Chance Me/Match Me - MO Resident, 3.46 UW, 34 ACT for Competitive CS Schools

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Demographics

  • Indian (Grew up here, but don’t have permanent residency)
  • US resident, but considered international due to visa
  • State/Location of residency: MO, also have domicile in Texas due to one parent there

Cost Constraints / Budget

Around 200k for 4 year COA is maximum

Intended Major(s)

Computer Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
3.46 UW, 4.0 W GPA
34 ACT

List your HS coursework

10 APs (rest honors and accelerated):

  • English: AP Lang
  • Math: AP Calc BC, AP Stat
  • Science: AP Physics 1, AP Environmental Science, APCS A
  • History and social studies: AP World History, AP Gov, AP Psych, AP Econ
  • Other academic courses:

Awards

AP scholar with distinction

Extracurriculars

  • Summer research internship at a well renowned university
  • FBLA nationals competitor (1st place coding and programming in state)\
  • founded CS club at my school that hosts interschool hackathons
  • Congressional app challenge 3rd place
  • lead programmer of FTC robotics team for 5 years that has competed at states
  • Contributor to a large open source blockchain
  • NHS and a couple other clubs at my school

Essays/LORs/Other

Essay is pretty strong according to my AP Lang teacher, besides that, regular LORs from CS teacher, social studies teacher, and counselor

Schools

Ideally I want to go to a texas school with a good cs program, as I get in state tuition (but not in state acceptance rate) I’m not sure what schools I have a chance at getting into, and what schools I should apply for in this list as targets to have the best change at:

UT Dallas - EA
Texas A&M - ETAM
UMNTC - EA
Purdue - EA
Ohio State - EA
UIUC - EA (CS+X)
ASU
UT Austin

I also don’t qualify for any financial aid whatsoever as I am not a US citizen.

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UT Dallas and ASU are likely. Minnesota might be a low reach and others are high reaches. Not sure UT,Austin is worth the effort if you are OOS, but if you dont mind the extra essays you can take a shot.

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Is that because you have a parent living in Texas?

Any reason Missouri colleges are not on your list? (as a safe alternative)

Some schools (mainly private) do provide financial aid to international students. You can also get merit scholarships at many schools. If cost is an important consideration, posters here can suggest schools that might provide you merit money.

Purdue and UT Austin will be low reaches in my opinion for CS direct admission. UIUC as well, but it’s also above your $50k budget.

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Yes, I have a parent living in texas. I plan on applying to Mizzou as well as a regular safety, but I have no plans on staying here in general, as there is no CS scene.

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Unless I’m reading the Texas eligibility incorrectly, your Texas parent would need to be eligible to declare you as a dependent on their taxes. Is that the case?

Someone else can verify my interpretation. @Mwfan1921 do you know?

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That’s right, I’m registered as a dependent on my parent’s taxes.

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Also, do you think I could get into A&M with my stats? I’ve heard of their ETAM process so I’m not sure if I would be admitted first generally and then be admitted to the cs major after an x amount of credit hours, or be admitted directly to cs as a freshman.

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Sorry I’m not familiar with A&M’s admission process, but I’m sure there are others here who can comment.

I understand. But you can apply to internships and jobs anywhere across the country. Most of the recruiting happens online, so being in MO isn’t as big a disadvantage as you might think.

However, you’ll need to change your visa status to an F1 (if you’re currently on an H4), otherwise you won’t be able to work at internships. After graduation, you can work up to 3 years on Optional Practical Training, but would then require an H1 work visa sponsorship. Of course, ideally you get your green card soon and all these points will be moot.

Good luck!

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UT Austin and UIUC both have an admit rate below 10% for CS. OOS/international would be lower. Both are high reaches. UIUC won’t hit the budget anyways.

OP should certainly look at Missouri S&T.

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The Texas one declares you as a dependent on his federal income tax? Is that correct?

@kelsmom does this mean that this Texas parent is the custodial parent for FAFSA and Profile purposes.

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If the student will be on a visa, it’s safe to assume that they are neither a citizen nor a permanent resident. This means that they are not eligible for federal aid. I have no idea how Texas will look at this for in state residency. My gut reaction is that this is an international student, but please don’t take my word for it (other than for the fact that they can’t complete FAFSA or qualify for federal aid).

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That’s right

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I grew up in the US, as I moved here from India at the age of 4 since my dad found a job here; therefore I’m on an h-4 visa and I count as an international student.

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What is your class rank?

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Thank you!

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My school doesn’t do class rank so unfortunately I have no idea.

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IIRC, you will need to switch visa types to attend college here as an international. This shouldn’t be an issue…I think.

You have been here for 12 years. Is your plan to get permanent residency status at some point?

I would check with UT Austin to see if they extend the instate residency status to international students. Make sure…do not assume.

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Then UT Austin is a reach. You are an OOS HS student with no class rank.

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Have you considered any of the SUNY colleges? I think they might come in at your price point. @aunt_bea would Buffalo work for this student?

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Our green card application has been put in already and is waiting to be considered, unfortunately though, it is an extremely slow process (still on 2012 applicants I believe)