What more can I add to my college app?

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
1

Hello everyone, SUMMER is approaching, and I want to use this opportunity to add to my application for college.

I am an upcoming junior, but I have posted below everything I will have accomplished by junior year (and some senior year), and I am 100% certain of all of these (except for the AP test scores).

My intended major is Computer Science, and I feel like I want more of my extracurriculars to show my interest in that field. I would LOVE if someone could give me ideas for what I could do this summer like internships, coding camps, etc.

ACADEMICS:

AP’s: Human Geography (4); World History (4); Statistics (5); Chemistry (5); Language (4); US History (4); Calc AB (5); CS Principles (5); CS A (5); Psychology (5); Literature (4); Government (5); Calc BC (5); Biology (5); Environmental Science (5)

Honors: Lit 9, Lit 10, Physics (no AP)

SAT: 1570
ACT: 35
SAT II’s: Math (800); Physics (760); Chemistry (780)
GPA: W (4.52) UW (3.975)

EXTRACURRICULARS: (IMPORTANT)

(4 years) Tennis Varsity

(1 year) Tennis team captain

(4 years) Kiwanis Camp Casey

(3 years) NHS

(1 year) Internship at tech company

(2 years) Created open-source programming projects

Principal Honors Roll

National AP Scholar

USACO Silver

For my sophomore summer, I want to do something productive that will also help my college app a lot, but it is too late to apply to internships and stuff, but I still want something that will show me off as a passionate and unique student.

What I AM doing:

  • Attending Kiwanis Camp Casey as a counselor

Here are my current ideas for what I could do:

  • Sign up for an online computer science course like those offered by John Hopkins University and Harvard’s CS50
  • Apply to an internship for Boeing Airlines where I learn about business management and financial things with my own instructor (only internship available at this late time)

What else could I do? Any feedback about this would be grealy appreciated because I want to make this summer as productive as possible.
Thank you!

2

Bump

3

I’ll treat this as kind of a chance me thread type of thing and then I’ll provide some suggestions:

Stats: Really nice job with all of your APs and SAT scores. Well done.
GPA: Competitive
ECs:
Tennis - good job getting captain, although there are thousands of others who have the same role
Kiwanis Camp - this is seriously an unique thing. This is the type of stuff that will propel you to the top.
NHS - MEH, too many kids have this
Internship - hopefully you learned something, also make sure to get a rec from your boss / higher up
Projects - write about these in your application essays
Honor Roll - don’t mention this, it’s not gonna help
National AP - good job, not special though
USACO Silver - you need at least Gold in order for this to have any value

Suggestions:

Summer stuff: you can do internship work at another tech company or do some research. Harvard CS50 is a good idea. You could also try Coursera or Udemy.

4

Thank for the reply! I remember you from your chance me thread for top CS schools and I was so amazed at what you were able to do in just four years. Incredible!
Overall, considering my intended major, could you give me some suggestions on what I could do that could only help my chances? I want to do things, but I just don’t have ideas on what could be unique and helpful. For this summer, I think it is too late for internships, as I have been rejected (sadly) for the two I applied for.

Also, do you think summer courses like coursera, cs50, etc will help my chances or just improve my knowledge?
Thanks!

5

Also, could you tell me if I am a weak, normal, or strong applicant for the following colleges? Please give me brutally honest answers, and maybe suggestions for what I can do like I mentioned in my last post.

UWash CS Direct (I live in Washington) (This is the college that I really want to get into. I don’t really know what to do if I don’t get into this one because I don’t know any other good CS schools that aren’t top like MIT and UCB.
UCB CS
Any other good colleges that fit my app?

6

Also…
Are my E.C.'s too weak? What do I need to focus on?

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Your profile is completely void of volunteering and giving back to the community. Your profile doesn’t really have anything unique that hundreds of CS focused kids don’t already have.

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@ProfessorPlum168 Thanks for the reply!
For the volunteering, the Kiwanis Camp Casey thing (a camp where I help physically disabled campers with other counselors) I do is 600+ hours, and I forgot to include another organization called Jubilee Reach, where I helped kids from financially disadvanced families (~30 hours).

Also, you’re right. I don’t have anything unique to CS that many kids already have. Do you have any suggestions for what I could do? As mentioned before, I am willing to do anything, but I just don’t have any ideas on what I could do that would improve my application. I’ve seen people do things like starting a CS club and be an intern, but mostly every competitive applicant does that. Any reply would be appreciated!

9

@GoBears2023

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Question #1: Overall, considering my intended major, could you give me some suggestions on what I could do that could only help my chances?

Suggestions: Continue with internships, maybe get a paper published as a second / third author, do some science fairs, take college level courses at a community college, volunteering as @ProfessorPlum168 said

Question #2: Do you think summer courses like coursera, cs50, etc will help my chances or just improve my knowledge?

Both. Do courses that provide a certificate. CS50 and Coursera are really good starting points.

Question #3: Could you tell me if I am a weak, normal, or strong applicant for the following colleges?

Honestly, you are an above average candidate. You have the numbers to make you competitive with everyone else along with a really cool hook (Kiwanis). However, the only downfall here is how much the admissions committee truly cares about Kiwanis. If they do value it, you will be near the top. If they don’t, you’ll be average. Also, as @ProfessorPlum168 said, there’s nothing too unique about cs. Thankfully, if you write a really good essay about your internship and maybe what you took away, that could really help you out.

RE: UWash CS Direct (I live in Washington) (This is the college that I really want to get into. I don’t really know what to do if I don’t get into this one because I don’t know any other good CS schools that aren’t top like MIT and UCB.
UCB CS
Any other good colleges that fit my app?

I wasn’t admitted to UWash at all, so I don’t have anything to help you out there unfortunately. Some colleges that I would recommend are Purdue, WPI, RPI, RIT, Georgia Tech, UT Austin, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, UCLA, UCI