Match me for CS schools! Demographics
South Asian (Indian) permanent resident
State/Location of residency: GA
Type of high school: Competitive Public School
Other special factors: N/A
Cost Constraints / Budget Must talk, but want to spend below $35-40k per year
Intended Major(s)
CS!!! GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 97.589/100
Weighted HS GPA: 106.321 (15+ for AP/equivalent, 7+ honors)
Class Rank: 11 out of ~750
ACT/SAT Scores: 1590 (790 RW, 800 M)
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 English Language (4)
Math: Currently taking Distance Math Year 1 w/ Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calc, AP Calc BC (5), AP Statistics (5)
Science: AP Physics 1 (5), Currently in AP Chem
History and social studies: AP World History (5), AP Human Geography (5), AP US Gov (5), APUSH (4)
Language other than English: Spanish I & II (ongoing)
Other academic courses: Discrete Structures through DE, AP Computer Science A & Principles (both 5s)
Awards
AP Scholar with Distinction
NMSQT Semifinalist
Winner at multiple regional math competitions* Extracurriculars (I hate this part ) (Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
Math Team: Was there for all 4 years, promoted to Team Coordinator and responsible for holding weekly lessons; also assisted in hosting elementary math competitions.
TSA: Spent here 3 years, haven’t done much besides participate in categories such as Video Game Design.
Quiz Bowl: 3 years, was a member and joined contests against other teams
Beta Club: Joined last year, recognized for academic achievement
Volunteering: Volunteered at a local library for 100+ hours (don’t offer it anymore), also a schoolhouse tutor for SAT bootcamps. Volunteered at Habitat for Humanity freshman year.
Essays/LORs/Other Not exactly a good writer, but it’s a decent essay. Letters of recommendation are a bit better
Schools Aiming for GATech, UGA, or Kennesaw (applied to GATech EA)
If you are willing to look outside of GA -
I think you would be competitive for Purdue (OOS is around $42K so just a tad above the high end of your price tag).
RPI would be a match and you would see merit there that should bring it down to the high end of the budget.
Some of the big southern flagships will see you well well under budget since you are likely to be a NMF. @tsbna44 - any suggestions for this student?
Would you say that GATech is a reasonable target for me? Whenever I see others (and especially people in my school better than me) that apply there as well, I tend to feel like I’m grasping for straws.
Tagging @momsearcheng on the GT question as I’m not knowledgeable enough to answer if it’s a target or a reach but you sure you look competitive to me!
It depends on # of applicants at your school and your district/area for CS major.
I would say you are competitive.
Good move to stay in Georgia and use Zell, Hope.
I am not sure about transfer path from Kennesaw to Gatech with articulation agreement if not accepted for CS, but definitely possible if you are open for other majors.
If you are willing to go OOS you could add Purdue and UMass Amherst (I think you’d get merit that would get you close to your number). I don’t know a ton about GTech but by stats you are competitive there.
I would be taking RD for UGA and Kennesaw, since I can
t fill out their applications in time. Would that significantly hurt my chances there? I know UGA has a emphasis on grades, but I’m not sure about Kennesaw.
Are your distance math classes through Georgia Tech? We are in Georgia also and literally every student we know who was enrolled in Georgia Tech distance math and did well (i.e. an A or a B) has been accepted. It’s certainly not a guarantee, but it would appear to work in your favor. I will say anecdotally, our private school college counselor told me that Georgia Tech really likes students who have performed well in BC calc. My son took mvc and linear through his high school and Georgia Tech accepted all of the kids in his MVC class. Most of the kids enrolled in BC as seniors were deferred.(I’m guessing because Tech wanted to see their Fall semester calculus grades but I could be wrong).All that to say, I think your chances at GA Tech are very good . I agree with @momsearcheng that UGA should be a safety for you.
I get it, but I would still do it.
School does see when students apply. They may or not may take it into consideration when reviewing students. Some schools defer students with top stats like OP who apply at the last minute. Every school prefer students that would attend vs. students who uses school as a backup.
Most any question about UGA Admissions, including a detailed explanation of their process, can be found in the admissions blog. It is such a helpful resource for UGA and college admissions in general.
The extended EA deadline for those affected by the storm is past. UGA does not consider demonstrated interest.
I agree that OP is a very strong in-state candidate for GaTech. Congratulations on your accomplishments, including very solid ECs. OP is also competitive for CS, but I don’t feel I can chance anyone for the CS major as we just don’t have the data since they started limiting admissions and transfers to that department last year.
KSU is a definite safety, and I’d consider UGA a safety for this student too. EA would have been ideal simply for the reassurance of having early acceptances in hand, but OP should be fine in RD… if they don’t get admitted EA at GT and call it a day.
I am assuming that this means permanent resident of the USA. With this, you are the same as a US citizen in terms of university admission.
I think that you are a very competitive applicant for GT. If you would like to go there, and if you think that it is a good fit for you, then you should definitely apply. It is a very good university. I do not think that it is a safety, but I think that your chances are good.
With 19,000 undergraduate students, and with your being in-state, my expectation is that GT is likely to have room for more than one student from your high school – particularly if there are multiple students in your high school who are as strong as you are.
Your GPA is excellent. Your SAT is superb (I am slightly jealous). I think that your ECs look to be quite good.
I notice multiple ECs related to math. I notice a number of ECs that look related. To me it also looks like you have done the ECs that were right for you, and whatever you did you did it very well. This is exactly what you should be doing, and is my understanding of the recommendation of the “applying sideways” blog on the MIT admissions web site (which is worth reading, and which is IMHO also a good approach when applying to other schools including GT).
I think that these are very good schools to consider also.
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. I agree with 