Chance Me, Below-Average Indian Going into CS! [international (TX resident for TX public unis), 3.5 GPA, top 15-25% rank estimated, 1430 SAT, 30 ACT, <$50k]

Chance Me / Match Me
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1

Demographics

  • International student, currently living in the US (hopefully becomes a permanent resident in the next year or so)
  • Texas
  • Type of high school: large, super compitetive public school
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Indian Male
  • Other special factors: maybe college athlete? I’ve been in talks with some coaches, and have a D3 offer from Culver-Stockton

**Intended Major(s): Computer Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.5
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.3/4.5 for my schedule
  • Class Rank: my district doesn’t rank beyond top 10%, but I’m between 15-25%
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1430 SAT (760 English, 670 Math), 30 ACT (24 Math, 27 Science, 36 English, 33 Reading)

Coursework

7 APs total throughout high school (World History, APUSH, Lang, CSP, Lit, Gov/Econ, APES; all 5s on World History, APUSH, Lang, and CSP), 5 total advanced classes throughout high school, currently taking pre-calculus (because of some circumstances I wasn’t able to take AP Calculus this year), 2 years of Spanish

Awards

Distinguished Leader Award for Orchestra, 10th grade, sole recipient

DIstinguished Student for History, 11th grade, sole recipient

Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout, anticipated 12th grade

Extracurriculars

Member of high school football team since 10th grade

Orchestra since 4th grade, all throughout high school (appointed section leader, placed first in my bracket on a district-wide competition)

DECA since 9th grade (business organization; 2x winner of district competition, 2x Texas state qualifier; appointed one of over 300 members to be a coach)

Student Council Representative since 9th grade

NHS

Tri-M (music honor society)

Boy Scouts since freshman year (almost Eagle Scout, served as patrol leader, chaplain’s aide, and currently Assistant Senior Patrol Leader; elected a member of the Order of the Arrow, Boy Scout’s national honor society)

President and Founder of school’s computer science club since sophomore year (grew from around 10 to 50 members currently, organize annual school-wide coding competitions, placed first in a region-wide coding competetion 11th grade as well)

VP, Secretary and Co-Founder of school’s cyber security club since sophomore year (grew from 8 to around 25 members currently)

Certified tutor on Schoolhouse World for AP World History and SAT Reading and Writing

Developed several applications and games using python, c++ and Java (accredited from a reputable institution)

Have over 100 hours of community service as well

Essays/LORs/Other

Essays:
Most likely 9-10/10, spent all summer finishing these, including personal and supplementals

LORs:
APUSH teacher: likely a 8-9/10, had a great relationship and I did great in their class

Orchestra Director: likely a 10/10, told me that they would write me a great recommendation letter, have a great relationship because I have been in orchestra since my freshman year

Counselor: probably a 5/10, average, basically had no communication all of high school except a little last year for my courses, probably going to be very generic

Cost Constraints / Budget

I think the most we could pay is around $50K year, but preferably much less than that. I didn’t have the time to run the Net Price Calculator yet, but that’s my rough estimate

Schools

So, I’ve been very fortunate to have been accepted to all of the schools I’ve applied to except the ones I’m about to list. So, I would like a chance-me for those schools alone.

  • Likely: Texas A&M College Station, applied for scholarships, EA

  • Match: Southern Methodist University, maybe Kenyon College? Applied EA or SMU, RD for Kenyon (cuz their application was free and I wanted to get some more colleges)

  • Reach: UT Austin, EA

2

Unlikely for A&M - sorry - not with the rank.

SMU - possibly - but not at your cost unless you have need.

Kenyon - unlikely.

UT Austin - no

So - you’re already into some - for CS? Then no reason to apply to more. But if you want more free apps, plenty have them. You can google a list of who.

But that’s pointless - because you have a budget to keep - and unless you qualify for need based aid, you need to find someone who can get you to cost.

So if you want an LAC, apply to schools like Kalamazoo, Depauw, Allegheny, etc. - schools that will make budget.

But I don’t think you can want UT or A&M and an LAC - you can but…

My point being - a free app is useless if you have no chance of attending.

I also worry about your math level - especially with a 24 ACT. CS may be very difficult for you. If it becomes so, you can look at MIS.

Best of luck.

3

You should get your budget from your parents, not guess. The net price calculators won’t tell you how much you can afford - they’ll tell you how much the college thinks you can afford (and there’s often a disconnect between the two). And they won’t be accurate unless you have all your parents’ financial data.

4

You need to get the budget from your parents and use the net price calculators.

Have you checked whether you qualify for Texas residency for Texas public universities, based on Frequently Asked Questions - University of Texas Admissions ?

5

Texas A&M does not seem likely. First, you have to get into the engineering division, which is more competitive than general admission. Then, first year engineering students must earn a 3.75 college GPA to get automatic admission to their major of choice. Below 3.75 college GPA, it is competitive admission for majors that have remaining space (which CS is unlikely to have).

If you are a Texas resident by the criteria listed previously, then add other less selective Texas public universities to your list.

1 Like
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Oh yeah, I qualify for Texas residency. It’s listed as Texas Resident for everything, as I’ve been in Texas for more than 4 years now.

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