Hispanic Asian chances for a top CS program?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

To be sincere… I was not quite familiar with the US system, so I believe we are kind of late into the college application “game”… Could anyone chance my DD’s chances to attend computer science at: Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, UCLA, Harvey Mudd, Olin, University of Washington (CS direct admit) ?

DD is Junior. Applying for college this fall.

Both scores (just one try for each so far):
SAT: 2150 (CR: 670, M: 740, W: 740, essay 10 of 12)
ACT: 35 (English: 33, Math: 35, Reading: 35, Science: 36, essay not sure)
GPA: 3.9 (UW)

DD is a Hispanic Asian (Mom is from Argentina, I am from China)
EC: Volunteer work (nothing special, really… Just really trying to help people. No leadership role, but DD did 100 hours last year, and 60 hours the year before) , Piano, Swimming, Drama club (After reading this forum… I think I did something wrong trying to raise a normal child. :slight_smile: )

Private high school does not have AP courses. However, she took all available honor classes. She is now taking Calculus II in college through Washington’s running start program. She will likely finish 35 college credits (Calc I, Calc II, Calc III, Chemistry I, Physics I and II, English 101) by end of Senior year.

Any recommendations in how to improve her application?

2

Ivy Leagues admit sub-10% of their applicants, which is why many “normal” kids don’t generally get to go as you have to have a way to stand out from the crowd of tens of thousands of applicants to be admitted. Nothing wrong with being “normal”, going to less prestigious may be good or just as good as going to the Ivies. I think the main part is to not have the mindset of “Ivy or bust”.
Side note: Has she thought of applying to CMU (Carnegie Mellon) ? Being a URM female interested in CS will help tremendously in the application process.

So, to “improve” her application, she should ask herself what she enjoys doing the most. If she likes piano, maybe attend some competitions, participate in the school orchestra. If she likes swimming, maybe become a lifeguard, swim trainer etc. If she likes Drama, maybe apply for acting roles (in school plays or acting roles outside of school)
The main point is to let your daughter do what she likes best, and let her love of whatever drive her to accomplish greater things.

The other thing that will improve your app are essays and recs. Essays, start early, during the summer. Revise them often and have others read it and give you feedback. You need to constantly perfect them in order for admissions officers to take notice.

Recs: Have her start planning early on about what teacher she is going to ask. What teacher understands her the most? What teacher does she communicate with the most, what class is she the most active in? Recs mainly show leadership within the classroom (if you direct class conversations, if you constantly ask questions to help people around you understand the material better, things like that), so leadership outside the school is not always mandatory.

You say you don’t understand the US system, are you international?

Also, this forum is not the best to compare to. Everyone is different in their own way and frankly it’s hard to accurately gauge what is accurate and what is not; not everything everybody says her is true. Besides, schools like Stanford might not necessarily look for the “rock-star” with leadership roles in 10 clubs, 4.0/2400, research in a lab over the summers etc. Even though many “normal” kids don’t go to Ivies, plenty are still accepted because they fulfill what the colleges deem to be a good “fit” for them.

Good luck to your D on the college admissions process. Hopefully she gets into her dream school!

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Thanks for the recommendations! Very helpful. DD is not international. However, since we (parents) never went through this type of “holistic application” system, we got totally blindsided … :-?? Ignorance is not an excuse, but we thought that DD could catch up during her senior year.

4

bump

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Be careful with the credits, she might have to apply as a transfer student to some schools. As of right now, she should have her letters of reccomendation locked up for the fall. They don’t have to be complete, but she needs to know and ask to teacher to write it. She should begin her personal essay in the last few weeks of school so a teacher can look at it.