Chances for CS/EE at Mudd, UCLA, UCSD, Caltech

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Major:
Computer science/Computer engineering
Maybe EE or something like that</p>

<p>School:
Private school – bible classes are required, which is why there are only 6 classes/year (all A’s), valedictorian from last year went to Stanford, but mostly an average school. Most go to UC Irvine or CSUN. I’m entering senior year.</p>

<p>Rank:
probably top 5%, they don’t tell us, but do report it if colleges ask.</p>

<p>**GPA: **
UW: 3.84
W: 4.28</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
French I - B/B
Hon. English 9 - B/A-
Sem1:Geography - B-
Sem2:Health - B+
Chorus I - A/A
PE - B-/A-
Geometry - B+/A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year: (Switched schools)
World History - A-/A<br>
PE - A/A-
Spanish I - A/A
Biology - A/A
Hon. English 10 - A-/A
Algebra II - A/A</p>

<p>Junior Year:
APUSH – A-/A-
AP Eng. Lit. – A/B
Adv. Chemistry – A/A-
Physics – A/A
Precal – A/A-
Spanish II – A/C+
Self-study AP Physics B</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
AP US Gov’t and Politics
AP Biology
AP Calculus AB (BC not offered)
Spanish III (maybe not because of the C+ lol)
English 12<br>
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer </p>

<p>AP Scores:
Physics B - 4
US History - 4
English Lit - 2 (stupid poems)</p>

<p>Community College Classes:
Macroeconomics – B+
Intro to Java/Computer Science – A</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Internship at JPL</p>

<p>EC’s:
Science coach for an academic decathlon at my old middle school (about 131 hours not counting senior year) – 9-12
Math tutor (from 2nd grade to precal) – 10-12
Math club (President) – 11-12
Politics club (President) – 11-12
I can’t think of any other main ones…</p>

<p>SAT I:
CR: 670
M: 660
W: 640
Retaking… and aiming for 2100+</p>

<p>SAT II:
Math 2 – 640
US History – 740
Physics – 630
Retaking math2 and physics… aiming for 700 in physics and 750 in math2</p>

<p>Essays:
They won’t be the best, since I’m not that great a writer, but they’ll at least be above average.</p>

<p>Recommendations:
These should be really good.</p>

<p>Schools (in order):
Harvey Mudd
Caltech
UCLA
USC
UCSD
Cal Poly Pomona</p>

<p>I’d also like to hear some college suggestions (preferably safeties from socal, I have enough reaches) if you can think of any good ones.</p>

<p>Sorry for the length and thanks for reading it!</p>

2

<p>Mudd: I’d say it’s a reach. Most of the applicants excel at math/science with 800s on IIc. Up your SAT and SAT IIs so you’d have a better shot.
Caltech: Same with HMC.
UCLA: I’d say a semi-reach? Your GPA’s in the range but definitely get your SATs up.
USC: Same with UCLA.
UCSD: Match
Cal Poly Pomona: Overqualified</p>

<p>How about looking into UCI? They have a great comp sci program.Way better than SD, which is actually more of a bio/chem school than anything.</p>

3

<p>Ya, you REALLY need to bring those SATs up for Mudd or Caltech. I think you will need to get above 750/700/700 to have any decent chance (and above 750 on MIIC as well).</p>

<p>You should probably consider applying to Berkeley as it has a top ranked program and in terms of selectivity for instate students is between UCLA and Mudd/Caltech. But even for that your scores would need to get brought up a bit.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, I didn’t study at all for my SAT or the math2 test. Physics was a pain to learn, and I’m not really sure how I ended up with a 4 on the AP. I took the AP exam a week after taking the subject test, so the difference between the two scores is somewhat frustrating.</p>

<p>Hopefully though, all of those scores will shoot up after I retake them.</p>

<p>nuclear, how is UCI’s compsci/EE better than UCSD’s? I’ve always heard the other way was true. I’d appreciate it if you (or anyone else) could elaborate on the differences.</p>

<p>Seiken, I realize that Mudd and Caltech are huge reaches for me. I don’t really expect to get into either one, but I can hope. I know I’d really enjoy attending either one. Is there anything else I can do that would help my chances (besides the test scores)?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

5

<p>Pretty much agree with the others–although Mudd will be slightly easier than Caltech.</p>

<p>Caltech will require at least a 750 on the Math2 SAT II, and you’ll need Physics to be about 730+ also. Then you have a chance–otherwise, no.</p>

<p>You are a match for UCLA in my view, a match at UCSD, and Cal Poly Pomona will be a super safety (I think you should apply to Cal Poly SLO, also).</p>

6

<p>*Is there anything else I can do that would help my chances (besides the test scores)?
*
Early Decision is always a possibility for Mudd. If your family can afford and its your top pick…</p>

7

<p>Caltech and Mudd would be a reach because your SAT I and SAT II scores. You should probably aim a little higher for your Physics and Math II scores for Caltech, about 750+ for both I’d say. UCLA should be okay if you pull up your scores just slightly, and UCSD is a match.</p>

8

<p>Seiken, I would apply ED to Mudd, but, unfortunately, my family can’t afford to risk that. </p>

<p>The only thing I’m not satisfied with at this point (besides my test scores) is my safety (Pomona). There’s nothing about it (academics or social life) that appeals to me, and I’d much rather go to any of the other schools I listed. Cal Poly SLO is a good backup, but I don’t think I’d like it there because of the location. </p>

<p>Does anyone know of a school in southern California that I would be likely to get into with my stats, and that has strong programs in math, science, and engineering?</p>

<p>Sorry if I’m asking for too much, but if I’m going to find out about a school that fits that description, it’ll be here. Thanks for the suggestions so far.</p>

9

<p>have you considered the honors colleges at University of Arizona or Arizona State University? They’re not in-state, but they’re damn near close. They are not too bad academically either</p>

10

<p>Ya the money issue with Mudd is a *****. I actually couldnt get the money to pay for the first year so I hid out at UCR for a year before transferring in. As far as financial aid goes, Mudd is fairly good so if they dont work well for you then the UC system is definitely your best option; apply to a range of them and you might get offered a Regents scholarship to one of the lower tier ones. If not, Berkeley is an okay place.</p>

11

<p>Harvey Mudd - Reach
Caltech - Reach
UCLA - High Match (try to get the SATs up)
USC - High Match (same reason as above)
UCSD - Match
Cal Poly Pomona - Safety with huge scholarship</p>

<p>chance me!</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/548705-let-s-put-smile-face-chancing-me.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/548705-let-s-put-smile-face-chancing-me.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

12

<p>I will reinforce the fact that Mudd is definitely a reach for you.</p>

<p>BTW, what section of JPL did you work in?</p>

13

<p>I work in the radio science department. 332k.</p>