<p>So first, about me...</p>
<p>-(800/800/680) SAT (2280)
- List of APs Taken By End of Senior Year:</p>
<p>AP Comp-Sci
AP Lang Composition
AP European History
AP Biology
AP U.S. History
AP Physics
AP Literature
AP Spanish
AP Economics
AP Calc AB
AP Stats</p>
<p>GPAs:</p>
<p>Total GPA: 3.63 (W) 4.30
Academic GPA: 3.66 (W) 4.38
10-12 GPA: 3.71 (W) 4.48
10-12 Academic GPA: 3.70 (W) 4.50</p>
<p>Am Planning on Taking 3 Subject Tests, USH, BIO, Math (will get >700 on all)
Did Football & Band (Fresh/Soph)</p>
<p>So my 2nd Semester Freshman grades are killing my GPA. Also I got a 5 on the AP Comp-Sci Test, and a 3 in both Euro and English (I had a panic attack in English - it was my first AP)</p>
<hr>
<p>Now as far as the schools I want to apply to... I plan on majoring in Computer Science (which would be under Engineering) and am thinking of double majoring in Finance too.</p>
<p>Please advise me and tell me my relative chances... Also I go to the 6th best STEM HS in the US, which actually really seems to hurt the chances of kids at my school because everyone is wicked smart and I am in the 2nd Decile (top 20%) of school, even though if I went to my home school I would be in the top 5%.</p>
<p>Thank you for any help in advance!</p>
<ul>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>UC Berkeley</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>U of Chicago</li>
<li>U of Michigan</li>
<li>USC</li>
<li>UC Davis</li>
<li>Texas A&M</li>
<li>U of Cambridge / Oxford</li>
<li>NYU</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins</li>
<li>Notre Dame</li>
</ul>
<p>I know some of these are much more selective than others, but do you think its even worth applying to schools like Stanford with my stats, and if so what are my chances? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Oh, and I forgot to mention that those GPAs calculated are the ones that I anticipate to have by the end of Senior year. Right now (end of Junior Year) by GPAs are as follows: </p>
<pre><code> Unweighted Weighted
</code></pre>
<p>GPA 3.56 4.12
Academic GPA 3.59 4.31
10-12 GPA 3.64 4.21
10-12 Academic GPA 3.62 4.31</p>
<p>Oh, & I am a white male, so AA is not going to help a bit.</p>
<p>UK unis don’t care about your GPA. They do care about your APs. CompSci @ Ox is <em>not</em> under Engineering- it is it’s own self. </p>
<p>You didn’t give your AP grades, but you will be required to have a 5 in Calc. If you have 5s in Physics, Comp Sci and Stats that would be 3 relevant-ish (Comp Sci + Stats = 1 AP) APs. Your language based APs aren’t really relevant unless you do Physics + Phil. </p>
<p>There is also the MAT, which is critical to getting an interview: <a href=“Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford”>Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford;
<p>The CompSci department at Oxford is particularly helpful- there is a <em>lot</em> of helpful advice on the website, and they answer questions pretty promptly. </p>
<p><a href=“Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford”>Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford;
<p>Basics for Cambridge are similar but I am less familiar with CompSci there.</p>
<p>Might need a bit more EC if only that listed is all.
To give a little perspective based on my experience:
My personal stats were basically 35 ACT, 4.0 UW with hundreds of hours of community service, first place in regional math/science competition, bunch of club stuff including leadership positions, and same amount of APs as you.
I was rejected by UCB and USC, waitlisted by UCLA for Computer Engineering. This is probably similar to your interest at most schools, but you would be much more likely to be accepted to Berkeley if you were applying for Computer Science BA than EECS in the COE (which I applied for). Perhaps they really hated my essays, so make sure to spend a lot of time on those. </p>
<p>Besides that, your GPA may impact your chances quite a bit unless you can explain the extenuating circumstances well. UCs don’t look at freshman year, so you should have a little boost with UCLA/UCB/UCD. Freshman admitted to UCLA on average with your GPA range had a 31.30% admit rate compared to 70% for 4.0 students (which makes my situation pretty sad haha). Computer Science had a 12.6% acceptance rate overall last year at UCLA specifically with
Median weighted GPA for admitted in engineering: 4.44
So that puts you slightly above average in weighted. </p>
<p>UMich cares a lot about GPA and yours is a bit below the 25% even for 10th-12th grades. It would be a reach for you particularly for oos.</p>
<p>What are your EC? and what type of college do you want to attend rather than just ask!</p>
<p>As far as a few ECs go, I am the VP of a non-profit (not a school club) with 90 annual members (they are only allowed to be in it for one year and then must graduate out), and a member of 3 different clubs without a leadership role. I also did an internship in NYC with a tech start up for 2 months over summer. </p>
<p>Also I have heard from people that when I apply to schools such as UC Berkeley and UCLA that I should apply as something like Geology and then transfer over into CS so that I have a better chance of getting in. Any thoughts on that?</p>
<p>And also if all of those schools are a reach for me, which schools should I apply to expecting to get in?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>You should apply to UCSB. Unlike the other UCs, UCSB likes people with high SAT scores. With your low GPA and competitive major, UCSB is probably the best UC you can get into. I do not think UCB, UCLA, and UCD will accept you because they care too much about GPA.</p>
<p>I really want to go to a college that has both good academics and a bunch of opportunities. I want to go to a school where if I told someone from another state where I went, they would recognize it… And a school with great graduation employment / salary stats. </p>
<p>Also, any opinions on Boston college or Babson?</p>
<p>@TechBusiPerson
My SAT score and my GPA are better than yours. The major that I want is the same as yours. I did not get into a single college as good as any of the colleges on your list. None of the colleges on your list is a match. You only applied to high matches and reaches.
You should definitely apply to UC Santa Barbara. It has good academics and I think people from other states would recognize it.</p>
<p>You are being WAY too ambitious. Of the schools you listed I predict you would get rejected by everywhere except of TA&M and UC Davis. You have to be realistic or you are wasting your time and money.</p>
<p>Also do you not have any ECs or did you not list them or what? Like do you have more than you posted in the comment? </p>
<p>Your GPA is not up to snuff for the colleges on your list. Period (maybe for UC-Davis…). You need to find more match schools and a couple of safeties. Your ECs are light, and are not going to make up for your GPA. You need to retool your list.</p>
<p>Many of these schools have CompSci programs that are much more competitive to get into than the published school wide stats would suggest. Apps have exploded for this major just about everywhere it is offered. Even for the schools which do not admit by major, a student expressing interest in CompSci is heavily over-represented. Keep this in mind while you search. If having a name brand college is important to you, maybe you should consider finance first and CompSci later. All of these schools have different policies and procedures for dual majors, minors, and intra-school transfers. Do your research, and good luck.</p>
<p>Really? My sat is above the 75% for Almost every school on that list… Would my chances go up significantly enough for me to apply as only business for these school? I guess it’s worth noting that my school uses a Naviance system and it says that the admit rate to USC from my school (from students who had -/+ .2 GPA weighted, and +/- 150 SAT) was 50%. I dont see why it is so unlikely that i would get into a school like that 
I mean, i know its definitely not a backup/a for sure school, but am i not a good contender at all? This is scaring me :/</p>
<p>And also I have discussed it quite a bit now and have come to think that I will be applying as a Finance/Business major in the schools which would allow me to double major in CS if I wanted to later.</p>
<p>@TechBusiPerson
Speaking of Naviance…
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-davis/1636887-uc-davis-and-naviance.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-davis/1636887-uc-davis-and-naviance.html</a>
And UC Davis is probably one of the easiest schools to get into on your list.</p>
<p>I got waitlisted by UCD. Here are my stats.
SAT: 2300
UWGPA: 3.66
UCGPA: 4.00
WGPA: 4.29</p>
<p>And to scare you even more, I also got waitlisted by UCI and rejected by UCSD, UCLA, UCB, and Cal Poly SLO.</p>
<p>A lot of colleges do not care about SAT scores. Many of them value GPA a lot more.</p>
<p>My UC GPA is only a little higher than yours… uncapped (berkely and ucla) 4.43 though. And what about boston college or Babson? If I’m going to go school that’s on the tier of UCSB, I would rather get really far out state. don’t want in CA if it’s be an okay school. :(.</p>
<p>@TechBusiPerson Don’t listen to most of these kids. They’re all cynical, butthurt kids that got rejected from most of the schools they applied to as they didn’t have any passion or quirkiness attached to them. Most of the chance threads I stumble upon look like this:
Oh ma gah I didn’t get into all the selective schools I applied to even though I had 2424142 SAT 34123 ACT 77.512312 GPA and 12312412321 research hours! HALP I did everything that colleges want (Read that in a nasal accent).</p>
<p>With that being said, apply to all the schools you listed 
They’re all very selective, but if you include your passion and intellectual vitality in your application, then you’d certainly have a decent chance.</p>
<p>Kids from my school got into schools like JHU, Cornell, Cal Tech, Columbia, and even Harvard.
One of the kids that got into JHU had a 3.7 weighted GPA, 3.4 UWGPA, 32 ACT, but on his essay, he conveyed his passion to be a doctor and incorporated how he had a smile on everyday he went to the medical clinic he volunteered at.</p>