I am afraid that, since I have a low UW gpa and class rank, I can't get into a good computer science program. What should I do?

Not the OP, but Texas is very focused on class rank so that is probably where the angst is coming from and it’s not completely unfounded. UT Austin has automatic admission for a certain class rank — top 6%? top 10%? can’t remember exactly — and the OP’s rank is below that automatic admission threshold.

However, if you are open to out of state options, your excellent scores can open up lots of opportunities elsewhere. Texas is a bit of an anomaly on the class rank thing. A lot of colleges don’t even consider it! I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, home of UNC-Chapel Hill and our local school system did away with rank completely a few years ago because the kids were getting too competitive about it. I can assure you that plenty of kids still get into UNC and Duke and the ivies w/o it.

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