What Universities can I even get into for Computer Science?

College Search & Selection
1

I’m a bit confused due to the fact my SAT scores and GPA conflict with one another, thus It is less clear for me which schools I can get into.

SAT: 1480 (only ever took 1 on the school SAT day junior year)
GPA: 3.1 UW (therein lies the contradiction)

Big upwards trend, I was completely terrible during my Freshmen and Sophmore, and my HW grades across my classes averaged to something like a 17/100 and got primarily Bs and Cs. Junior year I picked it up and finished with a 4.1 W GPA, and this year it is roughly a 3.8 W or so.

APs:
WHAP 5
AP Physics 5
APUSH 5
AP Lang 4
AP Euro 4
AP Psychology 5
(my AP exam scores do NOT reflect that grades I had in the class; primarily Bs, some As and some Cs)
and this year AP CompSci, AP Gov, AP Micro, AP Calc BC, APES, AP Lit

ECs: Chess club, coding club, coding competition club, Quizbull club

Community Service: Around 100 hours at a retirement home, and a week spent in Honduras building a school last summer.

I hate this (due to the fact I think it is racist towards whites and Asians), but It does play into admissions: I am a Hispanic male, and first one in my family that may go to University.

I am quite late in applying to universities because I had originally planned in not going, and had planned first trying to get hired as a software developer without a degree and then try an entrepreneurial path. However, fairly recently I was the victim of a violent crime (aggravated robbery; robbed at gunpoint) and it made me reconsider my trajectory. I live in Texas, and so TAMU and UT Austin are both out of the question because their admissions deadline has passed. Therefore could anyone recommend Universities for me? I had considered the following:

U of Wisconsin
Virginia Tech
CU Boulder
U of Minnesota-Twin Cities
U of Maryland
Ohio State

Other information: If it matters at all, I am already a fairly decent programmer, having experience with C, C++, Java, Rust, Unity game engine, and Python.

But looking back at it, they all seem to be reach schools for me, given my low GPA, so I am looking for advice. Thank you.

2

A few tech schools with good CS programs but a bit more relaxed admissions bars come to mind: WPI, RIT, and Rose Hulman would all be great options if you’re okay with a tech school.

What is your financial situation like? Public schools out of state will actually be more expensive than many private schools if you need aid.

3

I’m guessing larger colleges will be more inclined to find a place for someone with unbalanced grades & test scores. Check out Florida Atlantic, Florida International, South Florida, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Colorado State, Kansas.

4

University of Utah? You are late for merit scholarships but it’s possible to get instate tuition after the first year which can make it affordable if you would otherwise have a high EFC.

5

Financially I am well off.
I would think those schools would be reach schools for me?
Also, I should mention that since I only recently decided I should go to college, I never did ask for Rec letters from my teachers, I feel like now is a bit late to ask.

6

Sorry you had such a traumatic experience.

Maybe you would like Portland State University in Oregon. It has a very well-regarded computer science program - I know of students going to some of the top grad programs in the nation after going there for undergrad. Admission is basically automatic with a 3.0+ unweighted GPA. It has a lot of older students, and more of a real-world vibe as opposed to a “college bubble,” which you sound like you might actually like. Portland is a really fun city for students, and there are a fair number of tech and entrepreneurial opportunities in the area. Unfortunately you’re not from a Western Undergrad Exchange state, or it would be a great bargain… but still maybe worth a look if you want a school you can sail right into without a daunting application process, and still get an excellent CS education.

The University of Nevada campuses (both Reno and Las Vegas) are also very solid CS schools where you’d be admitted automatically based on stats. As already mentioned, U of Utah has potential too - not as automatic as the others but I think your high test scores would balance out your GPA, and you’d only have to pay the high OOS tuition for one year if you followed the residency process.

7

There are a lot of colleges with Jan 1st deadline, so you have two weeks to apply.

And there are colleges with rolling admissions, all the way to May. For example, check out Washington State University. The good thing about Washington State university is that it doesn’t even accept teacher’s recommendation letters and will never request them! Your GPA and SAT score clearly qualifies, and may even get you a scholarship. Want big time sports? Nothing is bigger than PAC12 football.

8

Adding to post #2, Arizona state university and University of AZ, if your family can afford the oos tuition. I second Texas tech and would also look at other in state, large public universities.

With CS, many companies look at your body of coding experience and your college GPA. Large public universities usually have good career services office to help get internships.

My kid had a mixed record in high school but now attends a respected state school. He has tons of coding experience and a decent GPA and that has meant getting internship interviews from larger companies.

9

It seems you could consider spring admit. Why not other Texas schools like UTD or UH, or TAMU spring admit/alternate pathways if that was possible with your GPA.

10

Your test scores will help, as will your upward trend, as will your situation and your race/URM status. I think most mentioned here will be matches as a result, though not too many will be safeties.

11

Your AP exam scores may mean more than grades, it means you mastered the material. Try to do well in BC Calculus, thats important, for many CS curriculums. You are going to need to take linear algebra and discrete math in college CS curriculums as well.

UT Dallas has a January 15 deadline for scholarships, so you have a FULL FOUR WEEKS to apply there, and
a May 1st deadline if you do not need a scholarship, so you still have five months to apply there and enroll
for Fall 2019.
See this program-
https://cs.utdallas.edu

And deadlines here-
https://www.utdallas.edu/enroll/freshman/application-process/

U of Colorado Boulder Arts and Sciences offers a BA in Computer science. So your GPA does not have to qualify
for CU Engineering to study computer science at CU.

but I think UT Dallas is a better bet for costs, closer to home, and the chance to transfer to UT Austin may be greater, check on that.

From UT Dallas , you may be able to transfer to UT Austin, perhaps, if Dallas is not meeting your educational needs.

12

Get an application together now for the University of Texas at Dallas. The deadline for priority admission for the fall is January 15th. https://www.utdallas.edu/enroll/freshman/application-process/

It says on their website that letters of recommendation are suggested but not required: https://www.utdallas.edu/enroll/freshman/admission-requirements/

Edit: I see @Coloradomama just posted the same info while I was typing. I agree!

13

@nietzschemon A lot of large public schools, including at least some of the ones I mentioned in post #2, do not require letters of recommendation.

14

Look at U of Arizona Tuscon, application deadline is MAY 1, 2019 for fall 2019 start!
https://admissions.arizona.edu/deadlines/freshman
https://www.cs.arizona.edu

There are many public universities with late deadlines, look for those, and you can always transfer back to
UT Austin, if you don’t like where you start out.

Arizona public schools are very strong and maybe a bit easier for admission than CU Engineering, but
if you want CU Arts and Sciences, I think its still a reach with your GPA, but they will look at your later grades so
be sure to get an A in BC calculus. Use Khan Academy to study.

15

@Nietzschemon There’s no need for you to leave Texas. You have options in your state, and there are lots of opportunities for summer internships in Texas.

Besides UT Dallas mentioned above, apply to Texas Tech. The priority deadline is February 1, 2019. Recommendations suggested but not required.

https://catalog.ttu.edu/content.php?catoid=2&navoid=156#admission-requirements
https://catalog.ttu.edu/content.php?catoid=9&navoid=995

There’s also the University of Texas at Arlington. The priority date is February 15th.
https://www.uta.edu/admissions/freshmen/apply/index.php

16

Santa Clara University. The school is a bomb in Silicon Valley. The computer science program there has fairly good reputation. Santa Clara ranks No.1 in the West Regional University by USNews and will participate in National University ranking in the next year.

17

What’s coming out in this thread is that you really do still have a lot of options, and various commenters are responding based on our interpretations of what you’re looking for. For example, what I read between the lines of your post (correctly or incorrectly) was that you were looking for an uncomplicated, slam-dunk admissions process that would still place you in a high-quality CS program with opportunities to distinguish yourself academically and also pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. I agree with other commenters that you would have additional options if you were willing to downshift and start writing essays and lining up teacher recs, but my sense was that you didn’t want to go that route.

There’s also the question of whether you were looking at out-of-state schools only because you felt the window of opportunity had already closed in TX, or whether you were actually looking for a change of scene. Some good in-state options that are still available have been pointed out, so again it depends what you’re looking for.

Another possibility you might entertain is the Canadian universities. If you really want to focus on CS and not deal with a lot of broad distribution requirements, the Canadian system tends to offer a more specialized education than US schools. The application deadlines tend to be a bit later; it’s more of a stat-based system with fewer essays/recs/etc.; and they don’t care about your grades from 9th grade which would be a help in your case. Plus they’re relatively inexpensive. (Added bonus: less gun-related crime.)

The more you can help us refine our impressions of what you actually want, the better advice you’ll get.

18

For Texas publics like UTD, TTU, etc., your class rank is the main criterion. The Texas publics also publish automatic admission criteria on their web sites, so if your class rank is high enough (possibly combined with test scores), you are admitted (however, at some campuses, that does not assure admission to the major).

UTD: top 10% automatic admission: https://www.utdallas.edu/enroll/freshman/admission-requirements/

TTU: automatic admission criteria at http://www.depts.ttu.edu/admissions/apply/status/FTIC/ ; note that students enter pre-engineering and must earn college GPA high enough to enter their majors later, according to https://www.depts.ttu.edu/advising/preengineering/coereqs.php .

19

Thank you, everyone, for all the excellent advice! I think I may consider UT Dallas and UT Arlington as a potential means to transfer to UT Austin, as well as Texas Tech and large state schools (like the ones mentioned) out-of-state.
I may even look into Canadian universities :slight_smile:

20

There’s no need to worry about prestige if you plan to study computers. You’re well within the application period for a lot of schools. Employers are going to be more interested in your programming proficiency than where you went to school. UTSA is right in a major city and has plenty of internships and job prospects, especially with military contracts. UTSA is a nationally ranked cyber security program. Texas State is directly in between San Antonio and Austin, which basically doubles your internship prospects.