T20 CS Schools: Based on my chances, where should I ED? (Good EC's + ACT, mediocre GPA)

College Search & Selection
1

Demographics: Asian, SoCal, Competitive School, Upper-middle class

GPA unweighted: 3.79 UW, 4.2 W (not the most rigorous course load, but this is what )

ACT: 35 (35 E, 36 M, 35 R, 35 S)

SAT subject tests: 800 on Chem + Math 2

Awards: USACO Platinum, various math/science fair awards

Main ECs:

Research in AI/ML. Published in mid impact factor journal and presenting at conference (abstract will be published in other journal). No mentor.

Founder of nonprofit teaching kids how to code in local impoverished areas. Taught over 500 kids and raised 10,000$ in funding. Initially ran all operations myself, before hiring some of my friends who were interested.

Data Science Internship @ local university

ML Internship (paid) @ startup

Internship @ NASA JPL (LA)

Varsity Volleyball + Club Volleyball 3 years

I have other ECs like the generic volunteering, but those are my main ones.

Schools: CMU, Cal, UCLA, Cornell, Rice, GTech, UMich, & HYPSM. Out of these schools, where should I ED/EA to maximize my chances at a T20?

2

You are a pretty smart kid.

You should visit as many as you can, determine which school fit you better. I personally loved Michigan, didnt care for the CMU inner city feel, but some may prefer that. Dont let us tell you, let your feelings tell you. Asian parents are often caught up with “name brands.” Dont let names fool you, they are all great.

Maybe I could pick your date for you too.

3

Your stats are great. Your GPS is a hair shy of the 3.8 that HYPSM prefer, but the ECs are spectacular.

If money is a consideration and you don’t mind going instate, go for UCLA. Otherwise crunch the numbers and visit as many of those other places as you can.

Any chance of getting recruited somewhere for volleyball? Since you are playing on the club level (and I know what those clubs cost!), I would expect the club to something to help you make those sort of connections or get a screening.

4

UCLA and UCB do not have EA or ED, although the UC (and CSU) regular deadline to apply is relatively early (11/30). But they are probably reaches for you, based on your GPA.

You need to figure out your affordable safeties first.

5

No Caltech or Harvey Mudd? I would think the JPL internship would give you a leg up on Caltech.

I would also look at USC. If you get your application in before December 1, you could get a lot of merit aid.

Non-California schools will be more difficult to get in as an Asian male than the California schools. California schools can’t use race in their decision making, but other schools can.

MIT and Caltech have EA, but it’s not restrictive, so you can apply to other schools EA or ED in addition to EA at those schools.

Do you have a class rank?

6

Are you male or female?

7

Yes, USC may be a more likely admit than UCLA, because USC tends to weight test scores more while UCs weight GPA more.

But you still need to find your affordable safeties first.

8

I would suggest applying to UMass Amherst.

For the field that you are interested in, it is stronger than most of the schools you have listed and you have a good chance of getting in and with it being affordable.

9

As an upper middle class Asian, your odds of admissions to T20 and getting merit scholarships anywhere are low. I would say ED at CMU or Rice, instead of blowing it at HYPSM. You need colleges focusing on academic merit, not on race and holistic and you need merit scholarships while HYPSM gives no merit or aid to upper middle class. U Mich & GTech are expensive as you aren’t instate.

10

T20 schools will look at rigor of courseload and your GPA. Getting research published and internship at JPL do not seem consistent with a non rigorous courseload and a 3.79 unweighted gpa.

An abstract is part of a paper, so how do you publish just an abstract in a different journal? Maybe I misunderstood what you wrote.

Anyway, I would suggest you expand your search out of the top 20, as others have already suggested. All your schools are reaches, even ED.

11

What can your family afford? Hve your parents run the Net Price Calculators at each place’s website?

12

If you have to ask were you should ED then you shouldn’t. You should only ED if you have a clear cut favorite that you can afford without knowing your cost to attend.