Junior, Asian Male CS, What are some colleges that would fit a weaker application? | ApplyingToCollege | Page 1

tulip parrot May 28, 2023, 1:27 PM

#

Location: Prefer the Northeast slightly, but pretty much open to anywhere

Major: CS (yeah this one's gonna bump me down)

GPA: 98.9 UW 103.936 W (If I put my classes into a gpa calculator, roughly 4/4.5-4.6 ish) (number 2 in my school)

SAT: 1550 (800 Math) single sitting, PSAT: 1430 (Probably Commended?)

Curriculum: Doesn't matter, just one that has a good cs education and competitive people

EC's: Very weak, pretty much only the only thing notable is being on math club team of 15 for a few counties (about a million) and doing mock trial, not too well since we only get second in county's

I feel like my activities are pretty bad, probably knocks me down the list

Size: Probably not an LAC, but if you think it fits, by all means suggest it, but I would preferably not go to one

Cost: I would prefer something slightly not 60-70k tuition, but I'm fine with that if they are good enough.

College List: (A lot of these may be reaches and is a very rough list I need to narrow)

CMU
UMich
UIUC
Georgia Tech
University of Washington
University Texas Austin
Brown
Princeton
Duke
John Hopkins
UC Berkeley
Purdue
UMaryland
University of Wisconsion-Madison
UMass Amherst
Rutgers
UVA
UNC Chapel Hill
Stony Brook (these two are virtually locks since I am in ny)
Binghamton (these two are virtually locks since I am in ny)
Northeastern

Can you suggest some schools that are good and maybe tell me if some of them are pointless in applying?

#

School offers like 6-7 AP's, taken 4, AP CSP, AP Bio, AP Lang, and APUSH, 90% sure I got all 5's (if ya care)

green cosmos May 28, 2023, 1:50 PM

#

Honestly, as long as you're CONSISTENTLY INVOLVED in EC's, it doesn't matter how impressive the "positions" or "awards" you received in them are, so I wouldn't count yourself out in that regard. Also, since you're in the New York area, I would consider looking into NYU, NJIT, University of Rochester, RIT, Olin College of Engineering. Also you do have a lot of nice range of schools which is nice, if you want to look more into small, tight-knit competitive atmosphere, I'd also consider Case Western. Other than that (assuming you have more extracurriculars than just the 2 you claim to have), you definitely meet the requirements to be competitive for t20's and other top cs schools

green cosmos May 28, 2023, 1:51 PM

#

green cosmos Honestly, as long as you're CONSISTENTLY INVOLVED in EC's, it doesn't matter how...

I guess a follow up question is do you have any CS experiences (besides AP CSP), because then that might ding you a bit. If not, I would definitely look into cs internships and/or courses for this summer

tulip parrot May 28, 2023, 1:52 PM

#

yeah I don't have any, probably gonna take ap csa next year or over the summer (school doesn't really offer it)

green cosmos May 28, 2023, 1:53 PM

#

tulip parrot yeah I don't have any, probably gonna take ap csa next year or over the summer (...

Yeah, I think that will be the biggest thing. Are you a rising senior?

tulip parrot May 28, 2023, 1:53 PM

#

yes

green cosmos May 28, 2023, 1:54 PM

#

tulip parrot yes

ok! I think that's the #1 thing to work on adding to your app, it kills two birds with one stone EC-wise, too

tulip parrot May 28, 2023, 1:56 PM

#

so do you think I register for the ap exam even if they won't really know what I get to show that initiative? (and then maybe experiment with usaco)

green cosmos May 28, 2023, 2:00 PM

#

tulip parrot so do you think I register for the ap exam even if they won't really know what I...

honestly taking the course is going to show the bulk of the initiative over the ap exam. especially because the value the exam would add to an app is more score-based

tulip parrot May 28, 2023, 2:01 PM

#

how do I show that I'm doing it if my school doesn't offer it

green cosmos May 28, 2023, 2:14 PM

#

tulip parrot how do I show that I'm doing it if my school doesn't offer it

the awesome part of cs is that it's one of the easiest activities to get involved in online. there's a lot of free or low-cost courses for learning different languages and even writing your own programs. the other thing that you can do is try to find start-up companies in your area that you can ask to intern/volunteer it to learn more, they're very willing and open to helping people most of the time

tulip parrot May 28, 2023, 2:15 PM

#

thank you, so try to prove it with my own projects posted, noting what languages I learned, and maybe dabble in usaco or internships, thank you

green cosmos May 28, 2023, 2:20 PM

#

tulip parrot thank you, so try to prove it with my own projects posted, noting what languages...

yep!!!

green cosmos May 28, 2023, 2:22 PM

#

tulip parrot thank you, so try to prove it with my own projects posted, noting what languages...

the other thing you'll want to figure out is why CS? and explore the answer to that question through the extracurriculars you choose to do

quiet bay May 28, 2023, 4:51 PM

#

roch institute of tech

#

good co op

#

and if ur stuff is solid enough for merit aid and opps, u can p easily get the 5 yr bs/masters program

#

good funding for cs

#

kinda big tho

#

u def got commended for psat but likely nothing past that

#

(im also ny instate haha)

lone vessel Jun 2, 2023, 11:19 AM

#

Why don't I see Cornell

tulip parrot Jun 2, 2023, 8:05 PM

#

lol thank you I forgot to put that on the list, do you think it's the best option for ED?

quiet bay Jun 2, 2023, 8:18 PM

#

I mean there r better schools for cs

#

Why ed cotn

#

Orn

#

Orn

#

Corj

tulip parrot Jun 2, 2023, 8:26 PM

#

in-state tbh, I think I get a little bump in comparison to other ed spots

quiet bay Jun 2, 2023, 10:25 PM

#

valid

#

not so much at private colleges tho

#

its more for like

#Junior, Asian Male CS, What are some colleges that would fit a weaker application?