Chance Me Junior in hs (1350 SAT, 3.9 UW) [TX resident, top 1% rank, computer science,need FA]

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student
  • State/Location of residency:
    US citizen, male, texas in state resident
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers):
    Public
  • Other special factors: (first generation to college, legacy, recruitable athlete, etc.)

Cost Constraints / Budget
make 150k, need some financial aid

Intended Major(s)
computer science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
rank: 3/560
test scores: 1350 SAT, 1370 PSAT

  • Unweighted HS GPA: (calculate it yourself if your high school does not calculate it)
    3.9
  • Weighted HS GPA: (must specify weighting system; note that weighted GPA from the high school is usually not informative, unless aligned with the recalculation used by a college of interest, such as CA, FL, SC public universities)
    4.96

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English: AP Lang, Honors English II, Honors English I
  • Math: Honors Precalculus(don’t offer ap precal),Honors Algebra II, Honors Geometry, taking calc bc next year
  • Science: (including which ones, such as biology, chemistry, physics)
    AP Chemistry, Honors Biology, AP Physics, APES (next year),
  • History and social studies:
    AP World, AP Human, APUSH, AP Gov (Next year)
  • Language other than English: (including highest level completed)
    Spanish II
  • Visual or performing arts:
    Orchestra
  • Other academic courses:
    AP Computer Science A, AP CSP, Computer Science III

Awards
All Region 24 Orchestra

Extracurriculars
Orchestra (4 years)
Won solo and exemplary medals
Orchestra Officer(4 years)

Founder of Asian Student Union (60 members)(4 years)
Founder of String Project, taught underprivileged middle schoolers violin(2 years)
NHS(1 year, school didn’t let me join before)
Maker Dawgs member(Participated in TSA Technology Student Association)(1 year)
Internship Local Neurosurgery Lab using AI and LLM’s(2 months)
Have my own CS portfolio with some projects here and there.(2 years)

Schools
UT Austin
Texas Tech
University of Houston
(basically all of the texas schools as im instate)
OOS:
Harvey Mudd College
Pitzer University
william and mary
washington and lee
rose hulman

Your top 1% rank means automatic admission to all Texas public universities, but not necessarily to the computer science major where it is a more selective major. UT Austin is such a school. Texas A&M admits to general undeclared engineering (which is more selective than campus admission) and requires secondary admission (ETAM) later. Computer science usually has little or no space in ETAM after automatically admitting those with 3.75+ college GPA.

3 Likes

Yeah, I’m primarily aiming for cs at UT, if that doesn’t work out I was thinking i could do computer engineering and then transfer into cs if possible.

You won’t get aid at UT. You’ll get merit at others.

The question to think of is - if UT but not CS and none of the OOS are affordable, are you ok at Tech or Houston - both fine schools ?

I susiect you’ll get solid merit at RHIT. It may be the only OOS admit. If not, depending on budget the others may be too pricey.

What is your target cost ?

1 Like

With rank and GPA, you will probably get a lot of merit at Houston and Tech, but I don’t see a 1350 getting into engineering at UT or A&M.

1 Like

Unfortunately, William and Mary will probably be tough from a financial aid standpoint. As a public school, they don’t tend to award much to out-of-state students. Check the Net Price Calculator, but I suspect you won’t get the support you’d need (and that you’d be able to get at some of the privates or in-state publics).

2 Likes

How much is your family willing and able to pay per year, excluding any loans? Also, what have your AP scores looked like so far?

In looking at your list, it appears as though you have big in-state schools and then smaller private schools. Is your preference for small schools? Is there anything else that’s important to you in the choice of a college?

As others have said, with your rank, you should be an auto admit to the Texas publics. And though you could be accepted to any ot the out-of-state schools, the only one where I think it would be a likely outcome is Rose-Hulman.

If you can share more about your budget and what you want out of a college, we can provide more suggestions for you. For instance, Clarkson is a school of about 3k undergrads that offers generous merit aid and is strong in STEM fields. But perhaps it’s too far away or out of budget, or something. Until we know more, we can’t be as helpful in offering additional possibilities.

1 Like

Yes, a Texas resident applicant with top 1% rank is automatic admission to all Texas public universities, but not necessarily to more competitive majors like computer science or engineering majors at UT Austin.

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. If you’d like to reply, please flag the thread for moderator attention.