What are my chances of getting into CMU SCS,UCB EECS,UIUC CS?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m an international student from Turkey that goes to a competitive international high school(basically you need to get to score at least top %1 at a national standardized test LGS)

School: Uskudar American Academy

GPA:
UW==94.635=>3.95ish out of 4
no weighted, no rank

SAT: 1560(Math:800/Reading:760)

SAT Math II: 800
SAT Physics: 760

AP Courses:

  • AP Calculus BC=5
  • AP Calculus AB=5
  • AP Computer Science A Prin=5
  • AP Statistics=5
  • AP Physics Mechanics=4
  • Advanced Biology(basically AP Biology)=4
  • AP Physics Electric Magnetism=4
    Senior Year:
  • AP Physics Algebra I
  • AP Chemistry

ECs:

  • Competitive Bridge Player: Ranked 12th on U21 National Tournament(top 3 gets to national team)
  • President of Bridge Club
    -Captain and Founder of our school’s Bridge Team(couple of somewhat competitive bridge players are in the team, different from the club because we just compete not teach)
  • TUBITAK National Science Fair 1st Place in CS
    - With a partner designed an AI that could come up with synthetically feasible molecules that could inhibit protease enzymes of viruses in order to prevent them from entering human cells.
  • AI Club President
  • CS Club Vice President
  • CodeFest Programming Co-Captain:(our school’s hackathon)
  • Volunteer Research Project About Bioacoustic
    In IPBio(environmental sciences research facility in Atlantic forest), developed AI for understanding the Bioacoustics of Atlantic Forest with a team.
  • Head Programmer of our school’s robotics team
  • Won several FIRST regionals and qualified for FIRST Houston competition
  • Turkish Mind Games (math and logic competition)
    - 2 times Qualifier
    - 10th Place in Turkish Mind Games 2022
  • Waterloo Pascal School 1st place
  • Volunteered in IPBio== 100ish volunteer hours
  • Intern at EBRD Turkey:
    - Worked on alternative energy resources

Note: My AP courseload might seem light-weight. But it is all that my school offers and it follows a combined curriculum of both Turkish and American Curriculum which contains advanced features of the Turkish curriculum such as multivariable calculus, linear algebra, etc.

2

There might be some typos. Just ignore them.

3

UCB and CMU have about a 10% admit rate for CS and a 15% or less for other majors. Very difficult to get in.

UIUC has a 30% admit rate for CS and a 60% for other majors. Not that difficult.

So you have a better chance at UIUC.

You should add Purdue, Arizona State, Penn State, Ohio State to UIUC. They are all about the same.

4

Note that it’s even more competitive for international students at the school you listed.

5

Apart from mentioning that international students are basically penalized for them coming from a foreign background(which I already know about), could you at least evaluate my stats and activities and give some insight about my chances?

6

Btw I’m male so I believe it lowers my chances for stem majors. So keep that in mind as well

7

General rule of thumb is that the acceptance rate is half of what it is for a domestic applicant.

If you are needing financial aid it will be even worse and most of the big state publics that were mentioned above dont give aid to oos applicants.

You are a qualified applicant but admissions is very unpredictable for top schools, especially for competitive majors like CS.

Have back up options in your home country especially with US posturing on immigration and Visas not being processed.

8

Thanks for the explanatory comment.

9

Btw since I’m an upcoming senior, what do you suggest I should do to improve my chances?

10

I think I see fit to answer your question because I too am an international applicant for the class of 2025 currently living in the US on a visa (I am originally a citizen of India, which is a very competitive country regarding college apps).
I am also interested in applying to UC Berkeley and have read several blog posts by college counselors online. Based on what you provided above regarding your stats and activities/honors, I think it is worthwhile for you to apply to a few T20 selective schools. But, do make sure to create a list of match and safety schools within the US and your home country. Speaking from the perspective of a prospective international applicant, I can say that for UCs, the admit rate for intls. it significantly lower (about 15% for in-state candidates, 14% for OOS candidates, and 9.5% for intls.)
You have an amazing profile in college apps, but it truly is unpredictable given the low admit rate we have for intls. Keep doing what you are doing, work though senior year, try to get a counselor who is well-versed in US admissions if possible to help you build a strong, compelling theme in your application, and start early with your application process so you can keep refining it over time.
I wish you the best of luck for next year!

11

I do not know that much about international applicants, but your application seems very strong both academically and extracirricular wise. Definitely try your chance with some ivies and other STEM focused schools in the US. Please chance me on my thread!

12

Thanks for the supportive comments guys It gives me the least I have right now, confidence.

13

Add: Research internship at Koç University

  • Doing research about a bioinformatics/evolutionary biology under a professor.
  • Will be mentioned as a contributor to the paper.
14

any more comments or advice?