships.asu.edu/estimator , although they seem to have been getting less generous recently. âNational Scholarâ means National Merit Finalist or College Board National Recognition (both PSAT-based).
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