What are my chances for getting into WPI?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Worcester Polytechnic Institute
1

<p>I am current a senior and am very nervous about my college applications.
Here are my numbers:</p>

<p>Weighted GPA of around 3.2 (its very low, I know, the reason it is so low was because of foreign language courses, in case that makes a difference)
(I go to an exam-public school)
I am not very sure of my class-rank, because i have not been given that specifically yet, but to ball park it, i would have to say around top 30%</p>

<p>SAT: 2040 (Crit Reading 640, Math 740, Writing 660)</p>

<p>SATII: Physics 710, Math Level 1 740, Math Level 2 730</p>

<p>AP's: Computer Science A (5), US History (4), Physics B (4), and am taking Calculus AB this year</p>

<p>Community Service:
~60 hours in sophomore year, ~10 in junior year and ~30 in senior year</p>

<p>Work Experience:
1. Summer job at BRYE (2005), a summer program where i help teach kids etc
2. Summer internship at IBM (2006)</p>

<p>Activities:
asian culture club
table tennis club
this robotics engineering competition at BU
red cross club (i am their webmaster)</p>

<p>Interests:
I want to go into the computer science major to eventually become a software engineer</p>

<p>Programming/Web-Designing knowledge:
I currently am quite good at Java, PHP, HTML, and CSS, and i know some of Perl, C++, JavaScript, VBScript, JSP, and I am going to try to learn C# soon</p>

<p>Other:
I am fluent with English (of course) and Vietnamese
I took 3 years of Spanish and 4 years of Latin
Other than my 4 AP's, I've also taken (or am taking) 5 honors classes</p>

<hr>

<p>Thanks in advanced for any response that you can give.
(If you can name some other colleges that I can also apply to for Computer Science, that are in Massachusetts or close to there and are within my reach, I would also be very grateful)</p>

2

<p>Last year their average GPA was 3.6. Their Early Action acceptance rate was 94% and Regular Decision rate was 85%. SAT 25% to 75% was 1180-1380 (so, 25% of the kids had lower than 1180, and 25% had higer than 1380).</p>

<p>You probably still haev a good shot though (even more so if you happen to be a girl!).</p>

<p>Other school suggestions: Rochester Institute of Technology (AirTran flies cheap from Bsoton to Rochester and it's only about a 6 1/2 hour drive). Univeristy of Delaware, U Mass (obviously), Clarkson University, Alfred University.</p>

3

<p>haha thanks for the info
(btw, im a guy :-P)
and the main reason for my confusion is because my gpa is pretty ugly, but my sat I and II are relatively high and i was just wondering which.....is more important</p>

4

<p>Yeah, I really have no idea, but it looks like you have taken a rigorous courseload -- and they will certainly look at that favorably. I'd guess you can probably consider a "match" but not a safety. Do Early Action -- but get going on it!</p>

5

<p>thanks!
ill try to make either round one or round 2 early action.</p>

6

<p>sorry for double post, but there is something thats been poking at my brain for very long
if i happen to accidentally fail a course (:( oops) and then retake it the next year, will colleges count both years into my gpa (like schools do for the class rank) or do they only take the most current, or do they take the first try?</p>

<hr>

<p>one more thing, I am planning on taking the exam to become a Sun Certified Java Programmer (which costs $200 :() and I am studing my *** off to try to pass it, but i was wondering, would it have a relatively big effect on my chances of getting into WPI or any college in general (I will indicate in my apps that i am looking towards a computer science major)
thanks</p>

7

<p>I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to either question. Ask your guidance counselor about question #1. Also, if you do have one really low grade on your transcript include a note somewhere in your application explaining it. </p>

<p>As for Sun Programmer - Who knows? I suppose they'd see it as showing good initiative. Be sure to list is somehwere prominently.</p>

<p>Have you had a chance to visit WPI or interview with them? Maybe you should try to snag an interview somewhere - even in your hometown. Call their admissions office.</p>

8

<p>ill try to grab an interview somewhere, it shouldnt be too hard for me, considering how i live around <2 hour drive from their campus :-P</p>