PSAT: 1420 (720 Reading, 700 Math)
SAT: taking in May, but I plan on taking an intensive prep course
GPA: 3.35
Notable Classes: AP Computer Science, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, Digital Design III and IV (Advanced Web Design)
Extracurriculars: local 4-H club Secretary, Vice President, and Treasurer over the last 4 years
FBLA for 1 year, didn’t attend competition for personal reasons
Awards: Digital Design Student of the Year (possibly again this year)
High School Rankings: #8 in the state, #358 nationally, #173 nationally for STEM
Demographics: White male from the Seattle area
I like to spend my personal time learning more about computer science and have lately been working through an introductory MIT computer science textbook. I also like to learn as much math as I can, then find ways to apply it to programming.
Any thoughts on if I can get in? I am a Junior this year.
One thing that the UW looks at is paid work, it is listed in the second tier of what they look at after grades and SAT results. I think this is because it is accessible to everyone (low income kids can’t pay for fancy extra curricular and travel etc.) It also shows you can manage your time and are mature and responsible. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, working at your local supermarket or fast food restaurant is fine, in fact I think they like humble jobs. Of course if you can find work at your local Apple store fine, just don’t be snobby because a kid with your resume and a job would get a spot ahead of you. Spoilt kids who have never worked are a dime a dozen.
So that’s something to think about. If you are too busy during the school year it’s fine to work during the summer.
Well that sucks, cause my parents won’t let me get a job unless my grades are a much higher GPA…
Average unweighted GPA for all entering freshmen (not just CS and engineering) is around 3.8.
Do you by any chance have a link to information like this?
UWfromCA thanks for the helpful stats.
I’m a HS senior who just got into UW but didn’t get CS direct. I had high stats (sat + gpa) but I think I didn’t get in because of my essay, it wasn’t related to computer science. Not that the essay has to be about CS, but I think writing somewhere about why you’re interested in computing is really helpful/important, considering that the people who make direct admission decisions are UW CSE Allen School officers and they’re used to doing decisions for “regular” (current UW students’) CSE admissions, and in those essays the prompt is to write about why you’ve chosen computing as your major. https://www.cs.washington.edu/academics/ugrad/admissions/regular
Good luck!
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That’s actually REALLY helpful, I really shine when I write about computer science!
I wouldn’t write about computer science at all. UW is known for rejecting/waitlisting applicants who are too focused on academics; they want students who have very good stats but also do things outside of academics. I’m a senior at UW and no one I know who is studying computer science had any previous experience in computer science before college nor did they talk about computer science in their essays. I’ll be honest and say that the chances of being admitted to computer science is pretty low just based on GPA. There are people who had 3.8+ GPAs at UW in the pre-requisite courses who didn’t make it into the program, and getting those grades in the UW weed-out classes is incredibly hard to say the least. Your grades (especially in computer science and math courses) will give UW an idea how strong you are, so write about something in your essay that makes you stand out. If you have any life experiences that are unique, talk about that.
I got into CS direct and my stats are on my page, you can check it out if you want. Adding onto the comments about essays, I specified why I wanted the CS major but the theme of my application is Arts (I have no CS experience except AP CS senior year.) (: