MODERATOR NOTE: This post combines several posts asking the same question.
Demographics
- State/Location of residency: Wisconsin
- Type of high school: Competitive public, one of the best schools in Wisconsin, not a feeder school at all though, most students end up at UW Madison/lacrosse/eau claire and few go to top schools
- Gender/Race/Ethnicity: White female
- Other special factors: legacy at Notre Dame. Female in CS?? (not a hook but might help idk)
Intended Major(s)
Computer Science
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
- Unweighted HS GPA: 3.97
- Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.46
- Class Rank: school doesnât rank, but iâd estimate top 10%
- ACT/SAT Scores: 34 (30M, 33S, 36R, 36E)
Coursework
Freshman year: AP HuG (4), as many honors classes as i could take
Sophomore year: AP Gov (3), AP Psych (5), again all honors when possible
Junior year (this year): AP Comp Sci A (predicted 4), AP CS Principles (predicted 4), AP Calc BC (predicted 4), APUSH and AP Lang (predict 3 for both)
Senior year courseload: AP Physics C, AP Lit, AP French, AP Econ, Calc 3/linear algebra
Awards
*NCWIT women in computing Affiliate Winner
*very small, local engineering competition winner (designed a crosswalk that i felt should be added near our high school) - youâd be surprised how much goes into putting in a crosswalk haha
- NHS
- AP Scholar
Extracurriculars
Cross Country (3 yrs)
- active member
Debate (2 yrs)
- active member
- qualified for the State competition in 2020
Best Buddies (2 yrs)
- active member
- selected for leadership board, was one of 4 people of 70 in the club to help plan and lead meetings
Destination Imagination (8 yrs)
- Team Co-Captain
- Qualified for States 3 times
- Competed at Global Finals twice
- Created a DI team for students with special needs to compete on
- Ran the first meme account for Destination Imagination memes
Student-Athlete Leadership Council (2 years)
- active member
- led discussions about making good choices for middle schoolers
Part-time job (2 years)
- helped build the store
- often put in charge of customer service
Community Service
- 200+ service hours
- worked extensively with kids with special needs
Coding
- extensive knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
- self taught through codecademy
- created several personal websites from scratch
Summer Programs
- Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Camp (2020)
- Notre Dame Summer Scholars: Computing Track (2021)
Photography
- self-taught at photography
- self-taught at photoshop
Essays/LORs/Other
Itâs always tough to predict how good these will be, but iâll try.
Essays: Iâm a good writer, although a little lacking in interesting life experiences but I do think I can write a decent, but not mind blowing, essay
LOR 1: my comp sci A teacher. I got an A+ in his class and he wrote my letter of rec for the notre dame summer scholars program that i got into. he likes me a lot and will definitely testify on my abilities in comp sci. so maybe 9/10?
LOR 2: my calc bc teacher, honestly itâs been hard to form deep connections with teachers this year but he likes me pretty well and has seen me grow in math this year, so maybe 6 or 7/10? nothing spectacular most likely
Budget
I think for this post id like to focus more on my chances than on expenses. obviously i know budget is absolutely crucial, but for now Iâm more interested in opinions on my chances so just assume i can afford it haha.
SCHOOLS
I have some good safeties and matches, so no worries there, but I want to know if I even have the slightest chance at any of these schools, especially with my low math score on the ACT. I know theyâre all insane reaches, but is it at least worth an application??
Rice University (RD)
Cal Poly SLO
Carnegie Mellon (RD)
WashU (RD)
Tufts (RD)
Notre Dame (REA)
Iâm just worried that my math ACT will be a dealbreaker.