<p>Hello, I want to major in Computer Science and I would like to know if there are any colleges that I can get into with my stats that will meet full need. They have to have a decent computer science program as well.</p>
<p>Here are my stats:
Race: Hispanic
First generation student </p>
<p>GPA: 4.2 (5 Scale)
SAT: 1590, CR- 490 Math-620 CW-480 (Mediocre, I know. I’m waiting on the October results.)
Rank: 95/693</p>
<p>EC’s: JV Soccer (9th), National Hispanic Honor Society (11th & 12th), Youth for Christ(11th& 12th), Part time Job creating websites for 3 months, and running for class historian this year.</p>
<p>Voluntary work: Around 300 hours of helping at my local church.</p>
<p>Ive taken around 6 Pre-Ap courses, and I’m taking 5 AP Courses this year.
I also plan on writing an essay that describes why I couldn’t be really involved in school . I had to come home and take care of things since my mom is alone with 3 kids.</p>
<p>Oh and I forgot to add that I live in Texas.</p>
<p>Can anyone help me?</p>
<p>Most colleges do not meet 100% of demonstrated need.<br>
Here’s a list of those that do:
[Colleges</a> That Claim to Meet Full Financial Need - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014)</p>
<p>Almost all are among the most selective colleges and universities.
It looks like the exceptions are Thomas Aquinas College (~81% admission rate) and Carroll University (~78% admission rate). </p>
<p>If your need is high,your best strategy might be to seek less expensive schools (possibly including nearby commuter colleges), not full-need schools (since they usually are so selective).</p>
<p>Most colleges do not guarantee to meet full need for all of the admitted students. However, many do meet full need for some of the admitted students. If only one student has full need met, and that one is you, it is enough for you.</p>
<p>So run the Net Price Calculator at each website, and see if there is a chance that the place could be affordable for you. Then eliminate the ones that you know won’t be affordable.</p>
<p>Your SAT scores are very low relative to your GPA. Is English your second language? Are you somewhat dyslexic? Do you just have poor test-taking strategies? Each of those has a different work-around, but each is something you need to consider when planning for how you will manage your college course load.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>
<p>Oh, and see [The</a> National Center for Fair & Open Testing | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org%5DThe”>http://www.fairtest.org) for the list of test optional and no test colleges and universities. You will find some that match your criteria that don’t care about your SAT scores.</p>
<p>English is my second language but honestly I just suck at reading and writing. I’m more of a math guy which is why I want to major in computer science. I honestly didn’t study at all for the first SAT, but I feel like I did better on the second one as I did take the time to study. What scores would be relatively good?</p>
<p>I would think that to get into a school that “meets need” your SAT would have to be about a 1900+…at least.</p>
<p>That said, if you’re low income and you get into a Texas public, you should get a good bit of fed and state aid. </p>
<p>Have you looked at Texas Tech?</p>
<p>Well I was thinking Texas A&M, U of H, and UT Dallas. I’m in love with A&M and it’s relatively cheap. I wouldn’t mind taking out loans but I refuse to take out more than 20k (4 years combined).</p>
<p>Well, even with a 0 EFC, you’re likely going to be given “full loans” in your FA pkg in order to meet need. That will be Stafford loans and maybe Perkins loans.</p>
<p>Even if you only get Stafford loans the amounts will be:</p>
<p>Frosh 5500
soph 6500
jr 7500
sr 7500</p>
<p>to borrow less you probably would have to work over the summer and use that money to meet need.</p>
<p>Do you think I should just focus on those 3 colleges instead of trying to find those that meet full need? I’m also applying to UT-Austin (I know, super high reach but what can I lose?)</p>
<p>Well what do you recommend me to do? I’m really just freaking out because I have no idea how I’m supposed to pay for all this.</p>
<p>You need to improve your ranking to get into the top 10% of your class. Additionally, you HAVE to improve your reading and writing skills. Majoring in Computer Science means you will be taking coursework where you have to be able to read and write, especially proposals and programs. </p>
<p>Your scores are not competitive for merit scholarships, but you might get some financial aid based on need. If you are in the Nat’l Hispanic Honor Society, apply for those scholarships, but from experience, I can tell you that those scholarships are very competitive and for very few dollars. To get recognized as a Nat’l Hispanic Scholar, you should be scoring over a 2200 on the SAT’s. We’re waiting to hear if our son will get anything from them since both of our daughters applied, but didn’t get anything. </p>
<p>I agree with previous posters about applying at your in-state schools and, maybe, saving some money by going to community college and increasing your English reading and writing skills. You need to gain at least 400 points on the SAT to even begin to look “competitive” for some of the out of state schools. The best way to do this is to read for pleasure. In other words: READ a Lot!</p>
<p>When I said I sucked at reading and writing I didn’t mean I’m terribly bad at it. What I struggled with the most (and most kids,even white kids, I’ve talked to have as well) are the vocab words. I can write really good essays and read perfectly fine. I’ve always been one of the students that “stands out” in regular English class. I could honestly even do AP and do fairly well. I’m expecting 600+ on writing and 500+ on reading. I’m not a genius but I’m not dumb either.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t mind staying in Texas. It’s been my plan all along (oos is too expensive).</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to suggest that you were dumb; the SAT’s are all based on being able to inference information from the vocabulary used in the reading and writing passages. The double negative statements require that you delineate where the prepositions are and figure out the basic statement for each sentence. If you’re not used to doing that, or reading that, then the scores go down. The vocab is extremely difficult for everyone.</p>
<p>I know you didn’t mean that, but do you really think someone should go to community college just because they did bad on the sat writing and reading? I have a friend who has a 3.998 GPA and is second in his class at an extremely competitive school who got an almost identical score as me (CR 510 Math:610 W: 530). Do you think a student like that should go to a community college? (Sorry if this sounds rude. I really just want to hear your opinion.)</p>
<p>Forget UT…your rank will keep you out. </p>
<p>Look at:</p>
<p>UT-Dallas (what’s their CS like)
Texas Tech
TAMU…but I think your SAT needs to increase a bit.
and other UT’s that will allow you to transfer to UT after two years. (what’s the name of that transfer agreement?)</p>
<p>Your problem is money and scores. Even if you were to raise your scores by 200 (a big jump), you’re still not likely going to get into full need privates. However, if you do increase by 200+ and your Math is 7XX, then apply to some privates that need more Hispanic students. </p>
<p>as it is, your SAT math is a bit low for all the math you have to take.</p>
<p>Ok I will look into those. I realize my math could be a lot better but I feel pretty good about my score. The thing that killed me is time. I tend to second guess myself a lot and I ended up skipping like 11 questions due to time. I knew how to do all the problems, but I just didnt have the time to do them. Why Texas Tech though? Is it better than U of Houston?</p>
<p>Texas Tech is a techie school. So, not only will it have good CS, but it will be a place where job recruiters go to get new-hires and summer interns.</p>
<p>That said, include UH as well.</p>
<p>Tour them all if you can, look over their FA offers, and go where it’s most affordable and the best fit.</p>