Don’t forget that if you do get the HOPE or the Zell Miller scholarships, you have to maintain a certain GPA to keep those scholarships. There are other GA schools that offer good computer science majors, such as kennesaw state university and ga state
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science - Department of Computer Science. And https://csds.gsu.edu/. And ga state has a strong honors college.
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Thanks! I will be looking into those colleges 
I don’t believe the Zell or Hope covers the full cost of attendance…but I don’t know what the balance would be. Maybe someone else does.
Can your family contribute anything towards your college costs? And if so…how much each year.
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It covers full tuition. Room, board and other expenses will still need to be paid by the student and that can be a significant expense for many families. I agree that this student should look past the GA flagships when developing an application list.
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What I don’t think anyone has mentioned yet is that you need to have safeties on your list when you create it!
Congrats on your excellent stats, but as you look around on College Confidential, you will learn that many top student 4.0 with high test scores don’t get into MIT, HYPS, etc. There are just too many qualified students for the number of spots. Example:
And MIT and HYPS don’t look at just GPA, number of APs, and test scores. What are your extra curriculars, do you have a job and/or volunteer position, won national awards, etc.?
Please look beyond MIT and HYPS. Have a balanced list and and focus on fit - and affordability is a key component of fit!
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Correct. Fees, books, housing, etc are not covered.
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This is the part that worries me. It’s like you are trying to go from 0 to 100 overnight.
There is no need to take 3 AP Sciences at the same time. Some might say it’s a little nuts? If your classes are worth anything anyway. AP Chem alone is very time consuming.
If it were my kid I’d say leave AP Chem for Sr year and drop AP Bio all together. You already took H Bio. The reading load in AP Bio is very heavy. For this reason, students at our school are discouraged to take it at the same time as AP Euro or even APUSH. And you are throwing in AP Gov (also unnecessary if you are taking Euro IMO) on top. AP Chem is more manageable with AP Euro bc is a different type of work.
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My EC’s are pretty much lackluster as of right now. I’m using this summer to find stuff that I’m passionate about , and then committing to them the rest of high school. Most of my EC’s will be outside of the school clubs I think. Only one of them will be a school club I think(Vex Robotics). I may join a few others, I have to check my schools website to see if any other clubs interest me.
Just remember that depth is better than breadth. And don’t overlook the value of a part time job (good old scooping ice cream) as an EC.
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I’m not sure. I will check with my family on this. I’m pretty sure we make less than $60,000 a year though. I qualify for free and reduced lunch as well, if that’s any indicator.
Yeah, that’s true. I think that I did well enough to advance higher ( got a 97 average sophomore year - with 2 honors, 6 regular classes). I feel like I’m getting ahead of myself, but I also feel like I need to make up for lost opportunities. I’ve only taken 3 honors classes, and I am currently done with 4 semesters of high school, which doesn’t really show that I can handle college level work. However, I will not be signing up for any AP’s that don’t interest me.
Yeah, I might drop euro senior year. Now thinking about it, it’s unnecessary. I got an overall grade of 100 in regular chemistry this year. I was warned that CP chemistry to AP chemistry is a big jump in rigor, but my friend told me that I will be fine. As long as I put in the effort. I believe he has an A in the class, without taking any chemistry prior to the class.
I think my end goal here is to take all the rigorous classes that my school offers. I think that my track is good so far. The hardest sciences my school offers are AP physics 1 and AP chem. The hardest math is BC (Which I will have completed by my senior year). The hardest Social studies is APUSH I think?. I will have both Lit and Lang Completed by high school as well. Along with my non core class AP (Computer science A)
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You should take the right classes for you and find a college that fits you. Don’t fit it.
Ps - the top CS schools aren’t necessarily what you think are the top schools and you can major in CS anywhere and do very well from anywhere.
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I agree! You don’t need to go to a top university as a CS to get a job. MIT is my top choice on my college list, because I feel like that college is the right place for me. I’m aware that they will be checking for academic rigor as well, so I’m going to try to take the most rigorous classes at my school.
Yep, I was lucky enough to get an internship this summer. My CS teacher offered it to me.
I wasn’t suggesting you don’t take AP Chem. I was suggesting you don’t take AP Bio. Of all your classes AP Euro is the wrong one to describe as “unnecessary” IMO.
“As long as I put in the effort” is true of all these classes but the fact that you are not grasping (or choosing to ignore) is that there are only so many ours in the day. It is the combination of classes that is the issue.
Why is it the right place ?
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Case in point: UIUC
As a rule, state schools have fantastic CS programs.
Yes, I understand what you’re saying now. I Will see if I can take AP chem senior year instead of junior year. Thanks for the advice.
Agree about the quality of the programs. The challenge for this poster will be affordability. Most state schools do not offer much, if any, need-based financial aid to OOS students. IMO, the OP should be researching in-state public options, privates and Questbridge.
ETA: @TheAverageProgrammer I see you are taking the SAT this summer. Is there any chance your PSAT-10 indicates a chance of being NMSF? Should you get NMSF or NMF there are excellent full ride options. So do as much prep as possible to open those doors. (edited for typos and clarity)
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They haven’t taken it yet. I agree that prepping this summer and hopefully achieving a high score is a great strategy.
Lots of good options for CS at schools that award NM scholarships.
ETA: GA will require a strong score. The cutoff was 219 in 3 of the last 4 years.
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