How can I Improve, Especially ECs and Awards. Trying to get into MIT, UNCCH, NC State, Rice

That long list of ECs is not healthy. For a degree as ridiculously employable as CS, is seriously overkill. Kids routinely have mental breakdowns doing things like this.

I do computers for a living. Here’s my recommendation. Take a deep breath…find a good affordable school that won’t saddle you up with a ton of debt. Go there and don’t look back. Get your degree, learn a widely used programming language (SQL, .NET, Java), and practice interviewing skills. You’ll get a job, don’t worry. After about 3 years experience, employers don’t even ask where you went to school. Virtually all of your skills and accomplishments will be learned on the job.

If you manage to get into MIT and you can afford it, then GREAT! More power to you. But it’s nothing to stress over, and it’s definitely nothing to take out a ton of loans over. There’s an entire economy of tech professionals that never stepped foot in a prestigious school and they make a prosperous living.

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