Realistic College List for a B Student

Chance Me / Match Me!
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I’m in the process of finalizing the list of potential colleges for rising senior son. He doesn’t have any preference about schools (urban/rural, small/large, varsity sports/Greek life, etc.) but is determined to pursue a CS major, hopefully with a concentration on game development. Here are his basic data:

Unweighted GPA: 3.5
SAT: 1420 (760Math)
Extra-Curriculum Achievements: Eagle Scout, GA GHP Finalist in sophomore year, and 4-week summer intern at a software company

Based on my observation, a friendly community where he can easily mingle and make friends is very important to him. As a parent, I prefer a safety campus.

We can’t get any financial aid and are able to pay the out-of-state costs for four years. So cost is not a main factor.

Here are some schools on our list.

  1. UGA(local)
  2. Emory(local)
  3. Purdue
  4. UIUC
  5. TAMU
  6. SMU
  7. RIT
  8. Rose Hulman
  9. WPI
    10.RPI
  10. VT

Have we positioned ourselves fairly? Any other fit schools to add on the list? Any school is far fetched and needs to be removed? My friends suggested Cal Poly and some UCs…I just feel the list seems to be a little out-of-control now.

:pray:

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Purdue and UIUC will be reaches for your son’s intended major. That admit rate for CS is much more competitive than the schools as a whole.

I believe that there is no direct admit to CS at TAMU and there is 3.75 GPA threshold for transitioning to major after freshman year (not easy for any first engineering student anywhere).

Clarkson has a great program and would be a safety.

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If RIT hadn’t been on your list already, I would have suggested it. We’ve had students go there and do well, plus they loved it. It sounds like a great fit. It has the Co-op program as I suspect you know. That’s very good for kids getting experience. Many happily get hired by the firms they Co-op with.

Clarkson might be too as a PP suggested.

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At TAMU, frosh engineering students need a 3.75 college GPA for automatic admission to their desired engineering majors. Those below that GPA enter a competitive admission process for their majors. Recently, CS has been one of the majors that admits very few through non-automatic admission.

At CPSLO (and SJSU) and most of the UCs, CS is generally more competitive for admission than the campus overall. CPSLO, SJSU, and most UCs should be considered reaches for CS with a 3.5 unweighted HS GPA. UCSC and UCR may be somewhat lower reaches for CS, and UCM may be more of a match.

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You need to calculate his GPA based on the Cal Poly SLO and UC GPA calculators. Anything below a 4.0 weighted GPA would be a Reach for the majority fo these schools since CS is very competitive.

The UC’s and Cal states with the exception of Cal Poly SLO use 10-11th grades for the a-g course requirements and will give extra Honors points for California HS approved Honors Classes (does not pertain to OOS HS’s), AP/IB or CSU/UC transferable classes in their calculation.

For Cal Poly SLO, they use 9-11th grades as referenced above.

The UC’s consider 3 GPA’s: Unweighted, Capped Weighted (8 semester cap on Honors points) and Fully weighted. Cal states only consider the Capped Weighted GPA.

Here is the Rogerhub calculator to determine the GPA’s: GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

Cal Poly SLO’s CS program is the toughest admit at the school so on par with many of the UC’s. GPA admit range for 2021 for not specific for CS but for the Engineering college: 4.12 - 4.25

For the UC’s, I have 2020 admit data but not major specific so assume Higher GPA requirements and lower admit rates for CS:

2020 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79 capped weighted and not major specific:

UCB: 2%

UCLA: 1%

UCSD: 8%

UCSB: 9%

UCI: 9%

UCD: 17%

UCSC: 59%

UCR: 65%

UCM: 95%

2020 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:

UCB: 14%

UCLA: 8%

UCSD: 39%

UCSB: 40%

UCD: 55%

UCI: 38%

UCSC: 82%

UCR: 90%

UCM: 97%

2020 UC capped weighted GPA averages along with 25th-75th percentile range:

UCB: 4.22 (4.13-4.30)

UCLA: 4.25 (4.18-4.31)

UCSD: 4.16 (4.04-4.28)

UCSB: 4.15 (4.03-4.27)

UCI: 4.11 (3.96-4.26)

UCD: 4.11 (3.97-4.25)

UCSC: 3.94 (3.71-4.16)

UCR: 3.88 (3.65-4.11)

UCM: 3.68 (3.40-3.96)

UC’s and Cal states offer little if any financial aid for OOS students so you are looking at $65K/year costs at the UC’s and $42K+/year at the Cal states.

If costs are not an issue, then UCR, UCM, Cal Poly Pomona, CSU Fullerton, Sac State, CSU Long Beach, Chico State, San Francisco State etc… could be options for CS.

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Cal Poly admits using an algorithm. They won’t be using test scores. The distinguished ECs that will help your son at holistic schools, won’t at CP. I’d skip that one as it’s mainly a GPA battle.

The good news is that he has lots of great choices! I’m a particular fan of WPI. It is a very unique program. Our son agonized between WPI and CP, waiting until 2 days before the deadline to SIR with Cal Poly. I like Rose too.

Good luck!

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You might like to look at the Parents of 2022 3.0-3.4 thread. The list seems a little reach-heavy to me, but he does have a pretty good SAT score.

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Another school to consider is U of Cincinnati

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Utah would seem like an obvious safety which is strong in game design (both as an emphasis in CS or as a standalone major). Also cheap since you can get residency after the first year.

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Look at UNC-Charlotte. Good CS programs including cybersecurity.

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Wondering if College of Wooster would be a potential fit for CS though admittedly I don’t know a thing about game development and wether that could/not be a fit.

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I’d second Utah. That’s the other school my son agonized over. Even though it was a safety, there were so many things he liked about the program, he almost ended up there. The campus is nice. The engineering facilities are very good. The outdoors and stuff to do in town are both great. The MUSS is crazy. The dorms are unparalleled. If you aren’t LDS, the influence is there, but SLC is less than 50% Mormon. Lots to like about The U.

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Also wanted to state that all the UC’s are test blind through the 2025 admission cycle.

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I think your list has a lot of reaches.

UGA and Emory are a no go as is Purdue and UIUC. RIT will be an in, WPI can be. Maybe RPI.

I would add consideration of Drexel, Michigan State, Full Sail (for video gaming), Miami Ohio, Denver, and add an ultimate safety Arizona and Alabama Huntsville.

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I feel that if those are the only schools he would apply to he may have a chance of rejection at all to be honest due to CS major. I think you need more safeties and matches.

Boise State U? U Wi Whitewater?

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That’s right. In that case, my son’s decent SAT won’t help.

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Do check out UNC-Charlotte. I think that would be a great target, maybe even safety for him. They have a lot of game design stuff in addition to the cybersecurity.

Lots of gaming action happening in NC, too. Epic Games (Fortnite) is here and they seem pretty supportive of NC college students.

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SMU could be fine and admits direct into CS and has new facilities. They also like leadership. However, one consideration is course rigor. I have a friend who didn’t get in with a 3.5 UGPA but his weighted wasn’t much higher. Strong ACT though and Hispanic. He also didn’t demonstrate much interest. That would be key at the privates on your list. I think RHIT will also work. UGA may since in state. How about Auburn as an OOS safety?

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Your sons SAT is not spectacular when you look at the list you put up. But in CA it won’t matter. At others on your list it doesn’t stand out. Not for CS.

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We did an on-campus tour at SMU and we all like it. His weighted GPA should be much higher since he’s taken duel enrollment classes and five of APs so far. What is RHIT? Is it RIT? UGA is more competitive for locals since the State’s HOPE scholarship will help cut down quite a chunk of cost. Auburn and Clemson are also in consideration. They are very popular in the south, but I just don’t find them on any academic rankings of CS.

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