US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student: US Citizen
State/Location of residency: Maryland
Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public High School
Other special factors: * First Generation, Low Income
Cost Constraints / Budget
Preferably a school that provides a large amount of need-based aid.
Intended Major(s) Computer Science/Cybersecurity
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: * 4.0/4
Weighted HS GPA: *4.56/5
Class Rank: 3/450
ACT/SAT Scores: 1500 SAT (720 E & 780 M)
List your HS coursework
English: AP Lang and Lit. Honors for 9th and 10th Grade.
Math: AP Calculus BC for Senior Year. Took AP Precalculus in 11th grade.
Science: Honors Chem, Bio, and Earth Science.
History and social studies: APUSH, AP Government, and AP World.
Language other than English: * Spanish III Honors 10th grade is the last foreign language class I took.
Visual or performing arts: Symphonic Band Honors in 10th grade.
Other academic courses: Cybersecurity CTE courses for all 4 years. Preparing to take CompTIA Security+ certification in Senior Year.
Awards
Top 10 Team Finish in CyberPatriot Open Gold Division Semifinals Nationally.
Recognized by my local Board of Education for my team’s performance in CyberPatriot.
3rd Place Team Finish in a Regional Cybersecurity Competition in a field of 70+ college/other high school’s teams. Team won $500.
College Board First-Generation Recognition Award
National Merit Commended Scholar (Very likely)
Outstanding Student in Cybersecurity (School award - given once per year by my cybersecurity teacher)
AP Scholar with Distinction (Very likely)
Extracurriculars (Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
Moderator and Head Advisor of r/suggestapc both on Reddit and on Discord for 4+ years. Advised thousands of international users on optimal computer hardware purchases, focusing on value and performance tailored to their needs and budget. Moderated and managed a global subreddit of 28,000+ members and a Discord server of 18,000+ members. Served as Chief Editor of the “Prebuilt Spreadsheet,” which is a free resource that consists of the best PCs for each price range for multiple countries along with a guide to purchasing computers worldwide.
CyberPatriot Competitor - Worked collaboratively with team members. Developed automated system hardening scripts for Linux-based systems. Utilized industry-standard software and conducted digital forensics.
Junior Marshal - Guided 400+ high school seniors during my high school’s graduation for the class of 2025. Attended and assisted school officials during three graduation practice sessions.
Quiz Bowl - Participated in bi-weekly meetings and worked collaboratively with other members to improve our trivia knowledge. Answered questions on various academic topics as well as current events with other members.
Symphonic Band - Developed instrumental skills and responsibility for understanding my part as the 2nd chair Bb clarinet player. The band received a rating of “Superior” on all pieces played at local band festival.
National Technical Honor Society - Volunteered in several community projects and worked with other members since freshman year.
Worked at family restaurant for over a year to support my family. I work 20+ hours each week during the summer and throughout the school year on the weekends/during breaks.
Essays/LORs/Other
Cybersecurity Teacher: 9/10 Had them all 4 years of high school and they are the CyberPatriot coach so I have a good relationship with them.
English Teacher: 7/10 Had them 2 years of high school. Known for writing good essays and did really well in their class.
For my essay, I wrote about my childhood in New York and how financial struggles and separation from my parents led me to be self motivated and financially conscious at a young age. Connected with my EC of becoming a Head Advisor to help people online to buy PCs.
UMD is a great school. Hopefully the Terrapin Commitment will be enough for you. UMBC and Towson are both safeties - not sure if they have a safety net financially.
The rest of your list is great. i wish you luck - but you might look at other meets need schools that are less competitive - but not necessarily “less strong”. If you want to stay near home, UVA and UNC both meet need.
Hopkins, Rochester, Case Western and Lehigh are others that meet need - amongst many more.
You might have your family run a net price calculator to see if they come in affordably. I put Lehigh’s below.
The other thing is - as a low income, might you qualify for Questbridge? www.questbridge.org
Best of luck to you. I do think you will be ok with UMD but it’s a tough school. The rest, except Towson and UMBC are tough gets. There are others you can get into for about $20K a year - like Alabama - but no idea if interest. I think you’d get into UMD but it’s not assured - and that’s my concern in regards to adding others maybe a little less reachy than the Ivy types.
UMD fills around 94% of its freshman class (not just CS) via EA, so OP definitely needs to apply early.
@cyberstudent, since you’re interested in cybersecurity, if you get invited to the Honors Program at UMD, opt for the ACES living learning program. It’s one of the top cybersecurity programs in the country.
Overall I understand the logic behind your list, including why your Reaches are privates rather than OOS publics. But I do wonder if you would be satisfied with your options if you got into none of your Reach for Everyone colleges, and also not Maryland.
Like, I have heard good things about RIT when it comes to Cybersecurity stuff:
I am not sure what their NPC would say, but I wonder if it would be worth investigating that as a less Reachy option.
Another I have heard about is George Washington University, and of course being a prominent DC university would likely have some potential benefits. I just looked it up and they have a Cyber Security Engineering program for undergrads:
Same deal, you would have to check their NPC.
Again, you might reasonably prefer Maryland, but if that doesn’t come through, I am thinking you might want some other offers to consider if possible.
Everything has to be submitted to UMD by Nov 1 - test scores, LOR, transcripts for your application to be considered EA which is essential. ACES is wonderful, but very hard honors program to get if you are a male CS major. Also, while I think you will be admitted to UMD, affordablility and CS major are not guranteed. Look into CS adjacent majors. Funding for FA has been cut significantly this year and may be worse next year. Terrapin Commitment does not cover room and board.
UMBC will likely offer you very generous merit aid, which might make it more affordable than UMD.
Look into each IVY’s CS program, they are not all great - start with Cornell and Brown. You might want to add some meet full needs LAC schools - maybe Swarthmore and Grinnell.
Second, the recommendation that you should look into Questbridge.
Also, if your female look into Smith and other Woman’s colleges. RIT is also a good suggestion.
Depending on your family’s income, you should be able to get fee waivers for most of the schools you apply to, sign up early for interviews at schools that offer them and good luck.
Maximum award this year was reduced to $18000 and was award to many fewer students who qualified this year but worth applying to since it would make any in-state MD school much more affordable if awarded.
Yes, I have discussed about it with my parents already, we would prefer if the cost was less than 20k per year but a bit more can be fine. I’ll make sure to apply EA for UMD.
Then, if schools like Lehigh and Case show a much higher cost on the NPC, add Alabama, UAH, Mississippi State and others.
If you have a budget, make sure to include schools that will 100% assuredly meet the budget and these will with automerit and they’re assured admits. There’s others as well but these are three household names.
In the end, with a tight budget, you have to make sacrifices - unless you get into another school and it gets you close to your price point.