Realistic colleges to aim for?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi guys, I don’t usually post things online, I’ve always been sort of shy with that haha. But I need some advice.
I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on the caliber of schools I should be aiming for. I’m looking into RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and SUNY Binghamton as matches, but I’m really hoping to have a decent shot at some of my reaches. I like Tufts a lot, as well as Carnegie Mellon SCS, and I am also shooting for Upenn, but I know ivy admissions are a crapshoot. I have a solid list of other matches and safeties that I like as well in case things don’t go as I hope.
I am also going to add that junior year I struggled a lot with anxiety, and I missed 3 weeks of school in a row. My grades suffered, but I brought them back up to a decent level. I overloaded myself with activities and commitments and I burned out. I don’t understand how some of you guys do what you do without having any problems
I am a twin, and my brother and I are looking at several of the same schools.
I’m a girl looking to major in computer science.

GPA: my school only gives us our weighted GPA out of 100. Mine is a 98. I go to a public school.

APs: 10th Grade - APWH(3) 11th Grade - Music theory(3) APUSH(4) Physics 1(4) Environmental(5) English lang(5). Senior year I am taking AP chem, AP bio, AP lit and AP calc, as well as taking non-AP computer science (my school doesn’t offer AP) first semester and teaching the class 2nd semester.

SAT/ACT: have not yet taken due to my fallout with anxiety. I was scheduled for March and April exams but I was not able to sit for them. I do know that I got a 206 on my PSAT without studying so I am confident that my scores will probably be decent when I do take the tests. I predict around a 2150 SAT and a 33 ACT, since me and me twin usually score about the same and these were his results.

ECs (somewhat of a laundry list, sorry):
3 year JV softball (Captain) and will be on varsity next year
4 year varsity tennis (Captain) (MVP Award)
Math team (Captain)
Tri-M Music Honor Society (President)
6 Years of Opera training, 7 year All-County singer. Soprano 1.
Theater groups, co-musical director of the most recent production
Women’s choir and ensemble singers
National Honor Society, Math Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society - community service through tutoring
Individually designed and decorated a middle school hallway with examples of random acts of kindness that kids can perform for each other
Virtual math tutoring - 20 hours
Hospital volunteering - 50 hours
volunteer camp counselor - 50 hours
I have worked two part time jobs
Took a math course for “gifted and talented” outside of school
FIRST Robotics (Captain & Programmer)
Mentored the middle school FIRST Lego League team. We conducted research on whether or not using interactive games to study works better than just memorization. The results were that the games worked better.
Working to create school partnership with Girls Who Code, a nonprofit organization that encourages female participation in computer science
Co-author of a computer science research paper that has been submitted for publication
Proficient in JavaScript

See, unlike a lot of the people on here, I’m just an ordinary kid. I’m no world champion mathlete, I didn’t start a charity, and I haven’t taken a million APs. But I tried really hard and nobody deserves to feel like their best wasn’t good enough.

Anyway I know this has been a long post, but thanks so so much for reading!! Could you guys name some schools that I have a realistic chance at? Might I have a chance at any of my reaches? Is there anything I should do senior year to give me a better shot? thanks so much! <3

2

Good, realistic schools for CS?

3

“teaching the class 2nd semester”

wait are you teaching the class?

4

I’m taking the class first semester, and then second semester I am shadowing the teacher and teaching some of it myself. Sort of like a teacher’s assistant, but I get to try my hand at teaching lessons also.

5

It’s a half year course. So I’m taking the class the first half of the year and the second half a whole new group of kids comes in and I get to teach them. But colleges probably won’t even see that since my applications will already be in by the time I start teaching :frowning:

6

Wait, you’re a certified teacher? how can you teach?

7

I’m not. And I’m not really “teaching”, I just didn’t know what else to call it. I have the real teacher with me at all times. I’m going to be presenting the lessons, but the real teacher will be with me to help explain concepts

8

I’m not grading anyone or anything like that, I’m just presenting lessons.

9

You should have a decent chance at Tufts, less of a chance at UPenn, and little to none at CMU SCS- check out the admit rate, it is around 2.5% IIRC.

If you like Tufts, check out Brown (but a very difficult admit). RPI seems like a good match. Also check out University of Rochester, which unlike most of these other schools, offers merit aid.

UMD also has a very good CS program.

10

I’d bee in shock if you didn’t get in RPI. It’s 71% male.

11

Your schedule is giving ME anxiety. One of the best things you can do right now is dump all but the most important of those ECs. No wonder you are stressed out. You probably haven’t had a decent night sleep or a day off in ages. Where will you find the time to apply to schools, see friends or study for your SAT? If your best isn’t ‘good enough’ then you need to question the standards against which you are evaluating yourself and whether this really how you want to live your life.

12

It’s hard to believe that entire list of ECs. Operatic voice training since you were 11/12 and all county singer in 5th grade…

13

All County only takes up like a week and a half of the school year. I’ve recently stopped taking my voice lessons, it’s too much to handle. It’s actually not that big of an achievement, a lot of kids I know are in All County from 5th grade and then they make it every year until they graduate. If I make it this year I’m not going to participate because my college applications will already be in and I don’t want to take time away from robotics.

14

@ormdad the CMU SCS admit rate is about 8%, I looked it up. I’m basically just taking a shot at that one. Being a girl might help me out there as I think only 30% of their SCS students are female. But I agree with you, I probably have no shot there

15

CMU SCS admissions rate is 5%. And the SAT’s averages are very high. Check out official statistics on CMU’s webpage.

http://admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/undergraduate-admission-statistics

16

Oh ok sorry I read somewhere else it was 8. Again I’m not really expecting admission to CMU SCS anyway

17

I don’t know where you are from (possibly NY since SUNY Binghamton is on your list?) or what size school you are looking for, but here are a few others you might look into, all with solid CS:

SUNY Stony Brook
Northeastern (one of their most difficult majors to be accepted for)
University of Rochester
University of Michigan
University of Illinois-Champagne-Urbana
Case Western
Cornell
WPI

You might also look into McGill in Canada.

Your stats, ECs, etc. are all fine - but probably similar to >50% of those applying places like Tufts, UPenn, so it’s always a bit of a crap shoot. You certainly stand as good a chance as many and the fact that you are female will help a lot. You should give thought to whether you want to / can afford to apply ED. Places like UPenn will 50% of their freshman class ED. I don’t know your financial situation, but having a twin attending same time will help when it comes to FA. Good luck.

18

You mentioned the extent to which anxiety has interfered with your life thus far. Your anxiety is unlikely to dissappear when you arrive at a college. In fact, anxiety tends to increase over the life span. It does not have to derail you but you should take it into consideration when you choose a school. My suggestion is to avoid highly competitive schools or schools known to be pressure cookers. Carnegie Mellon? Known to be a pressure cooker. Just because your credentials can get you into a school does not mean that the school is a good fit for you. Choose one known to be more nurturing and less cut throat.

19

Do you do opera or classical training? Opera training should never begin before late teens-early twenties, and even then it should start mostly classical with some light arias mixed in. You can damage your voice if you start sooner. Most reputable teachers won’t even start basic classical training until a student is at least 12 or 13.

20

I started classcal training at 11, but like you said my teacher knew not to start intense opera with me. I got more into the operatic training around my 16th birthday, but even then we left out some of the parts that could be damaging. We’ve been very careful about it.