I am currently a Senior and planning to apply to these colleges:
Rutgers University-New Brunswick (In-state)
Stevens Institute of Technology (In-state)
Penn State (Out-of-State)
Arizona State University (Out-of-State)
With my stats listed below, what are my chances?
GPA:
Weighted: 3.91
Unweighted: 3.79
New SAT:
1180
Extracurriculars:
National Technical Honor Society - 2 years (President)
History Club - 2 years
Science Club - 2 years
Teens Against Homeless Club - 1 year
Mock Trial - 1 year
DECA - 1 year
Classes:
Freshman: All regular classes
Sophomore: All regular classes except for Honors Biology
Junior: Honors Algebra II, Honors Chemistry, Honors English III, Honors U.S. History II, Spanish 2, Computer Science Principles
Senior: Honors English IV, Honors Pre-Calculus, Honors Physics, AP Government & Politics, AP Computer Science
@gxbee1
As you may already know, CS is one of those majors where applicants pile on. You need to:
NOT loose confidence in your ability to do well at most Universities if given the chance as your SAT scores are OK, but not competitive in a CS major at many schools;
Your motivation and academic interests need to show through. Project activity, teacher recommendations are important. Quality is more important than quantity, don’t just pile on activities so you can put them on the application;
Why CS? What else actually interests you?;
Why a particular University? What variables are you looking for aside from possible admission… what happens after you get there?
When looking at competitiveness, unweighted GPA is often the primary concern if your test scores are high enough to demonstrate you can do the stuff. Weighted GPA systems vary very widely from secondary school to secondary school and are not so useful when comparing applicants from different schools. In many respects there is not a huge difference between 700 and 800 SAT scores, but it can be used as an excuse to say no as very competitive Universities grasp for some excuse to limit class size.
Going by average unweighted GPA of the latest matriculating class can be helpful:
Rutgers: 3.73, Stevens: 3.8, Penn State 3.59, Arizona 3.00. As you are not a resident and as your major is very popular, these GPA’s don’t tell the whole story, but you are probably into Arizona and a strong applicant at Pen State. Rutgers is a likely match.
Stevens, RPI and WPI are all well known in CS, but the university wide GPA’s are 3.8, 3.91 and 3.9 respectively. Once again, these are University wide averages. A bit of a reach, but not unrealistic if you have strong personal reasons for going there.
A 600 on SAT 1 Math might make a potential Computer Science major a reach. You will be taking Calculus up to possibly Multivariable, Discrete Math/Abstract Algebra, and likely Linear Algebra. None of those classes are going to be a cakewalk. The math is going to be difficult. Also include Data Structures which is probably as much mathematical concepts as is it is Computer Science.