Shotgunning top-tier schools for CS (Chances?)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am applying to the following schools: Caltech, Harvard, Cornell, Berkeley, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Rice, UT Austin (Turing Honors), GaTech, UCLA. If you could, please provide your insight on my chances to these schools as a CS major. Are these realistic choices, would I be a competitive applicant?

Demographic : Middle-Class Indian Male
Intended Major : Computer Science
Education: Texas - Competitive Public High School
Class Rank: 7th out of 810 (Top 1%)
GPA: 4.74 (W) / 3.96 (UW)
SAT: 1570 (800M, 770R) Essay: 19
SAT II: Math 2 (800) Bio (800) English (760)
Classwork: All AP/PreAP Courses throughout High School
AP Exams:
AP Computer Science Principles (5)
AP Computer Science A(5)
AP Statistics (5)
AP Spanish Language(5),
AP Lang (5),
AP Human Geography (5).
AP US History (4)
AP Physics (4)

EC’s:
FIRST Robotics Team (REDACTED) : Team Strategist
Worked on programming autonomous and tele-operated robots in NI LabVIEW; developed subsystem coordination using motion profiling and vision tracking.

Computer Science Team - Vice President
Competed in various local/national circuit competitions, grew school’s computer science program; started peer tutoring system for all CS courses.

Sewa Houston: Student STEM Mentor, Volunteer
Mentored students of less fortunate communities in the Greater Houston Area through various STEM classes and activities.

Technology Student Association: Vice President
Competed nationally in computer-science related events, attended conferences on future of STEM Education and networked with IT professionals.

Mu Alpha Theta / Math UIL Team : Vice President
Represented school in Texas UIL competitions(2x District Finalists, 1x State Qual.); organized school-wide peer tutoring for all math courses.

UT Austin Center For Space Research SEES Internship
Worked on natural disaster response projects and research by analyzing geospatial information technologies and image analysis of NASA and ESA datasets

NASA Aerospace Scholars Program: Mission Leader
Completed online training module with high scores; attended JSC on-site training and met with former astronauts. Learned more about Mars Exploration methods currently being researched.

Grow with Google Developers Scholarship Program
Learned key skills in creating mobile/web applications in Android Studio; developed several interactive multi-screen apps for teaching basic math.

Neural Networking Analysis Research
Worked under mentorship of Rice Professor (REDACTED) in analyzing communications between neural networks; wrote paper on complexity of these networks.

HP Software Development Internship
Worked on designing and modifying software enhancements; developed new infrastructure for testing newer applications and data structures.

Honors
Google Code Jam Round 2 Qualifier (Top 5% of all competitors globally) International (11)
USA Computing Olympiad Gold Medalist - National (11)
TSA National Conference Coding Gold Medalist National (11)
National AP Scholar Award - National (11)
Presidential Service Award Gold - National (9)
HP CodeWars Advanced Division Finalist - State/Regional (11)
Lamar University ACM High School Contest Winner / First-Year Keys Success Award Recipient - State/Regional (11)

No hooks, >200k income, no extenuating circumstances regarding education.

2

CS is über competitive everywhere.
The public universities prioritize their instate residents.
The UC’s do not fund OOS students. Are your parents okay with paying $65K per year for your education?

3

@“aunt bea” I am aware of the hefty price tags these educations come with and I believe my parents are willing to pay the tuition. I plan on working while in college to pay off atleast some debt, should be easier since IT jobs pay well. But overall, do you think I would be a competitive applicant at these schools?

4

It’s often not possible to earn enough money to pay down significant debt during college. You’re counting on getting something beyond a campus job and hours around classes, projects, study groups, etc. And getting to that job. And not good enough to “believe” your parents can afford this. Speak with them.

Several ssues. The 4 in physics. No AP in calc (or are you taking it now/what?) And tippy tops can look for depth and breadth. Anything you omitted here that goes beyond stem? And some community service?

Chances for most on that list are slim, to begin with. There are many top kids who’ll apply from TX (and Houston.) Make sure you understand what those colleges look for, so you can give your best presentation in the app and any supps.

And have a backup plan, that’s always wise.

5

Is there a specific reason why one always has to point out the $65K a year cost for the UCs? The guy is interested in Ivy League schools and CMU so the assumption is that he knows the cost. He didn’t mention anything about needing financial aid, so I’m just wondering why people feel the need to point this out all the time. I never hear anyone saying that CMU costs $72K with little financial aid, for example.

6

One always points out the cost because what the student says vs. what the parents will actually pay often appear to be different conversations.
OP-your EC’s are directed at IT, which is a good thing but, can be problematic if the receiving school wants to see you outside of that dorm room.
Agree that Caltech, Berkeley, and LA will notice the 4 in physics, the missing AP calcs’ as well as the narrowness of EC’s.

7

@lookingforward Thank you for your insight. Would it be better if I left out the 4 in AP Physics from my app? My parents are willing to pay the heavy tuition of these top-tier schools; I have spoken to them about this issue. I am currently taking AP Calc BC. If possible, could you please further explain how the ECs need to go beyond STEM? From what I’ve heard it is better to participate in activities that are meaningful for me rather than a myriad of scattered engagements (like if someone did robotics, art honor society, debate, key club, political activism). I have also worked for a learning center in my local community, teaching basics of computer science and coding. I excluded this since I felt these tech internships were more significant to me. I have poured alot of effort and numerous hours into community service while working with Sewa (listed and detailed above), is there a need for more? Please note that I have talked about other passions that I have in my short answer responses. Throughout highschool, I decided only to participate in activities that hold value for me rather than enlisting in every possible activity like some students do. What would you say are my weakest EC’s?

8

@ProfessorPlum168 There will be at least one OOS student posting here on CC each year that they were accepted to Berkeley or UCLA but there was no mention of his financial aid. Most people assume that colleges will give at least some aid to needy students. that is not the case for the UC’s.

9

Right, we mention UC costs because there is no fin aid for OOS. No break on this.

OP, the two choices are not “meaningful for me” and “scattered.” There’s a lot in-between. These colleges review holistically and mentoring in stem is still stem. A lot of kids “hear” they shouldn’t go beyond, but dont seem to get to what the colleges say. (As one example, MIT talks about issues with unilateral.)

Yes. You need to submit the 4. You want CS. The colleges want to see the math and sci strengths for CS. If your fallback is UT, that’s a great school. In many parts of the country, kids would love an auto admit there.

If you want to apply to the others, apply.

10

@lookingforward How would a shotgun of those schools listed work out for me? I am auto-admit to UT but I wish to make Turing Honors. Obviously, I am a STEM person, I like to participate in such activities. I don’t see why I am required to have external passions that don’t allign to my main agenda. If possible could you please expand on what you mean by other passions? Is this like playing an instrument or something?

11

OP, I understand.

But many kids don’t get what those great-name colleges want. This isn’t about you, now 17, telling them you just want to do what you want to do. Life’s not like that and nor is holistic admissions.

I don’t say “passions.” In real life, we prepare ourselves in many ways, not just what “we” want. What have you done that’s outside stem?

12

Any reason you have Caltech but not MIT ? Caltech is much smaller than MIT.
I agree with others that UT Austin as your safety is a great option for CS.
Is your school highly competitive and do top students usually get into selective schools ?
Your CS ECs are great, but curriculum does not appear to be too rigorous. I think most engineering schools want to see SAT II in Physics or Chemistry.
Focus on your supplemental essays. CMU and Cornell like demonstrated interest - did you visit or reach out Admin officers or attend any info sessions ? CMU SCS acceptance is under 5%, almost as hard as MIT.
Indian Male in CS is over represented, so for colleges that do holistic review, it is a crap shoot.
Good luck !
BTW, with > 200k income, you will not get any Fin aid. So confirm your parents are ready to pay 300k for expensive private colleges, when UT would be <100K.

13

would swap out NC State (as a safety) for Rice, which is much smaller than all the other schools on your list so seems out of place. And while it’s true that UCs have zero money for financial aid still cheaper out of state than Ivies and most expensive privates. NC state has every undergrad engineering major in existence and has recruiters with tables in the engineering buildings during the week. (NC State out of state tuition is 25K)

14

@lookingforward So you are insisting that that colleges when performing hollistic review prefer candidates with an assortment of activities pertaining to multiple “interests.” You believe that a student without a certain focus or goal has a higher chance than students who stick to doing what they like to do. Personally from people at my school who have been accepted to top-tier colleges are usually not people who do biology research and ballet.

15

@NCKris My courseload is the highest difficulty that my school offers. I have taken AP Courses and Honors courses throughout my high school career and recived As in almost all of them (except English I hate english). Students from my school do get into highly selective colleges like Ivys and such, it is a rare occurence as it would be in any other high school. My high school is very competitive with a class size of 810. I have not researched much about CMU but I participated in their Artificial Intelligence Summer Program. If I were to add that to my app, would that increase my chances like participation in MITES/RSI would do for such schools.

16

@anon145 I’m a big fan of Rice CS. I did great research under the mentorship of one of their esteemed professors!

17

It’s usually not possible to predict who will or won’t get financial aid because it isn’t based entirely on income. Schools that promise to meet need consider things like # siblings, age of parents (retirement)etc. So if a student says they have that covered, I’d bet they’d know better than those not involved. Further, while I would usually discourage loans for many students, those with degrees in CS and CS&EE will easily be able to pay loans back. The offers for new grads from top schools are very high. Good luck to you. go for it!

18

Done is done. You have put together your best story, and there is really no point in dissecting it now. You have a fantastic “safety” with UT-A auto-admit, so even if that is your only choice you are in great shape.

If your essays are done and apps are in, then stop with the ‘chance’ threads and go do something to get your mind off the waiting.

If your essays aren’t done, then heed the underlying note in many of the above posts and weave in some elements that will indicate that you will be a good citizen- somebody that who will add something to the community, not just come, suck up whatever they can for themselves and leave. Less of a deal at Caltech, but very much part of the deal at H/P/Rice.

Given your background, highly focused interests and budget I wonder that you haven’t applied to a UK university (too late now for Oxford/Cambridge. but not for imperial, and Edinburgh is ranked higher than UT-A fwiw), where you could do 100% CS and not have to do any other subjects.

19

OP, some of us work at selective colleges, so we’ve seen more than a few kids. The students I see are interesting people. They don’t have a singular focus. Students can specialize in grad school, so I think there’s a broader focus in undergrad. This probably depends on the school, so you’ll have to research to find out what they want. Find schools that fit you.

20

@abhonsley00

Yes, the schools want EC’s that are meaningful to the student, but they also want to see you having some diversion and taking some risks. Risks that will contribute to their university.

This is still CS.

Stanford admissions always has a college night for the children of alumni; we were invited to an information session with the director of admissions. At that time, she indicated that prospective students need a passion but, each student needs to show a spark or something else that is outside of their comfort zone. They said weren’t looking for students who were trying to fit a mold.

If you don’t like English, you are not going to like Caltech. Students there are required to take English especially if planning on majors like CS or CE.

FYI: Son is a “techer” (CE) and was admitted to most of the top schools where he applied; I’m assuming his “scattered engagements” had something to do with his admissions.

I agree that you need to apply widely and consider your instate schools in Texas.