MIT, Stanford, USC, RPI, GeorgiaTech + other Matches?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi all, </p>

<p>I'm a white, female, middle-class junior at a public school. I plan to major in Computer Science, and am additionally interested in Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science.</p>

<p>I have all A's on my transcript except for B's in Algebra I, giving me a 4.7 GPA. This puts me in the top 10%, and probably even top 5%. This is of a class of somewhere around 700-800.</p>

<p>SAT Reasoning:
Math 630 (Eek, I know. I plan to retake, but I don't expect a phenomenal improvement.)
Reading 740
Writing 750</p>

<p>SATII's
Math II 700 (<em>cries</em>)
Chemistry 730 (taken after only having an honors course... :\ )</p>

<p>AP's
World Hist 5
US Hist 4
Eng Lang 5
Computer Sci. A 5</p>

<p>Clubs: (no leadership positions--how important is this?)
-Humanities Club
-Art Club (Service-based; recently helped on mural for local elementary school)
-National Honor Society
(For this year, if these get started: )
-Game developing Club
-Freshman mentoring</p>

<p>Additional EC activities:
-Awarded scholarship (8 poeple chosen out of the surrounding area) to participate in ACT Glassell program (art)
-Several awards in art contests (4's at VASE, Silver Key in Scholastic)
-Participated in Rice's CompSci camp
-This year, I plan to design and maintain a web site for my extended family. I have no idea if this is the sort of thing colleges want to hear, or if it is extremely stupid. Please advise. :P</p>

<p>One of the things I am really uncertain about is volunteer hours... I haven't done anything major; most have been sporadic. Among them are helping with various NHS projects, volunteering at my neighborhood pool, and volunteering at a local nonprofit organization that salvages old computers and sells them at extreme discounts to senoir citizens and the disadvantaged. How many volunteer hours are colleges looking for, anyway?</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
AP Eng Lit
AP Eco/Govt
AP BC Calc (No idea how this is going to work out...)
AP Comp. Sci. AB
AP Chem
PreAP(Honors) Physics
PE :P</p>

<p>One more thing-- math is my weakness, and I know my math scores are pretty low. However, this stems widely from bad test-taking, silly mistakes, and stupidity. As a subject of study, I think math is frickin' amazing. I have a wonderful teacher this year, and hope to get a rec from him. Would this do much to balance out my low math scores?</p>

<p>Schools I've been looking at:
MIT
Stanford
Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute
University of Southern California
Georgia Tech</p>

<p>I know some/many(?) of these are reaches (extreme reaches?); I am in need of more safeties/matches.</p>

<p>Thanks for any feedback!
-Stacy</p>

2

<p>Carnegie Mellon has a pretty good Computer Science program. As far as your scores go, I can only speak for GT and say that they're fine. You may also want to check out their CS website, they instituted this new thing called 'threads' where you pretty much pick your CS curriculum, and I'm pretty sure AI is one of the threads</p>

3

<p>Uhh..I think you have to be very very good at math t get into like MIT and major in computer science..</p>

4

<p>I'm a Sun certified professional, 5 on APCS AB (A is a joke, even AB gives you 45 minutes left over to draw ASCII art in the free response section) and I'm still somewhat wary of choosing CS as my major. They don't make you code in brain****, but Scheme and the like are not uncommon, and asm (x86, whatever) is supposed to be good as well for teaching you how everything works. You'll learn about linked lists implementations, sparse matrices, stacks, heaps, etc... in CS AB, but you'll also have to be decent in math, for example:</p>

<p>//Assume that n is an int that has a value assigned to it
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
for (int j = i; j < n; j++) {
for (int k = j; k < n; k++) {
//Something that takes 1 second in here
try {
Thread.sleep(1000); //Sleep for 1000 ms
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}</p>

<p>How long will it take that block to execute, with respect to n? You'll have to be able to see that the answer is n x log(n)^2 (don't quote me on that, that's what I think triple for-loops with the limit equal to the outer counter run as). </p>

<p>SAT Math II is an easy 800, just get/borrow a graphing calculator and know your stuff. Chemistry... 730 after honors is ok, but 800 after AP is not uncommon. Math on the SAT I relies upon logic a lot - that's what CS is. If you aren't getting consistent 770+ plus on it, I'd reconsider. As for creating a website.... it depends. If you use FrontPage/Dreamweaver/any other WYSIWYG graphical editor, web designers will shun you for creating a poorly written page. If on the other hand you use extensive XHTML/CSS with AJAX (JavaScript + XML requests, it's how Google Maps works) and perhaps some JSP/PHP/ASP (server side programming, not hard if you know Java well), then the site might be worth showcasing. </p>

<p>Any technology university is going to be a real fight because of sub-average math scores. And I mean, look at Caltech, they're all math people, but their verbal SAT's are in the 750 range, but you seem fine there, so that's good. I'd recommend a college that doesn't just focus on science, but apply under a bio major or something. I don't mean to turn your hopes down, but CS is usually heavily dependant on math and logic, and in truth, it's often about trying to find the compromise between time and space (literally). Retake those tests, because your GPA looks good, and if you don't mind changing majors then I'd say that you're fairly well off.</p>

5

<p>FerstAmmendment, thanks. I hadn't looked closely at the threads (There are three listed on the main page but eight listed on the threads page?) and hadn't seen that. You've boosted my interest in Georgia Tech. :)</p>

<p>sars284, of that I am well aware. I know MIT is a <em>major</em> reach for a person like me. I plan to apply, but don't seriously expect anything to come of it.</p>

<p>vgcoder, thanks for the advice. I agree, AP CS A was a joke. Though I may not have been as confident as you obviously were, I reviewed the case study and a few minor things we hadn't done in class the night before, and was completely confident in my performance coming out of the test. I'm really looking forward to next year, where we'll get to the stuff I don't already know.</p>

<p>In my A class, we've briefly gone over examples such as the one you cited; don't think you'll scare me off with that.</p>

<p>You say SAT I relies on logic, as does CS-- I know that. My problem is definitely not the material, but rather the time limit imposed. I have screwy little ways of effing myself over on standardized tests, like adding when I should be multiplying, then becoming puzzled when such an obviously correct answer is not one of the choices. :D While some of my poor scoring is indeed due to a deficiency in math skills, half of it is due to stupid mistakes. </p>

<p>As for writing a webpage with FrontPage/Dreamweaver-- Bwahahah. Wouldn't dream of it, I understand that these types of builders don't exactly produce the best code. You should have heard my relatives when I offered to help out with the webpage-- my cousin told me not to write it in html because we would want to put in some pictures, and the woman who suggested the whole thing specifically asked me if I had any experience with Frontpage. She also told me to contact her if I needed any help, because she knew lots of sites where I could get free animated gifs and visitor counters. <em>headdesk</em> I plan to write the thing in html with CSS; I don't expect I will need to get more complex than that, but may put more into it if I plan on using it as a showcase (though mainly I was thinking it would serve as simply volunteer hours/EC.)</p>

<p>As for majoring in CompSci: I've done a teensy bit of Scheme-- meh. I would love to learn asm, for the exact reason you mention-- I want to learn what's going on at a very basic level.</p>

<p>I'd really appreciate your input on this. I realize there is heavy math involved in CS, but I'm really interested in it. And I like the math-- it's just that I'm not always the best at executing it. (I pick up theory/concepts easily, but have trouble when it gets down to picky arithmetic...) Part of the reason CS appeals to me so is that it feels like math, but with less chance of adding when you should be multiplying. :P To be honest, coding gives me a real thrill. While it's true that there are other areas I could study, CS is the thing that really gets me excited. Should I truly be looking at switching my interests?</p>

<p>Thanks,
-Stacy</p>

6

<p>Try contest math (amc, aime, ARML) and you'll develop mathematical skills quickly. It is not school math and requires logic like CS does.</p>

7

<p>ShoeFactory: Are these scores repoted to colleges? I've definitely considered AMC. I know I won't do well, but I'd do it just for the heck of it anyway. My main thing is that it is not to my detriment in college's eyes.</p>

8

<p>You don't have to report scores, but I think that some score is better than nothing. Even a 1 on the AIME shows that you got that far, but it's too late already because you take it after apps are due. If you want to go with CS, that's fine, but colleges want to see high scores along with enthusiasm. Also check out USACO, a CS competition. You get several hours (you either get it or you don't, extra time doesn't help much unless you don't know the API/syntax), and it's a good challenge, even at the bronze level (most don't make it past there). Good luck.</p>

9

<p>your scores are good but could be better (math), i'd recommend taking another sat2. if it's stupid mistakes, you should zero in and find out what they are so you don't continue to make them. </p>

<p>i'm not sure how impt community service is but it would be advisable to take an interest in something... you have many +s, why don't you use them to your advantage to make a difference to someone that needs it? of course, this is good for colleges but i think the focus would be that it's good for yourself</p>

<p>i don't think leadership is crucial but passion is.</p>

<p>you also want to show how you're different. if you're making a website...go ahead and tell them. you want to show the REAL you to colleges so that you're admitted for being you. do i make sense here?
like in your last post you said you don't want to look bad for colleges...but don't tell me you're custom tailoring a suit for colleges...this is your life! if you want to take the amc, take it. you don't have to let colleges know about it. it's your life, remember?</p>

<p>and if something makes you excited, go for it. be weary but seriously, you're young, you have time. do what you like and see where it takes you. </p>

<p>the mural thing sounds interesting and sounds like a good essay topic. </p>

<p>finally, don't apply to a college with the mindset that "it is a reach" -- because you'll end up putting less effort into it. if you're going to apply, give it your all. if you get rejected, it's just not a college for you...doesn't mean you aren't qualified just means that you'll probably be happier somewhere else. so keep your options open, apply to all levels but still give it your best
and improve your math scores</p>

10

<p>Weak math and science ability. Personally I would recommend another major than computer science. Some people may have a "knack" for APCS. I agree it is a bit of a joke. I really don't think a rec from your math teacher can "explain" these low scores though, but its fine. You will probably get into Carnegie Mellon easily. I have never really heard of the school before, but according to many CCers it is "good" at computer science. UC Berk engineering, MIT, Caltech,stanford enginneering, etc are out of the question though.</p>

<p>You seem more artsy to me than a science person, but then again you can't really tell online. Unless you can actually enjoy coding, I would not recommend programming. Lifestyle is ok, not much thinking is required. Pay is ok, but it is just terribly dull. No excitment.</p>

11

<p>
[quote]
You will probably get into Carnegie Mellon easily. I have never really heard of the school before, but according to many CCers it is "good" at computer science.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Um. Carnegie Mellon is one of the top CS programs in the nation, if not the world.</p>

<p>To the OP: It would be nice to bring up those SAT math scores a bit to get into the really competitive schools, but honestly, it's not the end of the world. You seem to really enjoy computer science and be developing a good background, and I find it really pretentious that people here are telling you that you're not cut out for it. The schools you've mentioned are reaches (I go to one of them, by the way), but not "out of the question" as fastMEd said.</p>

<p>As for other schools you might consider...</p>

<p>Purdue
CMU
various schools in the UC system
Duke
Northwestern
U Michigan - Ann Arbor
Cornell
UIUC
U Wisconsin - Madison</p>

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<p>also keep in mind... you have those sat scores which aren't that bad...but honestly, you can only go up from there. give it a positive attitude. the first time i took the sat2s, i got a 680 in chem and a 690 in physics. i studied for a month [when i say month, i mean serious studying, one test from each subject every day] with no power during the hurricane (another story) and got a 800 in chem and a 790 in physics. you really have to sit down and do those practice tests. at the end i would write down every error i made and put it into a notebook. before i took the next test, i'd go over my errors and go on with the test. it worked. i did the same with my math sat...went from a 740 to a 790. doesn't seem like much but 50 points can't hurt. </p>

<p>the sat2 in math needs improvement...i used this REALLY grueling test prep packet...PM me if you want the name. after those 10 tests, i wanted to literally die...but it got me an 800. so if you're up for it, i can suggest the name to you.</p>

<p>all i'm saying is, you can do it if you WANT to.</p>

13

<p>HI... studied the post carefully. I am in the same lines as Aniviel.. though i would be boa****l in saying that i have a little better scores and that i am not freaked out by math. I havent given the SATs but written many model papers. Got 700s in the math section, 750s in Physics and im looking for a third SAT II subject. I am in international and thats y i dont have APs and IBs with me. Scored 92% aggregate, in the top 1% of my class of 100. </p>

<p>Even i wanna get into Computers with AI. any suggestions seniors? Colleges, Universities? Please keep in mind that i need financial aid or scholarship in college. </p>

<p>Keep 'em coming :P</p>

14

<p>Hey I'm like the OP! I'm interested in comp sci and art at the same time haha.</p>

<p>CMU does have a nice CS/AI program. They are kind of stingy with financial aid though.</p>