What other colleges are worth me applying to?

College Search & Selection
1

I have spent a long time researching colleges that have good programs in my area of interest (Computer Science and Minor in Math or Electrical Engineering), and while I have narrowed it down to a select few that I know I will apply to I am unsure what other schools would be worth the application time. In addition to this I hope to attend a good graduate school immediately following undergrad. My list so far is UCB, UCLA, UT Austin, Rice, Georgia Tech, and just for the heck of it, MIT. For reference my stats are below:
SAT: 1530 (760 Reading, 770 Math, waiting on writing score from June test)
ACT: 36 (Waiting on writing score from June test)
AP: US History (4), Biology (4), Completed but waiting for scores: Stat, Chem, Music Theory, English Lit, World. I will be
taking 6 AP classes this school year, including Physics, Computer Science, German, and Calculus AB (I plan on taking
the BC test and independently studying).
Service: NHS member in good standing, Key Club current president and previous webmaster, MAθ (a math honor society),
and a service/academic club called AP Academy. I have also volunteered extensively with a local animal shelter.
ECs: Band and Orchestra, I have made All State Band and Chamber Orchestra and am a member of the Arkansas Youth
Orchestra (I play Bassoon). Quizbowl (trivia) club member since 8th grade.
Competitions, Awards, etc: Advanced to the state ACTM (Math) competition each year and placed in top 5 for Pre-Cal. Advanced to the State Coding Competition twice. Currently interning with my school’s tech department to learn more about networking. Completed college courses over the summer in Biology and Chemistry. Attending Governor’s School for cyber security. Working on open source contributions on GitHub and planning on participating in the 2019 Google Code In.

I know that I have an incredibly small chance, if any, of getting into Berkeley’s EECS program and MIT, but I am unsure for the rest and have little idea where else I should apply that has both a good computer science program (preferably offering minors in either math or electrical engineering) and would be at least somewhat feasible for me to get in to. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know!

2
  1. You have listed no safety schools – the schools you have are reaches for any unhooked applicant.
  2. Have you checked affordability?
  3. You really need to seek out match and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be excited to attend.
3

What is your home state? If it’s Arkansas, you’ve listed a bunch of OOS publics with very low admits rates for OOS applicants, along with Rice and MIT which are both reaches for anyone.

You need to think about matches and safeties.

What is your budget?

4

I do have a handful of safeties such as UALR (I really don’t want to go to any in state schools but this one would be okay if I wasn’t accepted anywhere else) and Texas A&M. For matches I have looked at Washington University and possibly Ann Arbor. My main reason for looking at public schools is that I have two years of a GI Bill to use which fully pays for state schools.

5

UMichigan and Uwash are reaches too.

Look into and run the NPC for WPI, RPI, Clarkson, Lafayette, UMaryland, UMass Amherst.

College lasts 4 years - what will you do when your 2 years of GI Bill are over?

6

You can apply up to ~$20K/pa of your GI Bill benefits to WPI and many other private universities.

7

Not quite sure I understand but are you a Veteran?

8

@Dolemite, sounds like child of a vet (current member of a youth orchestra, for ex)

9

@ECreates - WPI would allow you to continue your musical passion as well as get a solid education in CS or EE. https://www.wpi.edu/news/infusing-stem-music

10

What is your GPA?

If you really want to attend grad school right after UG I wouldn’t get too hung up on prestige. If you go to a major university and do what it takes you’ll just as likely to get into a top grad school. A school like UofAlabama would be great safety as you can apply early, have guaranteed merit based on stats and it’s going to have any class you’ll want to take. The honors college/programs are going to be full of high achieving peers to match anyone at higher ranked schools.

11

Yes, what is your unweighted GPA and what is your passion?

12

Maybe add University of Maryland (College Park), Purdue, and George Mason University? GMU is probably a likely for you, and for CS, they are strong.

Northwestern is a reach for anyone, like MIT and Berkeley, but it’s strong in CS, your stats are in range, and I think you can use your GI Bill here, though the link tells you to check with the VA to be sure: https://undergradaid.northwestern.edu/types-of-aid/GI-veteran-benefits.html

13

“Worth the application time”?? It doesn’t sound as though you have a lot in the way of real safeties.

So I think you need to weigh the hassle of filling out apps against the hassle of not getting any acceptances.

Are none of your schools on the common App?

14

Rice likes National Merit Finalists, if you have won that in Arkansas, if you took the PSAT that will help with Rice. Rice
is very small and tough to get admitted from out of state, they prefer and accept 50% Texans, and they offer a lot of seats to URM.

UT Austin is a stretch because they only accept 8% OOS, 90% Texas and 2% international students.
https://admissions.utexas.edu/explore/freshman-profile

Berkeley, Michigan, UCLA GaTech, Purdue , UIUC accept a lot bigger % OOS.

Ann Arbor, may be a match, depending on your GPA, but its tougher than GaTech for admissions. GaTech, you must apply by Oct 15, or will be rejected, as OOS computer science are admitted under early plan almost exclusively. Thats because so many OOS students try for merit at GaTech and you can only win merit by applying by Oct 15.

For match I would say RPI, Case Western, Maryland College Park, UIUC and Purdue. You may not need that many match schools though, pick a few, and still try for your stretch list, you have a shot at some, I believe, as long as you have a near perfect GPA in math and science. Your GPA matters a LOT for many of these schools, and if you earned one B in math, physics or chemistry, and you may be rejected from most of the schools on your list.

Both UIUC and Purdue are strong in CS, and should accept you, IF your grades match your SAT math scores.

To get into computer science graduate school, its very competitive today, for a funded PhD. If you want to pay for a masters degree, then any undergrad education will be fine, but if you want funding, go to the top school you can afford. Since its free for you, for two years, might as well try for the top choices you list.

Many students applying to your list have taken BC Calculus as 10th graders, Calculus 3 as 11th graders, and linear algebra or diff eq in 12th grade. If your school does not offer advanced math, there is nothing you can do, but be aware that concurrent enrollment in a college is the norm today for students applying to Georgia Tech, Berkeley and UCLA from out of state.

15

I have an unweighted GPA of 4.0 and my weighted will be a 4.3. I will likely be a national merit finalist since I got a 220 and the cutoff in my state was at 214 the previous year. My reason for not taking Calculus BC is that my school only offers AB. I hope to somewhat remedy this by taking the exam for it but there’s not much else I can do about my lack of math courses.

16

“Most” students applying to this list of schools have NOT taken calculus BC as 10th graders. (I don’t have time to look up the numbers but it’s exceedingly rare.) They WILL commonly have taken Calculus BC as 11th or 12th graders but not all schools even offer it to 12th graders…let alone further math.
Taking Calculus 1 and 2 as dual enrollment and, if possible, MVC and Discrete Math as a senior would be plenty. See if your state’s flagship offers online courses you could take, or if there’s a community college nearby that offers classes beyond Calculus 1 (not all do).

17

Rolla University in Missouri.

18

Do you have a budget from your parents? Run the Net Price Calculators for the schools you listed. For example, the Rice NPC is here https://financialaid.rice.edu/calculate-my-cost

The California schools will be very expensive.

I’d suggest UT Dallas as a safety. You should receive a very large merit scholarship.
I think you might receive a scholarship plus instate tuition at TAMU.

You might consider Northeastern University.

19

If you are looking to go to grad school for a PhD I’d consider replacing one of your reaches with Princeton. Yes it’ll be just as unlikely to get into as UCB, MIT, etc but I think it’d be better preparation for grad school. You’d want to do the AB in CS and not the BSE. You’ll have to do research and write a Senior Thesis and the AB would allow for more electives and you could get a Certificate in Math (minor). Princeton CS is more theoretical than many CS departments to better prepare for grad studies as opposed to the workforce. In addition, Princeton has the best need-based aid so do the NPC and see. Depending on your parent’s income level it could be quite better than MIT. Princeton took 3 kids from Arkansas in the class of 2022 so you might have a tiny bit of a geographic hook.

20

I think you are right about the hook with Princeton @Dolemite . A student from my school that just graduated got accepted to Princeton with similar stats (minus national merit) and different extra curricular (no music). Granted, he did not apply for CS which I’m guessing is much more competitive with the recent popularity of it. I will add Princeton to my list of reaches to apply to.