Match Me - Computer Science

Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • California
  • Public High School
  • Asian Female

Intended Major(s)
Computer Science (or anything similar)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.51 (out of 5.0)
  • Class Rank: No Ranking at my school
  • SAT Scores: 1400 (did a retake recently, no score yet)

Coursework
AP Computer Science A (4)
AP Chinese Language and Culture (4)
AP English Language and Composition (4)
AP Calculus BC
AP Statistics
AP Chemistry
Chemistry Honors
Chinese 3 Honors

Currently taking: AP Psychology, AP Physics 1, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Micro Economics, and AP English Literature and Composition

Dual Enrollment:
Intermediate Algebra
Applied Calculus
Intro to C++

Awards
AP Scholar
NCWIT Aspirations in Coding Rising Star

Extracurriculars
(Wanted to add on that I was a transfer student to my current school, so my activities from 9th grade arenā€™t included/pursued) I also have a few other activities that are much less active, so I did not include them.

Club President (10th-present)
Fencing (9th - present): Both in and out of school, no competitions due to COVID-19
Taekwondo (5th - present): 1st Dan Black Belt
Peer Mentor (11th - present)
School Honor Society Member
Program Manager in a nonprofit organization for volunteering (2020-present)
Counselor-in-Training at a job readiness organization (June 2021-present)
Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program (summer 2021)
Technology organization Assistant Team Leader (jan-may 2021)

Schools
I want to apply ED/EA/RD, but not sure which schools to put for those yet. I am also aiming for scholarships based on merit and possibly other factors. What schools should be part of my Reach/Match/Safety list?

For CS, assume that admission will be more selective than historical admission rates shown below indicate.

Recalculate your HS GPA with GPA Calculator for the University of California ā€“ RogerHub . Use the weighted capped version for the table below.

Fall 2020 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 37% 14% 2% 1%
Davis 86% 55% 16% 7%
Irvine 60% 38% 9% 1%
Los Angeles 38% 8% 1% 1%
Merced 98% 97% 95% 88%
Riverside 97% 90% 65% 30%
San Diego 78% 39% 8% 1%
Santa Barbara 81% 40% 9% 2%
Santa Cruz 92% 82% 59% 26%

These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective).

Are you interested in your in-state options such as the UCā€™s and Cal states? If so calculate your UC GPAā€™s:

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Do you have a college budget/year or target amount $$ you need to meet?

Any specific geographic locations?

Also, what is your budget, and have you run net price calculators on various colleges of interest?

What are you seeking size wise. Large. Small $ wise u of AZ will give you 90% off tuition based on your 4.0.

Do you want large, mos size, small. State vs private. Urban rural etc

Youā€™re in great shape.

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I got a 4.22 GPA weighted capped GPA on the calculator. Iā€™m mainly interested in the UCs and what my chances are of getting into schools like UCLA and UC Berkeley. I donā€™t have a specific budget right now either. I tend to prefer larger cities, but am fine with any type of location.

I also wanted to add on that I also have some out of state schools like Brown University, University of Washington, and Northeastern that I have been looking at as well but donā€™t know if I have any good chances for any of them.

My family has not set any budget yet as we will be applying for financial aid and scholarships. We have just been focusing on the schools themselves and what they offer.

I donā€™t have a huge preference, though I do prefer school that are medium/large. Other than that I am fine with any type of school that can offer a great CS program. Are there schools you can recommend?

Talk to your parents about budget now so that you do not find out in April that all of your admission offers are too expensive.

UCB EECS and UCLA CS should be considered reach no matter what. UCB L&S should approximate the overall campus likelihood of admission, but then getting into L&S CS will require a 3.3 college GPA in the first three CS courses. However, this may change with the proposal described at UC Berkeley computer science proposes major declaration process , where you apply for pre-approval to the L&S CS major at frosh admission, which would be more competitive than general L&S admission.

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Brown is generally a reach. Washington CS is generally a reach (applicants may get admitted to undeclared pre-science instead, in which case changing into the CS major is very unlikely).

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It comes to budget. You need to have those chats now with your parents. You need to check NPCs. For example a U of AZ will be dirt cheap. A UW, even if you get in, will not. A school like Brown only has need aid. If you donā€™t qualify, are they willing to spend $320k when they can spend $80k or $120k or $150k.

So figuring out what they are wanting to spend is first.

Then checking out a school like Browns net price calc will tell u if u should even waste time applying.

Sounds like you want prestige and thatā€™s awesome. But if $$ are an issue thereā€™s lots of great schools where you can cash in.

Saying we havenā€™t set a budget yet means you really canā€™t narrow down a list.

But they may be willing to spend X but if a college says they can afford Y, then you have to find schools that offer merit aid to get their price point.

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My recommendations will be based on cost. So Arizona. Arizona State. New Mexico. Tennessee. All urban

Bama and Oregon state. Not urban. Nice cost after merit

Florida for top ranked low cost but likely no scholarship. Purdue as well. Neither in a big city.

You may check an RPI. WPI. Case Western. U of Pacific to be close by for schools with merit.

CS is very employable.

A school like AZ is very solid and will be 75% less than Brown.

Good luck

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Thanks, do you have any recommendations for which UCs may be the best option for me since I am in California?

From a financial POV, U of A and maybe ASU smokes anything in CAā€¦not to mention NM, Alabama, Utah, Mississippi State and more.

Iā€™m no expert in the UCs but @ucbalumnus put the acceptance by GPA with your UC GPAs. As noted, these were for school and I think the implication is that CS will be harder.

Good luck.

How do you know what FA package schools such as Brown will offer? OP has not provided any basis to assume what various schools may offer through NPC.

OP states, ā€œ My family has not set any budget yet as we will be applying for financial aidā€.

I think it dangerous to make declarative statements without having full information.

It also appears OP isnā€™t asking if he can afford these schools but what his admissions likelihood isā€¦

ā€œI also wanted to add on that I also have some out of state schools like Brown University, University of Washington, and Northeasternthat I have been looking at as well but donā€™t know if I have any good chances for any of them.ā€

Given that isnā€™t what OP asked (nor is it informed by OPs FA status) it may inadvertently only serve to distract or confuse.

OP I can say with a high degree of confidence that Providence RI and Brown will be 75% colder in January vs AZšŸ˜€

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All the California UCā€™s are a great option for CS, it will really depend upon where you want to apply and where you will be admitted.

I would also look into some of the Cal States with respected CS programs such as San Jose State- Match based on GPA and impaction index, Cal Poly SLO- Reach but Reachable, San Diego State- Likely/Safety and CSU Long Beach- Likely/Safety.

As stated above, CS is very employable and you do not need to go to a ā€œprestigiousā€ school to do well post graduation.

UCB/UCLA will be Reach schools
UCSD/UCSB and UCI will be High Match/Low Reach schools.
UCD/UCSC are Match schools.
UCR/UCM are Safety schools.

As a California resident, you are lucky to have some top schools from which to choose with great ROI and lower costs.

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Thatā€™s why I wrote this - I donā€™t know what Brown will cost - nor do we know what the OP can afford.

Because you can no longer edit posts, Iā€™m answering each individually - and it makes for too many. But I understand she doesnā€™t know the package, if any, sheā€™ll be offered. This was from a previous email - and when you donā€™t have a sense of aid, you have to (well itā€™s my way) to assume everything is full pop.

Thanks

And thisā€¦

Are a dangerous combo in my opinion regardless of all the other comments because they suggest a conclusion.

In fact a school like AZ is very solid and none of us know what the price comparison looks like.

But again - you arenā€™t reading the entirety of what I wrote. You are taking a sentence out of context.

I said they need to talk to their folks about what they can affordā€¦and then run the NPC to see if it meets or to determine cost.

Because to say I plan to apply for scholarships - doesnā€™t work at Brown. To get a grant could - but we have no idea.

Iā€™ve given, in my opinion, a sound strategy. Iā€™m sorry you disagree.