I agree with everyone here that finding a college that really is a fit for your needs is the best. And I completely understand the feeling of looking back on your academic career and extracurricular list and feeling like all that work was for nothing if you don’t go to a top tier school. Find somewhere that fits your desired majors, but also has room to change in case you find a completely new path in college. Even if you are 99% sure CS is the path for you, make sure you look at the academic offerings of a school as a whole. Picking a school that has a #1 CS program and horrible programs for everything else won’ do you any good if you decide you love electrical engineering or linguistics or medicine after you get there. I would also say, if you visit Upenn, Carnegie Mellon, MIT or any other “high pressure” school and it feels perfect for you, then embrace that. I you visit a B tier school that is typically more laid back, but when you talk to people in your major or sit in on a class and feel overwhelmed, take it off the list. All colleges have reputations for level of difficulty, stress, competitiveness, and pressure but those reputations do not hold true for all students at those universities. I found pockets of students on many of my college visits that completely defied the stereotypes I thought they would represent. Do whats best for you and don’t worry about judgement from other people, that means not worrying about judgement from your high school peers if you pick a non-top tier school, but also not worrying about judgement from you counselors/psychiatrist and parents if you choose a top tier pressure cooker. Only you know how you feel in any given environment.
Just going by the numbers: Purdue University admits close to 60% of applicants and your projected test scores are higher than the 75th percentile. I think you have a good shot there, and they also offer several merit based scholarships to offset costs. Auburn University admits 80%. These might be more of safety schools than match schools, but your chances of admissions are definitely realistic here!
You sound like a a great, hard-working, conscientious kid who is trying too hard. That list is EC’s and academics is insane. If you are truly interested in CS, no matter where you graduate from, as long as you can program, you will have a great software job. Start enjoying the journey and STOP demeaning yourself. Don’t judge yourself against some unrealistic parameters. Streamline your upcoming academic year and just focus on doing what you truly enjoy.
You guys have all been great. I’ve been feeling very conflicted lately, because I’ve been going on lots of college visits and the ones that struck me most were Scranton and Siena. Both of which are very laid back schools and don’t have much of a reputation, but I noticed that everyone there was HAPPY there. The vibe I got from those schools was incredible, but I don’t want to like them! Siena was beautiful, and I felt so at home there, but I don’t want to like it because it’s not a “name”, you know? When I tell someone what college I’m going to, I want them to respond with “wow” and be proud of me. And as one of you asked, yes, I do have a tendency to be competitive because of my twin. He was always the smarter twin, and my parents won’t deny it if asked.
“When I tell someone what college I’m going to, I want them to respond with “wow” and be proud of me.”
The first step towards both adulthood and sanity is staring down the need for random strangers (or even people you’d like to impress) to say ‘wow’. Be proud of yourself because of who you are and what you’ve done with your life. There are probably already dimensions on which you are ‘wow-worthy’, so go for those. And knowing how to be happy is one of life’s best gifts. If you have that, then you are already not just smart, but lucky too.
Siena is a happy campus with nice kids, and you would get a generous merit scholarship from them. I don’t know much about their computer science department.
I strongly suggest you visit WPI. I really think you will like it; it is also a ‘happy campus’ with a very nurturing and collaborative feel to it. And your resume is strong, especially with the First Robotics experience. You would get a very nice merit scholarship from them. It is not that strong outside of tech majors, so if you think you might switch into the humanities or social sciences, WPI (and RPI) would not be great choices.
A friend of my daughter just graduated near the top of her class from a good suburban high school and was admitted to an Ivy League school and another top 25 school. She chose a school similar to Siena. I’m sure friends and their parents were surprised by her choice - I was, too. However, she made the right choice for her. She knew what she needed. And the surprise lasts for five minutes. I give her credit for getting past the prestige and knowing everyone will question her choice. She is excited to start school in a few weeks.
I know I shouldn’t be making my decision based on whether or not it is “wow”-worthy, but it is so hard for me to get past that. This week I visited Loyola in Maryland, Villanova, UPenn, and I am going to see Tufts in two days. I really loved UPenn and so did my brother. I have a feeling that my parents are going to push us towards UPenn because they want to push us into the same place for convenience purposes. We probably won’t even get in lol. My dad doesn’t want me looking into CMU SCS because it’s “too far” (5 hours) but I’m gonna look anyway.
I can only pay 8 application fees, so I’m really trying to narrow down my list. My parents say that RPI is totally out of our financial league so I don’t know if I’ll even bother applying since it seems that there is no possible way I will be able to afford tuition.
So far I’m thinking
UPenn, Tufts, RPI, Siena, Scranton, Binghamton, Adelphi (backup), CMU SCS, Colgate, RIT(?), WPI(?), Cornell or Dartmouth (just to throw in another ivy?) Fairfield? Fordham? Lehigh??? Maybe MIT as a super reach if I get awesome test scores?
A few of these are free applications which is why there are more than 8. There are also more than 8 because I’m not reallly sure about a lot of them
So many schools! @-)
I’m glad to see Siena and Scranton in there, since you liked them so much. Have you run NPCs on all of them? Need-based aid at RPI is not very good - we considered it for my D, then scratched it for that reason - so it may indeed not make sense to apply.
I did NPCs for RPI, Tufts and UPenn. RPI wasn’t that great, I got about half tuition but at RPI half tuition is still expensive 
Tufts was looking pretty good and UPenn was great- full tuition! I have not done NPCs for Scranton and Siena just yet, but I met with a counselor from Siena and he told me that I would likely qualify for the presidential scholarship. I just hate the idea that my parents have the ability to say “NO” to a school because of money.
You wont feel that way when it comes time to pay for your own kids’ tuition…
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I just hate the idea that my parents have the ability to say “NO” to a school because of money.
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Huh? I don’t get it. Because parents shouldn’t have the ability to say ‘NO’ at all?
@ColdinMinny I understand that college is expensive especially for twins and it’s perfectly reasonable for them to say no because they are the ones who will be paying most of my tuition. I just don’t like it, lol. It’s a shame that college is so expensive. It’s all just a business, really.
Oh boy, here comes a random rant.
I hate how collegeboard makes so much money on AP tests and SAT IIs that end up not even counting, but we all take the tests anyway because we are pressured to. I hate how I keep getting emails from Princeton Review offering me an ACT tutor. I would LOVE an ACT tutor, but they are $8,000! My financially priveleged friends all have multiple tutors for each test and meanwhile I can’t afford that kind of stuff so I just rent things from the library and use scrap paper to study. I also hate how many reputable colleges send out emails to prospective students encouraging them to apply (so they can get the application fees of course), and then reject them. For example, I keep getting emails from Harvard. WHAT on EARTH does Harvard possibly want from me? I can’t afford to apply to schools that I know I won’t get into. I’m already applying to one crazy longshot (CMU SCS), I can’t afford another. All of my friends are applying to like 16 schools each whereas today my parents lowered our limit to 7 application fees each. Everything about college is so tailored to the upper class and it reallly irritates me.
drops mic
Spending $8,000 on ACT or SAT tutoring is likely a very inefficient use of money and time. If you use your time in the library efficiently (e.g. familiarize yourself with the test, try an old real test for practice, and go through it to see what deficiencies (if any) you have for targeted study), then you can prepare well for the test at a much lower time and money cost.
Some of the automatic full tuition to full ride scholarships schools have CS departments with plentiful offerings, so you may want to choose such a school as your safety if you qualify: http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
Additional scholarship schools (where the scholarships may be competitive) are listed in threads linked from http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html .
Re: #33, #34, #35 and Wells College
The course listing at http://www.wells.edu/academics/academic-catalog/courses-of-instruction/computer-science.aspx seems to lack some common advanced CS courses, like operating systems, compilers, networks, hardware design, and security/cryptography, as well as popular electives like graphics and artificial intelligence.
You may want to check the CS course offerings in the catalogs and schedules, particularly at smaller schools, to see if they will be sufficient if you major in CS. Look for advanced courses in:
algorithms and complexity
theory of computation
operating systems
compilers
databases
networks
security and cryptography
software engineering or project course or projects in other courses
hardware design courses
electives like graphics, artificial intelligence, user interfaces, etc.
One other consideration is that CS has rapidly risen in popularity, so CS majors at some schools are limited enrollment and require another admissions process or high threshold GPA to enter. If that is the case, it may not be the best choice if having to compete for admission to the major would cause too much anxiety.
The online practice from ACT is very good and costs $24.95 for one year:
Thanks
Let me guess. OP from LonggggIsland or Westchester. There is a whole rest of the country where students study for the ACTs on their own. Good lord. New Yorkers should be forced to leave the state for at least a few years. Get out of your frig…en comfort zone.See places where people do things themselves. Yes, they do exist.
@anon9362, good for you for coming up with a balanced list. It’s great that you visited some of your safety schools and liked them – very important!
I have complained before about what our society does to high-achieving teens – you all are taught to strive for academic prizes, but the biggest prize of all – the acceptance to a “top” college – is only accessible to those with the money! It’s like encouraging you to compete in the Olympics, but if you win the gold medal, you have to pay $250,000 for it. There will always be unfairness as long as we have the haves and the have-nots, but it’s hard when society encourages you to jump through all these hoops and then takes the reward away from you.
@lostaccount - I’m sorry I was born here? I’m not sure if you meant to offend or not, but if you did, you failed.
Contrary to what you seem to think, we Long Islanders aren’t just handed everything. My family and I have always done things for ourselves. My father is a janitor and my mother is a clerk. We are in no way wealthy; but if we were, why would that be a problem? Because if I were rich, I would not want to be shamed about it by those who are jealous. I would be proud of my success.
I take pride in my independence. My brother and I are 16 and have worked 3 part time jobs each, 2 of which I had at the same time. My twin is working full time and my 14 year old brother is already looking for jobs. “See places where people do things themselves” - it’s called my house.
I am self-studying for the ACT and I have no problem with it; it just irritates me when kids at school complain about having classes on Saturdays and take them for granted. If I could afford and have time for a class, I would absolutely take one. But, good for them. If their family was able to work hard and earn money through the capitalist system, they deserve to treat their children to an ACT tutor.
But, thank you for your opinion and I will certainly take your advice and leave New York for a while - I love to travel! 
If you are on Long Island, you have a highly respectable school for CS in your back yard (Stony Brook).
If you can’t afford application fees, ask for a fee waiver. With your parents a clerk and a janitor, plus three children, I doubt your guidance counselor would have a problem checking the box on CommonaApp.
If you don’t meet the NAcac or commonapp criteria (check with your GC), you can email colleges directly. Many top colleges WANT you to apply even more than they want your application fee. Finally, there are quite a few “free to apply” colleges - this should appear on the commonapp’s recap chart (not sure where it is in this version but you should be able to order colleges based on application fee.)