Chance and Match me please [NJ, Information Systems/Cybersecurity, 3.65 UW, 1450, <$200k]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics
US Citizen, Male, Asian, Junior c/o '26
New Jersey (competitive suburban public high school)
Special Factors: ADHD Diagnosis (not sure if this really helps)

Cost Constraints / Budget
Not a large concern, preferably around the 50-60k range but I wouldn’t rule out any schools due to cost.

Intended Major(s)
Cybersecurity/Information Systems

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
3.65 UW (4.0 Scale)
4.05 W (5.0 Scale)
(as of junior year)

Heavy upward trend (freshman year sucked, sophomore year was kind of better, junior year big jump, senior year hopefully even more)

Class Rank: None

SAT: 1450 (760 English, 690 Math)

List your HS coursework

9 AP Classes(including ones I will take next year): APUSH, AP CSP, AP CSA, AP Seminar, AP Research, AP Bio, AP World, AP Art History, AP Spanish

Rest Honors(Dual Credit Level in my school)

**Awards/Certifications

FBLA Networking Infrastructures State Award
Honor Roll (grades 9-11 so far)
UMich Joy of Coding Course Camp Certificate
Google Analytics 4 Advanced Certification
CompTIA Network+

I’m working on obtaining more awards (I have a lot of opportunities coming up so hopefully it looks more filled out)

Extracurriculars

  • Data Analytics Intern for a local non-profit (set up website analytics, created reports focusing on key metrics, attracted a younger audience to our page)

  • STEM Camp Counselor (created lesson plans for Scratch/Python/Lego Robotics, assisted students with projects, administrative tasks as well)

  • Co-President of high school Cybersecurity Club (Participate in various local/virtual CTF (capture the flag) events, arranged career mentorship for members, Lead of Networking for AirForce Cyberpatriot Competition, fundraised/reached out for sponsorships from organizations, led training labs for newer CTF players)

  • Competitive CTF Player (Ranked in the top 1k on a ranking site hopefully higher in the next year, various notable high placements in global challenges)

  • Member of Computer Science Honors Society (presented a password strength checker project to middle/elementary schoolers as part of a tech-night event)

  • Digital Analytics Freelancer (Provided website analytics setup/optimization for local businesses/non-profits, averaged 2-3 large request customers per month in the summer)

  • High School AI Committee Lead (Worked alongside EdTech department to help create an AI code of conduct, educated teachers/students on the ethical usage of AI tools in school)

  • FBLA Member

  • Rho Kappa (History Honors Society) member

  • Teaching Assistant at local religious weekend school (Created lesson plans, helped students place at an interscholastic learning competition)

  • Custom Smart Home Product Developer (I build custom smart home devices on a commission basis (ex:smart mirrors), able to create IoT devices using Raspberry Pi computers)

  • New Jersey State Outreach Manager (Responsible for reaching out to local prisoner reentry organizations for a prisoner reentry nonprofit, conducted meetings across the state to build partnerships)

  • Club VB Player (9-12 unless I break a leg or something)

Essays/LORs/Other
AP Seminar Teacher - 8/10 I feel
AP World Teacher - 7/10 hopefully
AP CSA/CSP Teacher - 5/10 (tentative about this one because he doesn’t like writing rec letters for anybody)
Boss at Internship - 9/10 (city council member)

Schools
This is where I have no clue what to put. I don’t know where I stand as an applicant, my academics seem weaker than the rest. I don’t want to attend an Ivy League institute, I’m more so looking for a strong school that has great job placement in tech. Also, a strong alumni network is ideal.

Scholarship money would be nice, however, due to my income bracket and stats I’m not expecting much if anything.

I’m really looking forward to what you guys have to say, please let me know or voice out any ways I could help build my application more. If additional information is needed, please ask!

2

Look at Arizona. One of the top IS schools in the country and has the SALT Center for learning disabilities.

If you give more info - the where you want to be or size you can get more. But Arizona would be a home run.

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Welcome to CC!

A few questions before I can offer any suggestions:

  • What kind of supports have you used for your ADHD in high school, and what kind of supports does your team anticipate you needing in college?

  • What math class are you in now, and what are you planning on taking next year?

In terms of teacher recs, you only need two, with one from the humanities/social sciences and one from a STEM subject. You don’t need three or four.

In order to better suggest colleges for you to consider, what kind of a college experience are you looking for? Some questions that might spark your thinking include:

  • What size school do you prefer?
  • What size classes do you prefer?
  • Are there states/regions that you prefer (or prefer to avoid)?
  • What are your climate preferences?
  • How do you feel about significant enthusiasm for intercollegiate sports?
  • How do you feel about Greek life?
  • Are there any other factors (like religion or politics) that will influence your college preferences?
  • Are there any particular interests (beyond your major) that you’re hoping to pursue in college?
  • How do you feel about urban/suburban/college town/remote campuses?
4

Hello! Apologies for the lack of clarity, I definitely should have clarified more:

With my ADHD, I’ve found it very manageable using medications and I don’t require extra support.

I am currently in pre-calc, and next year I will be either taking Calculus Honors(Dual Credit) or AP Calc AB

The size of the school and class sizes doesn’t matter to me, I wouldn’t have a problem

I would definitely like to avoid the Midwest and South

I would like to be in the Northeast or the West Coast

Intercollegiate sports and Greek life aren’t a factor for me.

I would definitely like to join a college with a wide variety of clubs so I can explore interests.

I would prefer the campus not being remote, however I wouldn’t rule a school out for being in a rural area if it seemed like the correct fit.

5

Thanks for the answers to your questions, and there is no need to apologize!

When looking for colleges to apply to, it’s essential to find at least one (and preferably more than one) school that you are extremely likely to be accepted to, that will fall within the budget, and that you would be happy to enroll in and attend for four years (that last part is key). For some students, those can be the hardest schools to find.

Based on your statements, it sounds as though your family will not qualify for need-based aid. You may want to double-check by having your family run the Net Price Calculator at Princeton (arguably the most generous college in defining need) or at U. of Southern California (not nearly as generous) to confirm that.

All the schools I’m mentioning below are Centers of Academic Excellence as recognized by the National Security Agency. Additionally, I am neither a college admissions professional nor a CS expert. Admission rates for for CS-majors or CS-adjacent majors tend to be much lower than a school’s overall admission rate. I have tried to account for that in my guesses, but you should certainly investigate the situation at any schools of interest.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • George Mason (VA): About 28k undergrads at this school just outside of our nation’s capital.

  • Old Dominion (VA): About 18k undergrads at this school that is one of 11 schools in the country that has all 3 CAE designations (Cyber Defense, Research, and Cyber Operations). (U. of Arizona mentioned by @tsbna44 is another, if that is close enough to being on the west coast for you.)

  • Towson (MD): About 17k undergrads and part of the Baltimore Collegetown Network which allows students to take classes at other area schools, like Johns Hopkins and Loyola Maryland.

  • U. at Albany (NY): About 12k undergrads and tuition would cost no more than at Rutgers-New Brunswick due to the tuition match program.

  • U. at Buffalo (NY): About 20k undergrads

  • Virginia Commonwealth: About 21k undergrads

  • West Virginia U.: About 19k undergrads

  • Western Washington : About 14k undergrads

Likely (60-79%)

  • Oregon State: About 30k undergrads

  • Rochester Institute of Technology (NY): About 14k undergrads at this school and also has a reputation of providing good supports to students

  • Rutgers (NJ): About 37k undergrads…@DadOfJerseyGirl has greater insight on this school and on your chances here…this is just my guess.

  • Syracuse (NY): About 16k undergrads…and only a likely if you show interest

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ): About 4100 undergrads at this school across the river from NYC

  • U. of Maryland: About 31k undergrads

  • U. of Pittsburgh (PA ): About 25k undergrads here. In addition to its own strong programs, students can also take classes at Carnegie Mellon if there are offerings that Pitt doesn’t have. CMU is one of the 11 colleges in the country that has all three CAE designations.

  • Worcester Polytechnic (MA): About 5500 undergrads at this school that is very hands-on. Its schedule can work very well or not well at all for students with ADHD. I think classes are 7-weeks long, or thereabouts, so students have fewer classes to focus on at one time, but if they fall behind, it can be a challenge to get caught up during the term. @OctoberKate has a kid attending here and may be able to provide additional feedback for you.

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Virginia Tech: About 31k undergrads

Low Probability (less than 20%)

A number of the west coast schools were excluded as they are too expensive and won’t offer sufficient merit aid (like U. of California schools) or are commuter campuses (some Cal States). And there weren’t any in the low probability category as the schools were generally too expensive and did not offer merit aid (or sufficient merit aid for a candidate like you).

6

If you’re interested in WPI (small, tech focused, lots of project work, opportunity to study abroad, in MA) I’m happy to give more info. My older son is a junior there and it’s been a great fit. He’s got some significant ADHD and has found that the seven week terms work well for him. It’s only three classes at a time, so it’s a lot easier for him to figure out how to manage workload, because there’s fewer things to juggle and because it’s moving consistently quickly. We really love it, but a small STEM school isn’t for everyone.

Of the “extremely likelies” that @AustenNut gave you, I’ll give a shoutout for both George Mason and ODU. George Mason is 30min to an hour outside of DC (very traffic dependent) but it has a lot of people who work in the gov’t or related industry as faculty or adjunct faculty. It’s got a pretty solid cybersecurity program from what I’ve heard. Back in the day (like 25-30 years ago) it was a commuter school, but that has changed.

ODU - this school is in South Eastern VA on the coast, near Norfolk and VA Beach. Because of it’s location close to the home of the Atlantic Fleet, I would guess there is a fair amount of support for cybersecurity and things generally “security” or defense focused.

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7

I go back to Arizona. It’s US News #2 after Carnegie Melon for IS. Ahd has a Cyber Operations major. Arizona State is another.

URI is one on the East Coast.

Good luck.

8

Yes, Rutgers is definitely a likely. OP said Information Systems, not Computer Science. I think the closest Rutgers has is their “Information Technology and Informatics” major.

On the other hand, UMD does have an Information Systems major (but in the business school), and you can do a cybersecurity minor. UMD has a very strong cybersecurity program.

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