Asian Female, ACT 31, UW 3.87, Computer Science

I’m an Asian Female with ACT 31, UW 3.87 and interested in Computer Science major.
10 APs - 4s and a few 3s.
Python internship during senior year.
100+ hours volunteered
Held a few posts in clubs

Please chance me for the following: (OOS Tuition not a limiting criteria)
UT - Austin ®
UMich - Ann Arbor ®
UNC CH ®
Purdue University (M)
Ohio State University (M)
UMinnesota - Twin Cities (M)

I’ve already finalized my in-state schools which is not included in the above list. Any other schools you can recommend for matches(M) and reaches® please?

Your reaches are very reachy for out of state with your ACT score.

How many schools do you have on your instate/safety list?

I don’t think you need more match and reach schools.

If you are looking at college of science and engineering at U of MN, that is also a reach. Average ACT 31-34 in CSE

I’d dig around for schools you like that have 25-75% scores more in the 25-28 range as safeties and like 27-31 as matches. Or are your in state options safer? To be safe you certainly want your ACT in the top half of the average range or possibly even higher depending on the acceptance rate.

Regarding UNC-CH:

Generally, the chances for any OOS applicant to UNC-CH are somewhat problematic due to the highly competitive nature of OOS applications there: UNC-CH admits OOS applicants in numbers that are calculated not to exceed 18% of an entering freshman class. See “Undergraduate Admissions” on Page 2, here: http://www.admissions.unc.edu/files/2013/09/Admissions__Policy.pdf. As a further example of the difficulty for OOS students to be admitted to UNC-CH, the entering Class of 2022 had a 13% acceptance rate for OOS applicants: https://uncnews.unc.edu/2018/08/17/carolina-welcomes-5095-new-undergraduate-students-to-campus/ (29,563 OOS applicants; 3,829 admits).

If you look at the UNC-CH Common Data Set, here, https://oira.unc.edu/files/2018/06/CDS_2017-2018_20180605.pdf , under Part C7 it states that standardized test scores, application essay(s), letter(s) of recommendation, and the rigor of your high school record are “very important” academic factors considered for freshman admission, whereas GPA and class rank are “important” academic factors considered for freshman admission. Extracurricular activities, talent, and character/personal qualities are considered as “very important” non-academic factors.

Further, Part C9 of the Common Data Set for UNC-CH gives the median 50% for both SAT and ACT scores, as well as the percentage of the entering first-year class falling within certain ranges of SAT and ACT scores; Part C11 gives the percentage of entering first-year students falling within a range of unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale, and Part C12 gives the average high school GPA of first-year applicants.

By way of comparison, our OOS high school usually has 8-10 students who apply, and 1-2 students who are admitted, each year to UNC-CH; and, with the exception of legacy students, our admitted students have SAT scores of 1500+, ACT scores of 33+, and weighted GPAs of 4.4+. These successful applicants also were involved in extracurricular activities that showed commitment over time (no “drive-by” ECs), and demonstrated leadership in the school as well as their ECs. Other kids in our city who I know were admitted to UNC-CH recently also had similar academic statistics and non-academic characteristics; and all of these kids were “unhooked” in admissions parlance (i.e., not a recruited D-1 athlete, or a URM, first-generation college student, etc.).

Having stated all of the above, your ACT score is in my opinion a little low for the OOS applicant pool; and the apparent lack of leadership positions in your ECs is a potential drawback.

Regarding University of Michigan:

If you look at the U of M Common Data Set, here, http://obp.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/pubdata/cds/cds_2017-2018_umaa.pdf, you will see in Part C7 that U of M weighs admissions factors differently than UNC-CH, with GPA and course rigor being “very important” factors and standardized tests, LORs, and application essays as “important” factors. Also, U of M will recalculate your GPA for its admissions purposes (you can read about it on the CC University of Michigan forum). I can’t say that your chances at U of M are great; but others can probably give a more informed opinion.

Regarding Purdue University:

Here is a link to the Purdue Data Digest, here, https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/, under the link for “Applications, Admits, and Matriculations”. It is interactive, so you can input the parameters that most apply to you (for example, you would be “Non-Resident” under the “Residency” tab). Based on your input, the Data Digest will generate information and create some graphs/charts from which you may be able to make an estimate of your chances for admission. Also, there should be a table at the bottom which gives the admission rates (and yield) for students matriculating in the Fall semesters of the past 10 years; you will see that the acceptance rates have been broadly trending down for College of Science applicants since 2009; further, Purdue underestimated its overall yield last year, and had about 500 more admits than it planned for; so there is some speculation that there may be fewer admits for this coming admissions cycle to compensate for that.

You can also look at Purdue’s Common Data Set, here, https://www.purdue.edu/oirae/resources.html. Part C7 tells you what admissions factors Purdue considers to be “very important,” “important,” “considered,” and “not considered”; Part C9 of the CDS gives the median 50% for both SAT and ACT scores, as well as the percentage of the entering first-year class falling within certain ranges of SAT and ACT scores.

Applying at any of the schools that you ask about will be very competitive, because CS majors (like engineering majors) tend to have higher stats than the general pool of applicants.

What is your home state?

RPI, RIT and WPI would be matches with good CS programs.

Hamilton (R) would be excellent for CS and differs from your current choices in that classes would be capped at ~26 students or fewer. Hamilton would work best if you also have an interest in at least some of the humanities and fine arts and social sciences.

https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/comp-sci-department-hosts-college-computing-conference

https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/departments/Home?dept=computer%20science

…Why are they all state universities?

Second RPI , WPI and RIT

For RPI: average unweighted GPA 3.78 with middle ACT math range of 28 to 32. See http://www.rpi.edu/

For WPI the average unweighted GPA is 3.89 for this year’s freshman class. Don’t have ACT data on this freshman class, but last year’s freshman had a middle 50% range of 28 to 32 with 37% of entering class reporting ACT scores in current sophomore class. WPI has an unconventional program. See https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/wpi-plan Check out this performance by a crossover Korean singer with a PhD in EE from WPI @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWXhBbrceu4 He studied voice at BU. WPI offers a music performance minor.

I was not able to locate the related RIT data.

WPI '67

Here is the score data for RIT: http://www.rit.edu/emcs/admissions/pdf/SAT2018_2019guidelines.pdf

Middle 50% ACT for CS is 31-34.

What’s your budget? RPI is a good choice.

Northeastern, UMass Amherst, and Case Western are some good non-tech school options.

RPI would be a match/reach, WPI/RIT would be closer to match/safety. All good CS schools but make sure they are a good fit for you.

As mentioned, it’s a bit odd all of these are public schools. Was this intentional? If so, why?

I’d add Stevens.

If you are CA resident, UCSB and San Jose State.

Like others are saying, computer science programs are often tougher to get into than their universities as a whole. The good news is there are plenty of solid large state universities in the Midwest & South (which is the type you seem to prefer) that you have a good chance of getting into, and at some of them you would probably qualify for thousands in merit aid and/or a waiver of the out-of-state portion of your tuition. Check out Florida State, Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska.

Being female may help a little as well, esp for the private colleges mentioned in this thread, RPI, Case, etc., so if you can research some of those, those would be good for more matches and would complement your list of state flagships.

my son’s GF is pretty much the same as you, OP; down to the ACT, race, major and achievements. She attended one of the state colleges in post #12 and has received job offers this fall as a college senior from some major companies at $110K and higher. She will owe no loans upon graduation. Just saying that a lower-priced state U can equip you well. It’s up to you to do well once you are in school.