Chance my son with average ecs/awards for engineering (CE/CS) [CA resident, 3.84 GPA (3.91/4.14/4.6 for UC), 1520 SAT, 35 ACT, <$250k total to degree]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics: Asian Indian, US Citizen, California, Public HS

Intended Major(in order) : CS+X/CSE/CE/CS Fall 2025

GPA : 3.84/4.4 (Non-UC) and 3.91/4.14/4.6 (UC)

Course Work : Math: AP Stats, AP Calc BC, PreCalc Acc, Alg-Geo Acc
Science: AP Physics C, AP Physics 1 , Chem H, Living Earth
Other APs: AP Psych, AP Econ, AP US History, AP Gov
DE Credits(> 30) : Discrete Math, Multi Var, Linear Algebra, lot of Gen Ed Humanities.

Test Scores : SAT(single sitting) 1520 (EBRW:730, Math:790)
ACT(super score) 35 (E:35,R:32,M:35,S:36)
AP Calc BC: 5

ECS : Volunteering , Academic Research in Machine Learning, DECA, Robotics, Basketball, Summer Programs
Awards: Nothing spectacular. Black Belt in Karate, DECA Awards

Essays and LOR: Above Average. Good writer, adding more essays/supplements not an issue.

Cost Constraints: flexible $250k (for costly privates, he is expected to finish in 3 years using AP/DE credits which are > 45)

Safety: UCR, SDSU, ASU(admitted)
Target: Santa Clara, Ohio St, Penn St, Minnesota
Low Reach: UC Davis, UC SB, UIUC, Purdue, UT, Austin, Umass
High Reach: UCSD, UCLA, USC, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Duke

Under Consideration but not in list: RPI, Wisconsin, Maryland, NC St, Cornell

I know Low and High Reach classifications are interchangeable, but depends on the major he applies as listed above the same school could be low or high reach. CPSLO is a long shot because of GPA, therefore not on the list.

Please suggest targets or low reaches with direct admission to engineering with D1 Sports. Trying to cover for worst case scenario where he is shut out of all low/high reaches.

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Oregon State, first school came to my mind. D1 sport, good ENG program and honors college. With WUE, COA will be about the same as in state UC. Good option for your worst-case scenario.

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I personally would move SDSU from Safety to Target. The average CSU GPA for admitted students has been ~4.0-4.1 .

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For target/safety what about Udel or Pitt?

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Thanks for the suggestion. Pac-12 is a hard sell now that all these teams have left.

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Oregon State is a great option, but the WUE rate is not assured. They were only giving it to the top 30% of geographically-qualified admits last year, and they recently updated their info to show that it will only be the top 10% this year. They do give smaller OOS awards to students who don’t get the WUE scholarship, though.

Utah would definitely give him the WUE rate, and they also have strong engineering and D1 sports with a great spectator scene.

I would be hesitant to choose a school at which affordability hinged on graduating early. There are course sequences that are hard to accelerate even in the presence of AP/DE credit. Arguably better to be able to aim for a BS/MS in 4 or 4.5 years than to be under financial pressure to complete an undergrad engineering program in 3.

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One safety should be fine, unless going OOS to ASU is a problem.

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Taking classes in summer is always an option. Finishing a semester early is quite common, a year early needs careful planning for the longest sequence.

The longest sequence I have seen stretches 6 Semesters. Using AP Credits for Math and CS should reduce it to altleast 5 semseters and have some wiggle room to finish in 3 years.

Anyway, it is not an issue for most schools on his list.

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Your son’s profile is terrific, but for these majors for anyone out of state, UT Austin is a high reach.

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Agree. I did add a note that low/high reach classifications are debatable. In my mind there is some difference in admit rates when applying to engg or cs as they are in separate colleges at UT,Austin. It is pretty hard to find information on their admission process.

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For informational purposes, here are the admit rates I compiled for CE/CSE and CS

Campus Computer Engineering/CSE CS
UC Berkeley EECS 7% 1.9%/ EECS- 7.6%
UC Davis <20% Selective Major Estimated <20% Selective Major
UC Irvine 28% CE/CSE 24% 16.8%Impacted Major
UCLA Comp Eng 3.7% CSE 3.2% 3.1% Impacted Major
UC Merced 91% 91%
UC Riverside 42% 32% Impacted major
UC San Diego Estimated <10% Top 5 most popular declared major Estimated 5% Selective Major
UC Santa Barbara 19% 5% Impacted Major
UC Santa Cruz 57% 60% Impacted Major
Cal Poly SLO 19% Impacted major 9% Impacted Major
San Diego State 43% Impacted major 28% Impacted Major
San Jose State Impaction threshold 4680 31% Impacted Major. A CSU of 4.3 needed to meet 2024 Impaction threshold
Cal Poly Pomona 4410 CPP Threshold 4676 CPP Threshold

I agree that SDSU is probably more of a Target than a Very Likely/Safety along with UC Riverside.

Best of luck to your son. He is a competitive and well qualified applicant.

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Rutgers? It’s hard to tell anymore about admissions since the rate is dropping but he’d be competitive. Plus there’s a very large population of Asian Indians there if that matters to him.

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If he’d be happy at Ohio State, Penn State or UMN, I think you’re set. While not safeties, I’d be shocked if he didn’t get into at least one, if not all, of them.

Other D1 direct entries that would be low targets
are University of Colorado and Colorado State (Colorado State is a WUE school).

Did you see this news today about PAC-12? Ushering in a new era, the Pac-12 Conference strengthens its legacy by welcoming four respected academic and athletic universities
Both CU and CSU were fun to watch last year. I just came back from a CSU game and it’s a great student vibe at the games. Really fun, students get free tickets, there were over 36,000 fans there, but still had a safe and homey feel. (And the stadium is right next door to the engineering dorm).

UMN, OHIO, PENN and CSU would all come within budget, but I caution you on figuring graduation in 3 years solely because of when some of the upper level classes are offered. Since these schools are so big, it shouldn’t be a problem, but sometimes you come across an only spring, or only spring of even years type scenario. More typical with very specialized degrees.

IOWA and IOWA state would both be true safeties as you get a decision right away as long as you meet the RAI (Regents Admission Index). They are both rolling admissions and don’t require an essay. You can apply this weekend and have your official acceptance in hand in a couple of days. It’s always nice to have one in the bag. Iowa State has one of the biggest engineering career fairs in the country.

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Thanks for your suggestions.

I think he would be happy at Ohio/Penn St and other targets. Just thinking if there was a direct admit option, instead of FYE, he can enjoy the D1 sports more. We can add colorado, but they admit a lot of people into exploratory studies instead of engg/business school.

I saw the 4 team expansion of Pac-12. Wish those teams were UCLA, USC, Oregon and UW coming back.

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He should get a direct admit at Colorado State.

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Thanks @Gumbymom. I think he will get in at UCR, but probably does not want to go there anyway as his brother studies there. SDSU and UCR are nice to have, but not needed as he is happy with ASU as his safety.

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Update: Minnesota

Safety: UCR, SDSU, ASU(admitted,CS)
Target: Santa Clara, Ohio St, Penn St, Minnesota(admitted,CSE)
Low Reach: UC Davis, UCSB, UIUC, Purdue, Wisconsin , UMass
High Reach: UCSD, UCLA, USC, UT Austin, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Duke

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Since Purdue is on your son’s list, you should look at the Purdue Data Digest, here, https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/ , to compare his statistics with those of recently matriculated students. (Specifically the links to “Applications, Admits, and Matriculations” and “New First-Time Beginner Profile”.) That might give you a general idea of his admissions chances at Purdue.

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Thanks. Can be low reach if he does not apply CS. We will see as they also over enrolled this year.

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Shouldn’t Minnesota be moved to “safety” after admission (to the desired division)? Or are you waiting for merit scholarships that are necessary for affordability, or concerned about secondary admission to major later?

Note that Penn State and Purdue also have secondary admission to engineering major later.

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