Match a Current HS Junior [PA resident, 4.0 GPA, 1500, CS]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

I’m a bit scared for my future now.

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student: Domestic
  • State/Location of residency: Pennsylvania
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public
  • Other special factors: (first generation to college, legacy, recruitable athlete, etc.): N/A

Cost Constraints / Budget
No budgetary constraints

Intended Major(s): Computer Science, maybe?

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: (calculate it yourself if your high school does not calculate it): 4.0/4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: (must specify weighting system; note that weighted GPA from the high school is usually not informative, unless aligned with the recalculation used by a college of interest, such as CA, FL, SC public universities) 4.513 (I don’t know the highest theoretical weighted GPA at my school)
  • Class Rank: N/A
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1500 SAT (770 English, 730 Math)

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:
    *English H
    *American Literature H
    *AP Literature (have not taken test yet)
  • Math: (including highest level course(s) completed)
    *Geometry H
    *Programming with Python
    *AP Precalculus (did not take AP test)
    *AP Calculus AB (have not taken test yet)
    *AP Computer Science A (have not taken test yet)
  • Science: (including which ones, such as biology, chemistry, physics)
    *Biology H
    *Chemistry H
    *Physics H
  • History and social studies:
    *American History H
    *AP US History (5)
    *AP World History (have not taken test yet)
  • Language other than English: (including highest level completed)
    *German II
    *German III
    *German IV H
  • Visual or performing arts:
    *Band (2 years)
    *Band H (will be 2 years)
    *Guitar I
  • Other academic courses:
    *Phys. Ed (4 years)
    *Web Design
    *Personal Finance

College Coursework (Transfer Applicants)
(Include college courses taken while in high school if not included above.)
Dual Enrollment at community college for AP CSA (3 credits)

Awards
None

Extracurriculars (a little underwhelming)
*Marching Band/Indoor Drumline (will be 3 years, 32 weeks/year, 7.5 hours/week)
*Model UN (will be 3 years, treasurer for >= 1 year, 8 weeks/year, 1.5 hours/week)
*Computer Club (will be 3 years, 12 weeks/year, 1 hour/week)
*Clarinet (will be 4 years of HS, 52 weeks/year, 1 hour/week outside of class)

Schools
Penn State and Pitt at minimum

After writing this out, it appears that I am a cripplingly average, if not below par, applicant compared to other people online. Do I stand a chance at any T50 schools? If not, where else should I apply to.

2

Deleted.

1 Like
3

Perhaps you are discouraged because you think of computer science as a major for which you must apply for entry? If this is the case, I suggest you relax your approach by considering colleges at which you can choose from all courses and, at a later time, all majors after a general acceptance to the school.

With respect to specific school suggestions, would you like to continue in marching band?

4

I’ll have to do more research about that. As for marching band, I enjoy it, but I don’t need to continue after high school.

5

You are a great applicant with an excellent record. The fact that you don’t need financial aid helps to widen your choices.

That being said, under the circumstances, Penn State main campus and Pitt are both excellent choices for you. You might be a candidate for honors college and honors merit money. So, is it worth 90K/yr for say, Carnegie Mellon, vs 40K/yr for Penn State or Pitt?

Have a talk with your parents. You’re likely to get into most schools just below the highest selectivity. You probably wouldn’t get into MIT or Princeton or Columbia, but you definitely would get into RPI with merit money, possibly Carnegie Mellon (but no merit), and most flagship state U’s that are not the most selective - some with OOS merit money.

Think about what type of school you’d be happiest at. Do you want a big state school with lots of majors and a marching band? Do you want a smaller liberal arts college?

If you’re thinking Comp Sci and want a flagship state college with a marching band (playing in the band is a great way to make a friend group early on in college), take a look at UMass Amherst. Big, lots of majors, nice campus, fantastic food, great honors campus dorms, highly ranked comp sci, has a marching band. They’d probably give you their max OOS merit, which would bring your cost of attendance down to close to same as in-state Penn State or Pitt for you.

Word on the street is that Comp Sci majors are having trouble finding jobs, but those with AI training are in demand. So the fact that you have family money backing you gives you the choice of majoring in Comp Sci which doing as much AI as you can undergrad, and then going on for a master’s in AI - possibly at a prestigious institution, assuming you continue to do as well in college as you have in high school. Also, going to a school that has co-op work study will better position you in the job market, so take a good look at Northeastern, RPI, Drexel, and any other schools that have co-op.

6

How do you feel about academic exploration? Beyond your tentative interest in computer science, would you also look forward to taking college courses in topics and fields such as, say, political theory, literature, or geosciences? Or would you prefer a more immediately utilitarian approach?

7

Your credentials plus not having any budget limits combined means you can have many good offers to choose from as long as you apply to a reasonable list of Likely, Target, and Reach colleges. And even though you don’t have any budget limits, I would at least try chasing merit a little bit, because why not?

You have quite a while to investigate options, but if you tell people here more about what you are looking for in a four-year college experience, both academically and non-academically, on campus and off, usually they will be able to give you a lot of suitable suggestions to explore.

I note CS is not a very limiting factor these days–there are good CS programs at publics, private research universities, independent liberal arts and sciences colleges (aka LACs) . . . . So again, it is really going to be your preferences for other things that will help you narrow down your list a lot.

8

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. If you’d like to reply, please flag the thread for moderator attention.