<p>No, our high school’s naviance shows one kid with high SAT(2200+) and 3.5ish GPA that was rejected at many top schools.</p>
<p>Well that sounds promising haha.</p>
<p>*My parents assure me that money isn’t a problem but I’ve heard different things. *</p>
<p>Can you clarify? What have you heard? Are you saying that on one hand your parents tell you not to worry about money, but on the other hand you know that they don’t have a lot of money? You don’t want to be one of those kids who post in the spring who say that their parents said, “don’t worry about money,”…but then later the parents are shocked and can’t afford what they’re expected to pay.</p>
<p>Apply broadly, but be sure to have 2-3 schools that you know FOR SURE that you can afford because of ASSURED merit scholarships, etc. With your stats, there are schools that will give you assured full tuition scholarships. </p>
<p>What ELSE do you want in a school?</p>
<p>I know that you have HOPE for Georgia Tech, but GT has its negatives with its male/female imbalance, nasty dorms, etc.</p>
<p>The trick is to suss out which schools will be more forgiving of a less-than-perfect GPA. Do you have a sense as to your class rank? What were your AP scores like? What did your junior year GPA look like? Have you been consistent throughout HS/have a good trend line upwards?</p>
<p>One of my kids had a 3.49 UW (3.56 including 9-12 only)/4.24 W and a 2290 and got into Tufts, UChicago, UMD and URochester (the latter two with merit $$), W/L at Carleton and Bowdoin, rejected at Swat and Georgetown. He had 11 APs plus a full IB diploma from a top selective admit public HS program. He was in no-man’s land in Naviance because of the imbalance between SAT and GPA. He focused serious efforts on the two schools he really wanted (Tufts and Chicago) and nailed his essays.</p>
<p>We paid a lot of attention to Naviance history and were able to identify some schools that liked kids from S2’s IB program and were forgiving of the GPA. We knew Swat was focused on GPA/rank, but S wanted to try for it because it was a smaller version of UChicago in several ways that were important to him.</p>
<p>This S got a 2200 (710 CR, 700 M, 790 W/12 essay) on his first SAT. He said that if the CR and W scores had been reversed, he would have been one-and-done. However, he felt that getting CR/M as close to 1500 as possible would be helpful, esp. for Chicago, and he knew he was able to better on CR. He retook and went up to a 1500/2290 (740CR/760M/790W). Did retaking make a difference? Probably a little bit at Tufts and Chicago, where the score and essays made clear that his GPA was due to the difficulty of the program. </p>
<p>As I mentioned upthread, depending on your list of schools, your current scores are probably fine, esp. for public flagship CS programs. </p>
<p>You might also want to look at Alabama – you’d qualify for some OOS merit there. <a href=“http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html[/url]”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html</a> Don’t know what the CS department is like, but you can ask on the Bama thread.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that it is OK to say you only want to apply to a couple of flagships where you’d be happy to attend and your family can afford it. You don’t need to get sucked into the CC mindset. Georgia Tech will keep you plenty challenged, too!</p>
<p>mom2collegekids,</p>
<p>My parents combined income after taxes is $124,900 and based on the quick FAFSA calculation I did it looks like we’d have to contribute around $25,000. I talked to my dad about it and he’d rather I go for the cheaper choice for my undergrad degree and then we can spend a little more for grad school. He would rather I go to Tech, which I’m totally on board with, but my mother is rather concerned with prestige (the CC community would call her a name rhyming with “Smore.”) Once she sees the numbers she’ll probably change her mind though.</p>
<p>I actually stayed at Tech for a week this summer for a CNN camp and found it to be quite a pleasent place (granted, we did stay in the four-room suite style dorms.) I am a little apprehensive about the students’ perceived sense of “no fun”, althought to be honest I didn’t get that feeling at all while there. I don’t think (hope) I’d have trouble finding friends. As far as the ratio goes, I still saw a fair amount of attractive girls while there, so no big deal in my mind haha. </p>
<p>I’ve also visited UGA, and while it seems to be a cool place to live (aka party), I’m worried about their strength in the fields I’m interested in. </p>
<p>CountingDown,</p>
<p>My class rank is equally abysmal (25%) and I regret not having taken my academics more seriously for the past three years. All of the academic pursuits that I’ve been doing this summer have made me look back on the past three years and realize that I’ve wasted them. As it’s pretty sad, actually, and if I have any advice to underclassmen reading this it is to attack every challenge in life with the utmost vigor and stay focused on your goals. The entire world is attainable if only you stay focused and keep your mind to it.</p>
<p>As far as AP’s go, my exam scores are as follows:
5- Language Arts and Composition
4- Psychology, US History
3- World History, Human Geography</p>
<p>My junior year GPA was a little better than the rest, not by much though, although this was by far my most difficult in terms of course work. My worst year was my freshman one, which I hope indicates an upward trend.</p>
<p>Your sons’ stories are certainly uplifting. I’m definately looking for schools that are willing to look a little beyond GPA and instead see EC’s, test scores, intellectual depth, etc.</p>
<p>I’ve been to Alabama for a baseball tournament and unfortunately I didn’t really take a liking to it. Thank you for the suggestion though. And yes, I am keeping GT open as an honest (and great) choice for me. The only problem seems to be convincing my mom…</p>
<p>*
My parents combined income after taxes is $124,900 and based on the quick FAFSA calculation I did it looks like we’d have to contribute around $25,000.*</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>You don’t use “income AFTER taxes” for doing FAFSA or CSS…you use income BEFORE taxes…AGI</p>
<p>Chances are your EFC is MUCH higher than you think.</p>
<p>My apologies, I thought it said after. In that case we’d have to give substantially more, which only simplifies things for me I guess.</p>
<p>There seems to be a disconnect between your scores and your prospective major. Your best score is in Writing for the SAT and Reading for the ACT, your math scores are good, but not as high as many math guys and none of your APs are in science or math. (I realize you seem to be a victim of your school’s idea of an appropriate math sequence, but still…) If you are selling yourself as a prospect CS major (as you would have to do at Carnegie Mellon), I’m not seeing it, unless you have some incredible experience to make up for the so-so GPA. From what you have presented I don’t see CMU as being in the cards at all. My older son just graduated from CMU. He had 770 on the math SAT, 800 on the Math2 subject test, AP Comp Sci as a freshman, Calc BC as a junior, and both Bio AP and Physic C AP before his senior year. I don’t think he was unusually accomplished. Most of SCS is made up of kids for whom there wasn’t enough room at MIT.</p>
<p>Students from our school have gotten into Emory with your grades and scores, but they have the advantage of providing geographic diversity and there is a good chance that they are underrepresented minorities.</p>
<p>I think you might be best off applying to a comprehensive university that offers a wide variety of majors. There are lots of good places that will be happy to have you.</p>
<p>The EFC calculators ask for adjusted gross income, IIRC, which is before taxes.</p>
<p>OP, do you have any extracurricular stuff involving programming (competitions/programming jobs/etc.?). Now that we know what APs you’ve taken, I agree with mathmom that not having any science APs could be an issue. Yes, programmers who can communicate well are a valued commodity, but at CMU, you have to apply directly to the School of Computer Science and make your case for acceptance. </p>
<p>The test scores I mentioned upthread were for my social sciences guy.</p>
<p>It’s funny how in-state applicants often feel that their known state schools lack something in comparison to the out-of-state options. Georgia Tech has a nationally recognized computer science program and will be cheaper (without aid) than other quality state schools (UMD, Illinois etc) and far cheaper than the private options. IMO, Ga Tech is a no-brainer for an instate student interested in CS. It’s not such a great option if you eventually decide to switch out of CS into a non-engineering track.</p>
<p>mathmom,</p>
<p>You’re correct in your observation that my strengths/scores thus far push me towards the humanities. However, something about the theory/psychology involved in CS caught my attention a while back and I’ve been stuck on it ever since. I admit that I’m not very qualified to pursue a CS degree at Carnegie Mellon, especially when it has the top ranked program in the world and fosters an environment of excellence for the pioneer software engineers of the future who have already somewhat proven themselves. I think that I’m better suited for an environment where I have to prove myself through rigorous coursework and a sense of adversity. That sounds a lot like GT actually…</p>
<p>CountingDown,</p>
<p>I have taken AP AB Calc and Physics B, just not the exams. I’m taking Physics C (self-studied) next year to hopefully earn some credit. As far as programming, I haven’t done anyhting spectacular, only online courses, books, low level programs, etc. No much proven, I know.</p>
<p>ChrisTKD,</p>
<p>You’re right, I think my mom is suffering from an in-state bias. Maybe once I show her the rankings she’ll loosen up.</p>
<p>Did you take Calc AB and Physics B as courses that appear on your transcript, or self-study? If you took the classes but not the APs, colleges may find that disconcerting, esp. since you haven’t taken any other math/science APs.</p>
<p>Both appear on my transcript but I only took the class and not the exam. Physics because basically no colleges offer credit and Calc because I didn’t think I’d well enough to earn credit. I didn’t do very well first semester but then I adjusted and came back the next one with 97, so maybe I would have fared better than I thought. Do you think this hurts me for Ga. Tech? At this point I just want to make sure I get in there.</p>