Out of State, ORM, Computer Science chances for GT?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgia Institute of Technology
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Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): NA
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35M, 36E, 34R, 33S)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 780 Chemistry
USED UC GPA for context
UW: 3.88
UC Capped: 4.21
UC Fully weight: 4.44
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
Senior Year Course Load: IB Physics II, IB Bio II, IB Calc II, IB English II, IB History II, IB French IV, IB TOK II
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Internationally ranked robotics, top 3 in state for math team, NHD state winner, HOBY state ambassador, presidential service award

Subjective (left these vague to preserve anonymity):

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • Robotics (Captain): Went to internationals and placed top 20, I also help maintain website
  • Math team (Captain): Compete against schools statewide, placed in top 3 this year
  • Investment club (CEO): Campaigned for money, then donate it to a cause
  • Stock Market (Captain): Educate school about stock market
  • National History (Captain): Went to nationals, did not place there though

Volunteer/Community service: Help out local robotics teams, over 300 hours throughout HS

Experience:

Started a business where I created an app with several thousand downloads, run app and website, CEO
Performed research on vision processing, CS related, wrote a 20 page paper, will submit to Siemens

The above two are, IMO, my biggest assets but idk if they go under EC or experience

Took several summer robotics and CS related workshops through robotics team

Taught a summer course about robotics to youth, ran an appathon

Maintain several websites for different clubs

Skills:

Fluent in several programming languages (Python, Java, C, HTML, CSS)
Implemented investment based algorithms for investment club
Proficient in CAD software
Proficient with machine tools, Mill Lathe etc

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Don’t know yet, but will likely be decent, 7.5/10 to be conservative

Teacher Rec #1: 8/10 Math
Teacher Rec #2: 7.5/10 English
Counselor Rec: 8/10 (was overall conservative with these gradings)
Additional Rec: 9/10

Applied for Financial Aid?: Prolly but don’t need it
Intended Major: Depends on school, wrote below
State (if domestic applicant): Not very competitive state
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public (500 in class)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $200k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
Asian male in stem

Schools + Program/Major

Will apply to GT early action, I have already toured.

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anyone?

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Since you are full pay, you are in

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thanks for the feedback, that is relieving. GT is one of my top school. My parents are ok with paying full here because it is a good CS school and it isn’t the full 70k of a private. @nynycasino1234

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anyone else?

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There is no “you’re in” with Tech. You are an accomplished and well-rounded candidate and I think your chances are excellent, but do not assume it’s a sure thing. (This year only 21% of OOS applicants were admitted.) Make sure you have at least one safety and don’t take it personally if you’re not admitted. Good luck!

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I never assumed it to be that easy. I will keep my hopes in check.
Thanks for the feedback @yankeeinGA

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Financial need pays no part in the review process, so please don’t think that will help you. As was said previously, with a sub 20% admit rate, there simply is no “chancing” for admission decisions. Honestly, a 3.8 unattributed how might be your biggest concern as you move through the admission process.

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3.88? I have 22 credits of A’s and 3 credits of B’s, but two of the B’s are in chemistry one and chemistry two in which I got a 780 on subject test.

I’m not trying to make excuses or anything, just saying.

@heir2301

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As others have mentioned, GTech has become quite competitive especially for CS. Take look at the posting from Class of 2021 or 2020 of students rejected in EA and Regular Decision. Many of them have strong profiles.

Do look at other options for CS. There are number of strong CS programs that are equivalent to GT from purely an academics point of view…

Regarding GTech, beyond academics and test scores focus on essays. Your test scores (ACT, SAT2) are strong; IB Diploma Program is rigorous and well regarded. The GPA may be a little on lower side, but rest of application looks strong. Rick Clark, GT admissions director, in one of recent his blogs “Ad(mission): It’s not fair” talks about what they look at beyond test scores and GPA. I strongly recommend reading that post. Here is an excerpt:

“At Tech, our mission is “to define the technological university of the 21st century.” Our motto is “Progress and Service.” Our commitment is to “improve the human condition.” So while we are going to provide stats and averages and profiles like all other schools, these are the conversations in admission committee that contribute to decisions.”

That is, they look for students who align well with their vision/mission/goals. The more you can showcase these in your application (through essays and ECs), higher your chances of getting admitted.

CS is competitive major at GT. Given you background and interest in robotics, you may want to consider Computer Engineering at GT. There is sufficient overlap in course work between CS and Comp Engg. Hence, the opportunities [for jobs as well as for grad school] for the graduates from both programs are equivalent. Finally, unlike many colleges, GT allows you switch majors once during your freshman year. If you join Comp Engg and still feel strong about CS after the first semester you can switch to CS.

Good luck!

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thanks for the advice @GaussPi100

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for people who are looking at this thread in the future, I’ve been accepted to CS.

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@kjake2000 start in CS and then switch to ECE if you want more electrical engineering, but you can do
the electrical threads in CS. CS department is more theoretical than ECE which is more lab oriented. You can try to take classes in both majors, my son did that, but registering will be difficult at first. GaTech does NOT make it easy to try out various majors, its a school for kids who know what they want to major in, in high school. If you do change it can take longer to get a bachelors degree. For instance, a student I know who started in biomedical engineering and switched to chemical engineering took a full extra year, and he has a full year of IB/AP credits. The sequencing of classes is very particular at GaTEch, so
if you miss class 1, you are behind a year in your major, its a royal pain and I wish they just had more teachers and classes so students could start sequences in the spring and finish in the fall, but they do not do that in chemical engineering, for instance. ECE and CS may be a bit more flexible to switch than some other majors though.