Safety Schools for CS

College Search & Selection
1

Hello all.
I am planning to apply to the following colleges for the 2023 batch - joining fall 2019 :
Carnegie Mellon
Cornell
Georgia Tech
UMich(Legacy)
Princeton
UPenn(Not sure)
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UCSB
UCSD

Scores -
School - All A (we don’t get a GPA in our school - as I am studying in India)
Tests - ACT - 34
AP Chem 3/5 (I don’t think I’ll report this)
Extra-Curricular -
Zonal Level Table Tennis Player.
PADI Certified Scuba Diver
Solving the AI Race - General Challenge: Top 50 participants in final
Passed Trinity Grade 5 with Distinction(93/100)
WSDC India Selections - top 16.
News-Wiz quiz participated till televised rounds.
Creator of an app currently in use at the school I study at.
I have also completed several online courses in ML and Math.

I think I am applying too ambitiously and am looking at adding a few safety schools.

Please forgive me if I asked this at the wrong forum. I am new to College Confidential.
Thanks

2

First, are you a CA resident? If not there is no financial aid for out of state students.

All of your schools are reaches for CS. CS is usually the most competitive major at colleges. What is you home state?

3

I am an American Citizen(ex homestate Michigan) living in India.

4

I thought I could had a shot at these colleges as I’ve participated and been successful in an international and few national competitions

5

You do have a shot at these schools but as stated above they are all Reaches especially for CS. A safety school needs to be affordable and you have a high chance for an acceptance which none of these qualify. Although you are a US citizen, you will be considered OOS for all the public universities. What can you and your family afford to pay each year? That should be your starting point for a safety.

6

My parents told me they would finance any college I go to as long as it is good and well reputed

7

Would they consider UC Santa Cruz a “well reputed” university or maybe San Jose State? These could be a safety schools for you based on your academic profile if you are targeting California. USC (University of Southern California) could be a Match school.

8

USC had come to my city - and although it was impressive I don’t think it will be a good fit for me.
I guess I could talk them into UC Santa Cruz as a safety.

9

CS safeties are hard to find. The following universities may be easier than most on your current list.

Northeastern,
RPI,
Stevens Institute of Technology,
VPI
WPI

Quality backup would be Clarkson

10

I’ll have a look at these universities. Thank you!

11

Take a look at Drexel as a safety in a large city(Philadelphia) that you might like.

Hopefully as a full pay you’ll get into one of the UCs.

12

The University of Massachusetts in Amherst in also very good for computer science.

13

But CS is a very competitive major at UMass-A, so not a safety.

14

The University of Utah is a good safety, and as a US citizen you could get in-state tuition after the first year, which would reduce the cost considerably.