What Are My Chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello, this is my first time on here and I would like to see if my stats are good enough to get into a good college.

Unweighted GPA: 3.27 (my science classes brought me down)

Weighted GPA: 3.75

Rigors: AP World History, AP Statistics, AP Psychology, AP Language and Composition, World History Honors, U.S. History Honors, Algebra I Honors, Algebra II Honors, English ! Honors, English II Honors, and Geometry Honors.

SAT: 930 (taking again in October, hoping for a score of 1170)

ACT: Never took (planning on taking it in September)

Extracurricular: Tennis for 3 years by graduation, SGA Secretary, NHS Member (planning on taking a position in that, most likely social media/marketing), SNHS (Science National Honors Society), FCA Member for 1 year, K-Pop Member for 2 years by graduation.

Community Service: 4 hours (I’m going to call the Salvation Army and ask for volunteering hours)

Work Experience: I’m currently working at a hair salon for the summer with commission and assistant.

Colleges that I want to get into are: USF (University of South Florida), UCF, FSU, UT (University of Tampa), and UGA (University of Georgia). *Please add anymore that would apply to me.

Major: Computer Science or Communications, I want to be a UX Designer.

Resident: Florida

Race: African American

My GPA will change since I did very well this year with a good amount of A’s, especially my weighted due to the amount of AP classes I took. Again, please give me your honest opinion on what colleges I can get into with my stats and offer any colleges that are in my range. Thank you so much!! :slight_smile:

2

If it also helps, I’m taking AP Computer Science, AP Literature and Composition, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, and Pre Calculus honors for my senior year. I’m also a female if that helps anybody.

3

The fact that you did well this year is a great sign! Your colleges so far look good, but I would look for some safety schools with a 70% or more acceptance rate and apply to those as well.

You’ve taken a rigorous course load and your extracurriculars are lovely. I can tell you’re a hard worker and admissions officers should too.

One big concern: Going for a CS major. CS programs are INCREDIBLY full right now, and your low science scores will hurt you when you apply for CS.
HOWEVER, please don’t give up your love for CS! Thankfully, CS skills are skills that you can learn out of college, and future employers won’t care if you got a degree in CS- they’ll just care that you can do the work you’re hired for. You can totally major in communications and take a few CS classes in college and some out of college until you’re a great coder. Communications and CS are a great combination.

Best of luck! I believe in you.

4

Thank you so much! I’ll look for higher acceptance rate colleges and I’ll think about taking communications as my major and taking a few CS classes in college, good idea! :slight_smile:

5

Have you done and are you doing SAT preparation? Getting your SAT scores up would help a lot.

6

For the schools you are interested, google “name of school common data set” for example University of South Florida Common Data Set. You’ll find something like this http://www.usf.edu/ods/documents/cds/cds2015-2016-tampa.pdf Take a look and you’ll see that a GPA of 3.27 puts you well below the average student as does an SAT of 930. That would make USF a big reach. Keep looking at schools and find where you are more of a match to the average student. Still apply to reaches, but make sure you find a core group of schools that you want to attend and have a reasonable chance of being accepted.

7

I’m doing SAT prep on Khan Academy and I just took a practice test and scored a 990! I know it’s still low, but I only studied for three days and I went up 60 points, so think about the score that I could receive if I studied longer! I’m really confident that I will get a 1200 on this test and a 30 on the ACT. I will also take in account the common data sets to see where I stand on the charts. Thank you guys so much for your advice and I’ll update y’all on my practice tests and actual SAT and ACT when I receive the scores. <3

8

@Mar2000
Have you looked into HBCU’s? Even the best ones (Howard, Spelman, Hampton) are Matches/High matches for you.
USF- Match
UGA- Reach
UCF- Match
FSU- High Match
U T- High Match
Also a 30 on the ACT is hard to do, as that’s equivalent​ to a 1390-1410 on the SAT.

9

@VANDEMORY1342
To be honest, I don’t even know what HBCU means but I will look into that as well. Also, thank you for you matches, these are very helpful for what I’m going to be applying to. Continuing with the ACT, I’ll still be aiming for a 30 if possible, but would a 27 would be more in my range? Thank you again for your advice. :slight_smile:

10

@Mar2000
HBCU is historically, black, college, and Universities. These schools are majority Afro-American( with carribean and Africans mixed in there) and the top 3-5 HBCU’S are fairly good. They obviously have a different culture than other universities so just something to look into.

Also a 27 is more realistic. However right now you’re at a 22ish so practice practice practice.

11

@VANDEMORY1342
Okay, thank you so very much

12

A couple of things to note.

For the Florida schools, the average GPA in the common data set is often the weighted GPA.

Most of the Florida schools do not admit by major, so you don’t need to be too concerned about getting into the CS program.

UCF is something of an exception, as you have to take a Foundation Exam, before you can be a CS major and take the 4000 level classes. This test is taken You take the test after passing COP 3502, so after you’ve been a student for a few semesters. The Exam doesn’t impact admissions, but does impact your chances at getting into the CS major.

http://www.cs.ucf.edu/files/foundation_exam/FAQ-2017.pdf

13

Take a look at FAMU.

http://www.famu.edu/index.cfm?cis&ComputerScience-Introduction

It’s less selective that several of the other schools, making it a good “safety” (backup) option. They also offer several scholarships.

http://www.famu.edu/index.cfm?Scholarships
http://www.famu.edu/Scholarships/Scholarship_Criteria_2016_2017August_17_2016_LGBS_and_DSA_2.pdf
If you get your SAT up to a 1170 (and get the FMS Bright Futures award), FAMU would award you a **$5,000 a year scholarship/b.

14

I second Howard and think you would have a great time there - I have a couple friends who go there and absolutely love it. They’re both political science majors, though, so I’m not sure how strong Howard’s programs are in the areas you’re interested in.

Here are some suggestions specifically for UX design that could be your safeties. While they are in the top 50 for best UX grad schools, they also have great undergrad programs (they offer either a major or minor in interactive media).

I’m sure you’ll get into all of these schools given your stats (if you get your ACT up to a 27 that would give you a lift).

– DePaul University in Chicago, IL (cdm.depaul.edu/academics/Pages/BS-In-Interactive-and-Social-Media.aspx) – 72% acceptance rate, avg. ACT 25

– Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA (drexel.edu/westphal/academics/undergraduate/IDM) – 75% acceptance rate, avg. ACT 25

– Louisiana State has a Minor in Digital Arts & Engineering (dmae.lsu.edu/minor.html) – 77% acceptance rate, average ACT 26

– Indiana University Bloomington - They have a strong comp sci focus and might also have options for you with their HCI programs + they also have an undergrad/masters program if that’s something you’re interested in. – 78% acceptance rate, average ACT 27

Best of luck with your college search!