“the UT Austin CS Program is very strong,”
Exactly. UT Austin is excellent for computer science, and very good overall. You can and IMHO will do very well with a degree from UT Austin. After your first six months at your first job, no one will care whether you got your bachelor’s degree at UT Austin, MIT, Caltech, or somewhere else. I work all the time with excellent CS graduates with degrees from MIT, Stanford, and U.Mass Amherst, as well as several IIT’s (India) and many other schools, and no one cares where anyone else got their degree. In most cases we don’t even know or ask unless we are out to lunch or dinner, have a beer in front of us, and are discussing where our kids are applying to university.
“lots of students my school make it in easily and it wouldn’t be a very big accomplishment if I got in.”
The accomplishment isn’t getting in. The accomplishment is to graduate with a degree in CS and a high GPA from a great university such as UT Austin (or MIT or Caltech). You are solidly on track to accomplish this. Your high school stats are great. This helps with university admissions. However much more importantly it implies that you are very well prepared for university. You will be starting out as a freshman who is already in great shape to do well at university.
IMHO if you want to work very, very hard for four years it makes sense to send in an application to MIT and Caltech and CMU. However, you really do not need to attend these schools. If you get in then you have a decision to make. If you don’t get into MIT, Caltech, or CMU then go to UT Austin.
“I’m currently a high school junior and am super apprehensive …”
Frankly, of an average group of 100 students who would like to major in computer science, at least 90 and probably more like 98 would be thrilled to be able to go to a school as strong as UT Austin. You have earned the right to be able to attend this superb in-state school with a superb CS program. You do not need to be apprehensive. I am not from your part of the country, but for me it looks like you should be an auto-admit to a great university. You have a chance for admission at a number of other great schools. Relax. Have a pizza. You are going to do very well as long as you keep up the great work that you have already been doing for several years.
@DadTwoGirls Thank you for your kind response. I will make sure to go on a campus tour at UT Austin and see the Bill & Mellinda Gates Building. I feel that UT Austin is very laid back and chill so I’m sure the environment facilitates great productivity and study.
I have also noticed that you have multiple threads going. In a quick search through multiple threads I did not see the obvious answer so I figured I would write it here.
You are competitive for MIT and Caltech. If you want to work VERY hard for four years and also learn a lot, then it is worth applying to both. The same is probably true of Stanford. All would be reaches and your chances at any of them would be well below 50%, and probably below 10%.
Otherwise, UT Austin is a great university. I understand that your stats are stronger than you absolutely need to get into UT Austin in-state. However, it is going to provide you with a great education. Computer science is an area where you can do very well with a degree from pretty much any “top 100” university, and UT Austin is certainly an example of a very good university which will get you ahead in this industry.
If I were you I would be tempted to apply to these four schools. It is not obvious to me that you need to apply anywhere else. You could if you want to look at the rankings for the top CS schools in the US and apply to a couple more, or throw in an application to Waterloo in Canada. However, I am not convinced that if I were you I would prefer any of these to UT Austin.
If you do go to UT Austin (or UMass Amherst) or a comparable school, expect it to be quite a bit of work. Expect to work hard wherever you go and you are likely to do very well.
Is a large public program acceptable to you?
I would look at GaTech, UCLA, UIUC, UT Austin and Purdue. I don’t agree that it will be easy to get into MIT from Texas as an Asian male
in computer science. Your research and record are amazing though, but remember 95% of boys are rejected at MIT.
Caltech is much easer than MIT for admissions today for boys. Its smaller though, but may be a fit.
GaTech, you must apply by Oct 15 to have a chance from out of state, but your chance is very very good, I would say.
RD at GaTech goes down to less than 8% admitted from out of state. GaTech mandates I think more than half Georgia students get accepted.
“Good chances” is a very relative term. Your stats put you in the ball park anywhere but CS is crazy competitive. You are fortunate you have auto admit to UT.
If you are an auto admit to UT you’re operating in a good place (UT has really good CS). Your stats are good so apply to the colleges you feel match you academically and socially. You may get in - you may not, but with UT as your “safety” you should feel pretty stress free. You should apply to Turing Scholars.