Match Me: CA High School Junior [3.8UW, 4.12 weighted-capped for UC/CSU, 1460 SAT] planning on majoring in Computer Science / Robotics [<$40k parent contribution]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • Permanent Resident
  • State/Location of residency: California
  • Type of high school: High achieving public high school
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: White female
  • Other special factors: Not first gen, however parents did not go through US educational system

Intended Major(s)
Computer Science, Robotics

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.8
  • Weighted HS GPA: N/A
  • Class Rank: N/A
  • SAT Scores: 1460

Coursework
APs: APCS A, AP Physics 1, APUSH. (Senior year: AP Econ, AP Physics C, AP Calc BC)
Honors: Pre Calculus H, Chemistry H (received Bs)

Awards

  • Part of my school’s FIRST Robotics Team, received the following team awards:
  • [Regional] Finalists
  • [Regional] Impact Award
  • No “real” personal awards: Received 2nd place at a school club’s hackathon

Extracurriculars

  • School’s FIRST Robotics Team: Lead in Software/Programming division (all 4 years)
  • FLL Mentor: Mentored 4th-6th graders in FIRST Lego Robotics (3 months)
  • 2 school clubs (CS Focused): VP and President positions, (3 school years)
  • 1 school club (non-STEM): Co-Founder (2 school years)
  • School representative: One of 4 representatives for my school in the building of a districtwide STEM facility, working with architects in its construction and planning (1 year)
  • Teacher for smaller STEM-focused programs for elem/middle schoolers hosted by robotics team (2 years, summer)

[No work experience, internships, or summer programs]

Essays/LORs/Other

  • HS Junior: Have not started on these yet

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • Parents are able to pay ~40k per year (living expenses included). Cost can be more than this, however I will have to take out a loan to cover the difference.

Schools

Currently working on a list, looks like the following:

Safety/Likely: (Need suggestions) San Jose State, Arizona State

Target: (Need suggestions) Purdue, Texas A&M, UMD, Ohio State, [Various UCs]

Reach: Georgia Tech, UIUC, UC Berkeley, UCLA

Looking for more colleges to add to my lists especially for safety schools. I’ve gone through the lists of “Best CS / Engineering colleges,” however I would appreciate suggestions for safety colleges, with higher acceptance rates but still good CS / Robotics programs. Any help appreciated, thanks!

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You can only take $5.5k of loan without a cosigner.

Arizona State is a safety if you meet the course requirements and have a 3.0 GPA or 1210 SAT:
https://admission.asu.edu/apply/first-year/admission (admission to campus)
https://degrees.apps.asu.edu/bachelors/major/ASU00/ESCSEBS/computer-science (CS major)

San Jose State University is probably a reach. With a 3.8 unweighted GPA, your CSU-recalculated (weighted-capped) GPA is probably around 4.1, which falls short of the 4.3 GPA needed for admission to CS in the most recent cycle: Freshmen Impaction Results | Admissions . However, if you will graduate from a high school in Santa Clara County, you effectively get a 0.25 GPA bonus.

Calculate your GPAs for UC and CSU at GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub . CSU calculation is the same as weighted-capped for UC, except that any semester college courses count as two semester grades and courses.

UC fall 2022 admission rates by campus and weighted-capped GPA range from Freshman fall admissions summary | University of California :

Campus 4.00+ 3.70-3.99 3.30-3.69 3.00-3.29
Berkeley 17% 3% 1% 0%
Davis 58% 20% 5% 2%
Irvine 35% 10% 3% 0%
Los Angeles 13% 2% 1% 0%
Merced 97% 97% 95% 85%
Riverside 95% 83% 42% 17%
San Diego 37% 8% 1% 0%
Santa Barbara 41% 8% 3% 0%
Santa Cruz 69% 45% 16% 4%

These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective).

Note that the out-of-state publics you list tend to be much more selective for CS than generally, or (for Texas A&M at least) have a highly selective secondary admission process to get into the CS major after enrolling.

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Considering the budget, in-state UCs and CSUs would be a good fit.
For example UCR/UCSC can be targets and other UCs can be low/high reach. Similarly SDSU can be a target, CP-SLO can be a high reach.

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As ucbalumnus suggested, you should calculate your UC GPA using the link provided. That will give you a better sense of where you stand in the applicant pool for the UCs and, to some degree, the CSUs.

Where are you in California? Do you have a local CSU which guarantees admission or gives you an admissions bump? If not in Santa Clara, for example, SJSU is going to be a reach for your major. UC Merced would be a safety, Riverside would probably be a likely. Otherwise, UCs are probably all reaches - although, again, calculate your UC GPA to get a better sense of that. Maybe your resulting GPA will be more competitive than you think?

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CS admit rates for 2022-23 admissions if available.

Campus
|UC Berkeley|2.3%-L&S High Demand Major EECS-4%. |4.15-4.29|
|UC Davis|No data but estimated <20% Selective Major |4.03-4.27|
|UC Irvine|16.8%Impacted Major|4.08-4.28|
|UCLA|3.8% Impacted Major|4.20-4.31|
|UC Merced|85%|3.48-4.03|
|UC Riverside|31% Impacted major|3.76-4.18|
|UC San Diego|No data but estimated <10% Capped Major|4.11-4.29|
|UC Santa Barbara|No data Historically 5-6% Impacted Major|4.13-4.29|
|UC Santa Cruz|56% Impacted Major|3.86-4.22|
|Cal Poly SLO|9% Impacted Major|SLO GPA 4.13-4.25 for College of Engineering|
|Cal State Long Beach|54% Impacted Major|Avg CSU GPA for CS 4.08|
|San Diego State|40% Impacted Major. |Avg Campus CSU GPA 4.04|
|San Jose State|31% Impacted Major. |CSU GPA of 4.3+ to meet threshold|

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I am not from California so I am guessing.

I think that Arizona State is a good choice. San Jose State is also if you get accepted, but I do not think that it is a safety.

I think that your targets are reaches due to your GPA and also due to the uncertainty regarding whether they will be affordable. Have you run the NPCs or checked their total cost of attendance? Do not forget travel costs and incidental costs. You should avoid debt if you can, and try very hard to limit debt to the federally subsidized amounts ($5,500 for your freshman year) if you need to take on any debt. You cannot borrow more than this without a cosigner. Also, it is possible to get part way through university, discover that you have reached your borrowing limit, and have to drop out. I have heard of this happening. This is something that really needs to be avoided.

I think that your out of state reaches are unlikely both in terms of admissions and affordability. I think that your in-state reaches are unlikely with a 3.8 GPA. However, UC’s won’t care about your freshman year grades. Does this change your GPA?

I think that you might want to consider more CSU’s and some UC’s for which admission is more likely compared to UCB and UCLA. Also keep in mind that you live in a WICHE/WUE state, so you might want to look at see if any of the WUE schools appeal to you. I would expect that if you get the WUE discount there is a good chance for them to meet your budget.

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I believe you’re saying that you won’t qualify for any need-based aid; is that correct? (Assuming you’d be full-pay at all schools unless you say otherwise; you might run a few Net Price Calculators at schools that meet need, just to be sure.)

I think your first step should be to identify good in-state match and safety options. As a first step, use the RogerHub calculator to compute your GPA’s, as ucbalumnus already advised you. Since the B’s you mentioned appear to be in non-freshman classes, your UC UW GPA may be lower than 3.8. You do have enough AP’s+honors to get the maximum weighting for your capped-weighted GPA, but it sounds like it will still be under 4.0, which will make the most competitive UC’s very tough in general, and even more so for the CS major.

If you’re hoping for a robotics-oriented major, a lot of these will be in EE or MechE departments rather than CS, although they’ll include CS coursework. (Example: BS Mechatronic Engineering – Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing – Chico State ) Would that be of interest to you, or are you definitely wanting to apply as a CS major?

The next place to look for affordable targets is the WUE consortium. Anyplace where you can get the WUE discount will be within budget. Here’s one example - U of Utah is very strong in CS and robotics, and offers a robotics minor that’s open to students in MechE, EE, or CS: Undergraduate Robotics Program Overview – Robotics Center Nevada-Reno and Colorado State could also be good to look at. And Washington State https://robotics.wsu.edu/ (Also Oregon State, but their WUE scholarship is quite competitive.)

If it were possible for your school to award you the Rensselaer Medal (which they can give to only one 11th grade student per year), that would bring RPI into range cost-wise (with your 40K parent budget plus guaranteed loans). The Rensselaer Medal | Admissions It’s an easier admit for women than men, so I think it would be a realistic target.

WPI is particularly known for its robotics programs, but you’d need a lot of merit to get to your budget; not sure if it’s likely you’d get enough.

Rose-Hulman is a strong STEM school where I’m fairly sure you’d get in, especially as a female applicant; unknown whether you could get enough merit, but I believe it’s possible. They have a multidisciplinary minor in robotics Their summer program is excellent, and I believe attendees get extra merit money: Operation Catapult | Rose-Hulman

Colorado Mines could also be great https://robotics.mines.edu/ - sticker price is around 65K OOS, and they do give merit, but I don’t know whether you could get enough. Could be worth a try.

Missouri S&T has tons of robotics activity and very strong STEM programs in general, and it wouldn’t take a lot of merit to get their OOS sticker price down to your budget.

What’s the breakdown of your 1460? STEM programs that look at scores may want to see a strong math score.

Good luck! You’re doing well to be working now on building your list; you’ll be well-prepared for the fall, hopefully with matches and safeties you’d be happy to attend, in addition to your reaches.

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Thank you for your feedback. Here’s responses to a couple of the questions/points you made:

  1. I do not qualify for any need-based aid.
  2. Calculated UC/CSU UW GPA is 3.81. W is 4.12.
  3. Thanks for the recommendations for robotics-oriented majors, I am interested in CS, and robotics with a CS-focus. I’ll take a look into the CSU program you recommended.
  4. Breakdown of 1460 is 680 reading/writing and 780 math.
  5. Many thanks for all the recommended colleges - I’ll be sure to look into them!
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Thanks for the advice. I am in Santa Clara - so SJSU is a nearby college. Does this change my chances at getting in for CS? I can’t update the original post with this info - but for UC/CSU GPA calculation my UW is a 3.81 and W is a 4.12.

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Why do you need more safeties? You have two great ones.

I’m not sure how the Cal State system works with its impaction scores to know if SJSU is safety.

I think Ohio State is likely.

Purdue low reach as is UMD. A&M not sure - possible.

But if you are happy with ASU, you don’t need more safeties.

It seems like you like large schools - so U of Arizona, for example.

Your biggest issue is $40K - so don’t bother applying to - ASU will be tight as will Purdue - but UMD, Ga Tech, UIUC - just drop them now. They won’t get you close.

Replace them with schools like Alabama ($20K all in a year with your stats), Ms State, UAH, UGA, FSU, Iowa State, maybe Minnesota, Miami Ohio, U of So Carolina - and look at schools in the WUE such as Col State, Oregon State, Utah, Nevada Reno, etc. If you like the Northeast, SUNY schools could work - like Bing, Buffalo, Stony Brook, Albany, etc.

Good luck.

Save On Tuition | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) (wiche.edu)

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Because it’s unclear that SJSU is a safety for CS, and because (as you note) ASU appears to be right on the edge of affordability, and we don’t know whether there are other safeties that might be either more affordable, or a better fit, or both.

I think it makes sense for her to be exploring options before nailing down her preferred schools in all reach/match/safety categories - especially this early in the game, with plenty of time to gather more information before deciding.

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Thank you for the resources and advice. I did not realize that SJSU was more of a reach - as you’re right, my UC/CSU Weighted is a 4.12. I am in the Santa Clara County - so the additional 0.25 would help with the GPA, however I’d assume it would still be more of a Target/Reach rather than a safety.
Thanks!

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Yes, I wasn’t sure about SJSU and noted - and when I saw the $40K, I threw in a lot more schools that could get there. But then there’s other CSUs.

OP- don’t confuse “prestige” with worth it money wise. Often companies pay the same regardless of where you go.

As she wants to be in robotics, would schools like WPI get her to $40K? Missouri Science & Tech is another well thought of in Robotics. And Oregon State via WUE. All show up on top lists for robotics.

Best of luck to OP.

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Great math score! Is that weighted GPA the capped one (where you can only count 8 semesters of weighting)? That’s a little better than I’d estimated from the initial information, which is good!

To tsbna’s point about “vibe” - have you chosen mostly large, lively schools because that vibe appeals to you, or have you been going just by what schools are recommended for strength in your academic interests? (I ask because RPI, for example, is fantastic for your interests, and could be affordable if you could get the Medal thing to happen this year… but the vibe/environment there could not be more different from schools like ASU, tOSU, and A&M.)

I do think Utah deserves a close look. It has the lively attributes of the big schools on your list, but would be cheaper because of WUE, without sacrificing strength in CS and robotics. The Honors college there has terrific programming and its own great housing. @eyemgh has a lot of insight into how it compares to SLO (which is very reachy for CS), WPI, and Missouri S&T, for CS - they all have a lot of the same strengths.

SJSU-wise, if your interests were more on the border of CS and Data Science, I’d suggest applying to the latter since it’s significantly easier to get into. But your interests are more hardware-adjacent so that’s probably not a good option.

You’re a strong applicant and you should end up with good options as long as you have a good list that covers the bases in terms of competitiveness. CS just shifts the reach/match/safety categories upward, especially when it comes to the CA publics, so you have to be prepared for that and have less reachy options that you genuinely like.

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There is a distinction between weighted-capped and fully weighted. Which one is the 4.12?

Most high school GPAs on UC and CSU web sites are weighted-capped.

If you will graduate from a high school in Santa Clara County, SJSU gives a bonus equivalent to +0.25 GPA.

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Utah is meaningfully cheaper than ASU (~$5K per year) and you’d be very likely to get WUE. Also Arizona’s universities are increasing their tuition and fees much more quickly than Utah, apparently due to lower levels of funding from the state, so the gap may widen further. This is particularly true when considering that ASU’s merit scholarship is fixed (and that many universities increase OOS tuition faster than instate rates):
At ASU you get ~$15K off ~$30K OOS tuition vs at Utah you pay 50% more than the ~$10K instate tuition (and no premium on the fees). Thus a 5% increase on ASU’s ~$30K OOS tuition costs you the full $1500, whereas at Utah a 5% increase in the ~$10K instate rate costs you $750.

Personally I think SLC is a nicer city than Tempe, and is particularly good if you like skiing and other outdoor activities. We are from the Bay Area and D18 loved her time at Utah. Many of her friends stayed there after graduation.

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SJSU also has majors in computer engineering (more hardware focused) and software engineering (similar to CS, but with more focus on software development methodologies than CS topics). Both use a modified admission score which add points from math GPA: Impaction | Admissions .

SJSU basic admission score = 800 * (weighted-capped GPA)

  • 200 for graduating from a high school in Santa Clara County
  • 40 for each of CSU application waiver eligibility, military status, or first generation to college
  • 400 * (math GPA) for engineering major applicants (which is why the engineering thresholds are significantly higher)

Last cycle’s thresholds: Freshmen Impaction Results | Admissions

Note that https://www.calstate.edu/attend/impaction-at-the-csu/Documents/ImpactedProgramsMatrix.pdf indicates that CS is not impacted at most CSUs, so consider adding some for additional safeties.

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I don’t think Cal Poly SLO in reach. The 25th percentile GPA in the CENG was 4.13, and CS, ME and EE are all likely well above that.

I love your other suggestions though, particularly the mechatronics angle. That’s what our son did at Cal Poly. It’s a great bridge to robotics.

I also like the Medalist angle. It is awarded to the top math and science student in 11th grade and comes with a handsome automatic stipend that can be used for merit leverage at peer institutions. Our son was a Medalist and I believe they include WPI and Case as peer institutions.

WPI is an amazing program. They have ABET accredited robotics. I don’t think it’ll come in under budget though without the Medalist leverage. It was in our son’s final three.

Utah was the last of the final three. It’s a VERY underrated engineering program. It feels smaller than it is because so many live off campus. The sports scene there is NUTS. They sell out gymnastics dual meets!!! The recreation is unparalleled. It’s very easy to avoid the Mormon influence if you aren’t LDS. If you are, you’re at the pinnacle.

Lastly, I agree wholeheartedly with looking into other CSUs. I didn’t realize Chico State had such a robust mechatronics program. They offer way more depth than Cal Poly does. I’d certainly look there!

Thanks for looping me in!

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Yep, I was musing about those same options, as you can see above. I think getting to 40K at WPI is a pretty long shot, unfortunately. Missouri S&T would need much less merit to close the gap. For Oregon State, they only offer the WUE discount to the to 30% of admitted OOS students, but it doesn’t seem farfetched at all that OP would be in that 30%. From the OSU site:

WUE Scholarships are competitive (not automatically awarded) and awarded based on a holistic review of your application for admission. Only about 30% of students from WUE-eligible states and territories will be offered the WUE Scholarship, but many more will receive the Provost Scholarship to recognize their academic success and help offset the cost of non-resident tuition. Full WUE FAQ

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Thanks again.

  1. 4.12 is the capped weighted - I took into account the maximum 8 semesters.
  2. To be honest I haven’t taken into account how “lively” a college is. My list has simply been made up of what I’ve found from lists online and what I’ve heard from others in my school also going into engineering/CS. I don’t have a preference on school size/liveliness.
  3. Will definitely look into Utah, and WPI/Missouri S&T, thanks!
  4. Not too interested in Data Science/AI unfortunately, so I’d prefer to stick with CS or something similar in that aspect.

And yes, I find it unfortunate that CS is so competitive. I know that some schools let you do a first choice, second choice major system… if I placed something else (still engineering/STEM related) as a second choice - do you know how the application system goes for that? If you don’t get in your first choice, what’s the protocol if you have a second choice major?

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