aerazon

Hi, I'm a rising senior and am seeking some advice. Here's the basic info and my questions are at the bottom! Thanks.

Basic Info
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian
Location: Michigan
College Class Year: 2013
High School: Public

Scores
GPA: 3.93 unweighted
Rank: ~20 out of 376
ACT: 33
SAT: Math-720, Reading-630, Writing-770 (will retake because I know I can get 800 on math)
SAT Subject Tests: Math IIC-800, Physics-800, Chemistry-790

Academics
Freshman:
Honors English 9 - A-/A-
Early World History - A-
Physical Science - A/A
Biology - A/A
Honors Precalculus - A-/A-
German 2 - A/A

Sophomore:
Honors English 10 - A/A-
U.S. History - A/A
Chemistry - A/A
Physics - A/A
AP Calculus BC - A/A (5)
German 3 - A/A

Junior:
AP Language - A-/A
AP Government - A/A (4)
AP Chemistry - A/A (5)
AP Physics C- A/A (5/5)
German 4 - A/A
Dual-Enroll: Multivariable Calculus and Differential Equations - 3.5/4.0
AP Computer Science AB (self-study): 5

Senior (tentative):
AP Literature
AP German
other required electives
(will study AP Statistics and AP Macro/Microeconomics)

Awards
AIME Qualifier, 2006, 2007, 2008 (scored 6 on all of them I think)
Business Professionals of America - Java Programming
-3rd in state competition, 2007
-12th in national competition, 2007
-1st in state competition, 2008
-3rd in national competition, 2008
Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition top 100, 2007
United States Physics Team semifinalist, 2008

Extracurriculars
NHS member
Captain of tennis team
Vice-president of Business Professionals of America club
Math Club founder and president
Church praise team leader

Job
Have been working at Kumon Math and Reading Center since summer of 2007, 7 hours/week

Other important stuff
This summer, I am being paid to develop a website for a family friend's new restaurant.


Current list of colleges I'm applying to as a CS major:
-Michigan (safety)
-CMU (match?)
-MIT (reach)
-Caltech (reach)
-Stanford (reach)

I think I need some more safeties/matches, but I really want to go somewhere with a good CS program. Anyone have good recommendations?

Also, next year I am going to be dual-enrolling again, but I need to choose between Linear Algebra or the next CS course. Should I keep studying math or start taking my first real CS course?

Thanks in advance for all the replies!

Seiken

If I am not mistaken, CMU cares what major you apply as. If so, dont expect it to be a match.

MSU makes for another good safety I suppose.

As for other colleges in the match and reach zone:
Harvey Mudd College
UIUC
Berkeley
UCLA
Madison
U Washington (safety as well?)

excelblue

Looking at your stats, you're spot on for your chances.

UMich - safety
CMU - match
MIT - reach
CalTech - high reach (not recommended for CS)
Stanford - low reach

I also HIGHLY recommend the following:
UC Berkeley - match
UCLA - match

aerazon

Thanks for the replies, but I am really curious as to why Stanford is a low reach!

kwaldner

UMich - IN
CMU - IN
MIT - high reach
CalTech - high reach
Stanford - reach ( i've a feeling that you may just make it into stanford with your great ECs!)

aerazon

Any suggestions on which dual-enrollment course to take?

Praying4Stanford

Selken, Madison is a clear SAFETY for this person. They'd get scholarships off the hook from them. Maybe even a full ride.

zfox001

Im kinda curious...why do you guys think MIT and Caltech are both high reaches while standford is just a reach....i think that all three schools are high reaches about the same level when it comes to what kind of reach.

iambored10

match- UT Austin, Vanderbilt( they favor Asians...)