Chance Me (HS Jr) [3.72 UW, 1570 SAT, CS & Math]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student: Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: (state is important if you apply to any state universities): Florida
  • Type of high school (current college for transfers): Competitive Private Feeder School
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): South Asian (Indian)
  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): Legacy @ Columbia. Multi-Lingual? Idk if that counts

Intended Major(s): CS/Math Combined Program or Just CS

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.72/4.0 (if you use 4.0 for A+s, if it is 4.33 for A+s then I have a 3.85~/4.0) (my school does not submit uw gpa this is my calculation from my transcript because I know colleges recalc this)
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.57/5.0
  • College GPA (for transfers): N/A
  • Class Rank: Unranked (School Does Not Submit)
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1570 on SAT, 1490/1520 on PSAT/NMSQT

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))

13 APs: APCSP, APCSA, APUSH, AP Lang, AP Micro, AP Macro, AP Physics 1, AP Calc AB, AP Lit, AP Stats, AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP Spanish Lang & Comp

Unusual Courses : Data Structures Honors, AI/System Honors

  • Should include that I got a 77 & 83 in Geometry Honors freshman year, went to precalc regular sophomore year, and now in jr year in calculus ab ap
  • Went through it this semester bc of mental health and got like 3 Bs and 2B+s and 1 A (all ap classes and 1 honors class though so weighted gpa rn should stay the same) so next semester its my goal to get all As or A+s so assume that I made that progress and assume i got all As or A+s 1 sem senior year

Awards: NCWIT National Honorable Mention, Pretty Sure got Commended on National Merit, USACO Gold/Platinum, Congressional App Challenge Winner

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

  1. International Music/Coding Non-Profit that Raised over 100k+ and expanded internationally
  2. Research Internship over Summer with NASA + Published Research Paper in Prestigious Journal
  3. Blog with 300k+ impressions/clicks and 100k+ words
  4. Music: Section Leader School Band (9,10,11,12), Section Leader in County Symphony Orchestra (9, 10), Section Leader in County Philharmonic Orchestra (11, 12), All County Orchestra (9), Federation States (9, 11), Play two instruments,
  5. Martial Arts: 3rd Degree Black Belt TKD
  6. Co-Founded Key Club at School
  7. Planning to do a summer program at CMU or Columbia this summer will update if I do

Essays/LORs/Other
I feel like my LORS are going to be like a 6-7/10 bc one of my teachers saw growth in me as a student since she saw me as a quieter student in class but also saw me a year later as the founder and president of a community service club, and the other one is probably going to just be 5-6/10 since that teacher doesnt know me that well.

Essays I think are really strong, I dont want to say the topic for privacy reasons but I met with a counselor and they said that the essay topic is really meaningful

Cost Constraints / Budget
I dont have a budget/cost-constraint

Schools
I am not applying ED anywhere because my GPA will not be high enough (the gpa I said is after 1 sem senior year), and I dont know which schools fall where so i am just listing them here:

  • Columbia
  • CMU (Carnegie Mellon)
  • NYU (Tandon)
  • UCLA
  • USC
  • UF
  • UMiami
  • UCSB
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Just to clarify I am not first generation I dont know how to remove the tag so ignore that please

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Tag removed

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I think you have a well balanced list.

Columbia, UCLA, CMU are definitely reach schools. But you are well qualified. So wait and see!

I think UMiami is a sure thing for you…I think. UF probably too.

Is there a reason why you don’t have any FL publics in your list beside UF?

USC, NYU, UCSB, are toss ups…I think you have a good chance of acceptance, but not sure things.

Are you a NM semifinalist potentially?

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Yes I think so

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As a NMF, I think UF could be a sure thing. With a huge scholarship also. Right?

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Alot of people from my school go to UF and because of Big Futures it would be free

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Yes

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A feeder to which colleges?
Have you been working with your college counselor?

No, not for your areas of interest.

What was your role?

Do you mean just ED, or also EA?

Many of the best CS programs are at public flagships and if you don’t apply early your chances will drop drastically. The same for Columbia, CMU and NYU.

UF and UMiami will be safeties. The rest will be reaches.

You may want to add schools with top rated CS programs that are easier to get into than your reaches (like UIUC, Purdue, UMD).

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  1. I was the founder of both the blog and the nonprofit and developed it by myself and partnered with national organizations related to it
  2. I am working with a cc outside and in school
  3. I am not sure whether to apply ED or EA because of my gpa
  4. Lots of kids from my school go to schools like Duke, UF, UMich, UChicago, & UPenn
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Also forgot to mention that I just started working with my CC both inside and outside of school, my school has a systenm where they assign you one jr yr and ive only met with them around 2x my outside of school one thinks i should apply to columbia or cmu ed but I am not sure whether to because if I get deffered it means they looked at my application and said no once why would they say yes the second time in a more competitive pool and also ed has a more competitive pool and my gpa is really low

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Highly rated? Yes. Easier admits? Not really. UIUC and Purdue are very tough admits for CS, especially OOS. They are both ranked higher than Columbia, NYU, and USC. And unless you apply EA, Maryland would be very tough as well.

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I don’t happen to agree with your assessment. If they defer you, it’s likely you have what it takes to be accepted…but the school will make that determination in the RD round. If they really thought you weren’t suitable for their school…they would reject you outright at most places.

The bigger issues are…you need to be certain an ED school is your absolute top choice AND that it will be affordable for you to attend.

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In my opinion, applying EA is a good option. If accepted, it’s not a binding acceptance. And you still get to compare offers from other colleges.

I would suggest you apply to at least one school EA or rolling admissions because it’s so nice to get to that first acceptance early in the game…takes the edge off.

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Columbia is the school most likely I would apply early to and they only have early decision, by GPA is going to be around a 4.48 weighted so I feel like that significantly hinders my application and when they recalculate it I feel it will make it even worse I think my ecs and awards are kind of strong and I do have a reason why my grades are not the best but my essay is about something different and I feel the essay I am planning to write about is already strong as it connects my ecs and major well, I am just unsure whether I should even try to apply to some of these schools or whether I should stay in state because of my GPA

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Easier than Columbia, CMU and NYU? Based on my observation over multiple years - yes.

Not easy admits (including at UMD CS), but “easier” than OP’s reaches.

It’s a reach in RD.

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So, what is your actual gpa -not the gpa you think you will have senior year if you get all A’s and A+'s for the rest of this year and first semester senior year? You say it is “low” but a 3.85 isn’t actually low - is that your actual gpa or what you project to have getting all A/A+ grades going forward? We can’t give good feedback with a “projected” gpa since there is no way of telling how the rest of this year will go. All B/B+ and one A so far this year, coupled with a C+/B freshman year, will probably put the reaches out of range. Certainly, the top UC schools will be very unlikely with that many “B” grades on your transcript - particularly since they are test blind.

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My gpa right now is a 3.82 unweighted and a 4.34 weighted and the unweighted changes depending on what you consider an A+ or A to be my school considers an A+ a 4.33/4.0 so thats using that calculation but with a 4.0 as an A+ its aorund a 3.78 unweighted I think

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I forgot to mention…

These are money making profit centers for these schools. You will not receive an admissions boost for doing these pay-to-play summer programs.

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They’re all reaches for CS. UIUC was 3% last year for OOS CS. I think Columbia and NYU both higher. Purdue maybe a bit higher. But the point is they aren’t target schools by any means.

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