Hello,
I’m an Indian female applicant and am more or less certain that I want to major in Computer Science (not 100% though).
I’m applying to a range of colleges: Reach’s are Rice, Georgia Tech, Carnegie Melon, Brown, Northwestern. Targets are UMichigan Ann Arbor, UVA, and UTAustin.
My question is do my chances increase if I apply undecided instead of specifying CS?
I would appreciate if you could discuss issues like how easy is it for undecided students to get into CS later on, whether competitive CS colleges like CMU and GTech prefer undecided, and whether being a female applicant will play to my advantage if I apply to CS.
I’m also considering ‘Applied Physics’ for schools with low acceptance rate for CS major.
Any help would be appreciated.
In case you want some background:
Did my 9th and 10th in America with 4.16 GPA out of 4.5. Did my 11th from IB (11th year final grade 38). My 12th IB achieved grade is 38, with a predicted 41 (out of 42).
ACT - 34
SAT math - 800
SAT chemistry - 710
SAT Physics - 800.
I’ve good ECs (started an initiative for education of underprivileged kids in India with branches abroad).
My whole resume highlights the fact that I am a learner, take challenging courses and become the leader in the absence of one.
My IB HLs were Math,Physics and Chem for which I got predicted 777 respectively).
My LORs are average. I have one from my counsellor (who has written all about the different clubs I’ve started and had a officer position, as well as my two internships from architecture and CS firm). I’m getting my LORs from Physics teacher and Math teacher.
In my experience as an undergrad freshman, I would suggest that you apply with what you feel comfortable with. You can easily switch majors once you get in, but if you feel more confident apply as an undecided applicant, then do that. Also, your grades and GPA are pretty impressive so I doubt that they will care.
Thanks for the response!
I don’t really have a preference as such. I’m as comfortable applying for CS as undecided. However, I was wondering which one will further increase my chances of acceptance.
I understand that the CS program in some of the schools is extremely (extremely) competitive so was curious if it’s easier to get in as an undecided applicant.
However, I also read somewhere that with international applicant, most universities prefer they apply for a specific major, so I’m just confused overall
In general, if it is more difficult to get into a college as a CS major, changing into the CS major after entering as undeclared will require a selective admission process. For example, if you enter CMU as a non-CS major, you need at least a 3.6 GPA in CS major courses and 3.0 GPA overall to apply into a competitive admission process (not guaranteed even if you meet the GPA requirements).