Match Me/Chance Me for DD: Junior IB Diploma student-athlete looking for CS/Data Science; small-midsize LAC w/in 4-5 hrs of Washington DC (MD resident, 4.0 GPA, 1560 SAT)

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics
High School Junior
White Female
US Citizen
Maryland Public School (2019 students total, 50% low SES, avg. SAT 986)

Intended Major
CS, Data Science (potential math or history minor)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted GPA: 4.00
Weighted: 4.96
Rank: 1 of 512
SAT: 1560 composite (800 V, 760 M)
AP Scores: CS Principles (4), CS A (5), Gov (5), US History(4), Calc AB (TBD)

Curriculum
Highest Rigor
Full IB Diploma Program (3HL, 3 SL, TOK, EE)
Honors Courses: 13
AP Courses: 6

Planned Courses( Senior Semester 1)
IB Courses: (HL French, English, History; SL Computer Science; Theory of Knowledge- 1 semester)
AP Courses: Calc BC
Electives: Ceramics (art requirement), Financial Literacy- 1 semester

Honors/Awards
Math, Engineering, Science Club: 2nd place in state competition (3-person team)
National Merit Commended Scholar
AP Scholar with distinction

Extra Curriculars
Key Club (10-12): Elected President for senior year, school’s largest club
Math, Engineering, Science Club (11-12): Elected President for senior year
Environmental Club (9-12): Webmaster, school just earned “Green School” status
National Honor Society (11-12): Member, tutor
National English Honor Society (11-12): Member, tutor
IB Student Council (11-12): Member
Varsity Soccer (10-12): Captain and lead goal scorer last 2 years
Varsity Track (10-12): Captain and school record holder in sprint events
Club Socer (3-12): Captain and lead goal scorer last 5 years
Volunteer (7-12): 250+ hours with DC-area organizations supporting children in foster care, children with special needs, and children receiving treatment for cancer
Babysitting (11-12): Weekly during school year, half-time in summer for neighbors with two special needs preschoolers

Cost Constraints / Budget
None. We will not qualify for need-based aid and are prepared to cover the equivalent of full-price at SLACs.

Draft List of Schools (tried to cover full range from safety to super reach)
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Bryn Mawr College
Lehigh University
University of Maryland-College Park (CS direct admit)
Virginia Tech (parent alum)
University of Richmond
William & Mary (parent alum x2)
UVA
Haverford
Swarthmore
Cornell
Princeton
UPenn

Summary: Happy, smart, kind kid. Great academic rigor, solid ECs for her school, few awards. DD is looking for a small-to-midsize liberal arts school (public or private) with a solid CS program. She’s drawn more to suburban schools with a well-defined campus feel, but likes the idea of having city options nearby (within an hour-ish). She also would like to be within 4 (maybe 5) hours from home in the Washington, DC area. Hard worker and a bit shy but would like some social scene. Interested in club soccer and study abroad. Does not want to apply with binding ED (wants to know her options). She is hesitant to apply to Ivies (worried about an overwhelming grind), but is open to applying to 2 or 3.

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William and Mary is opening the new school of data science, so with your alum connection, definitely give WM strong consideration

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Forgetting the parental relationship, I don’t get Va Tech or UMD at all based on the list provided. Cornell either. Pitt might be a better fit than the large schools and JHU a better fit than Cornell - or perhaps Brown given it’s environment vs. the environment your student seeks.

You might add Dickinson, Lafaytte and F&M. You might also look at Wake Forest and even JHU as a reach.

I don’t think St. Marys will give you the environment (suburban) but I’m assuming it’s in state, hence listed.

But great student and surely there are acceptances at at least a few.

Good luck.

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That seems like a solid start on a list. I was also going to suggest looking into Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson, and I similarly do not really understand Maryland, VT, or Cornell based on the stated criteria.

Any interest in Georgetown? I know it is not high on the list of things they are known for, but my sense is their CS department is pretty good.

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Congratulations to your daughter on making herself such a strong applicant. I suspect she will have a number of options come spring of her senior year.

Below are my guesses as to what your D’s chances might be for admission. If her school has significant experience in college advising, then I would suggest that her school would be the best source of chancing.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • St. Mary’s College of Maryland

Likely (60-79%)

  • U. of Maryland – College Park

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Bryn Mawr (PA )

  • Lehigh (PA )

  • U. of Richmond

  • Virginia Tech

  • William & Mary

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • UVA

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Cornell

  • Haverford

  • Princeton

  • Swarthmore

  • UPenn

With respect to some other schools to consider, has your D considered Vassar (lower probability) or Marist or SUNY New Paltz (extremely likely)? They’re about 90m from NYC. A couple other extremely likely admits that she may want to take a look at are Drew (about 50m to NYC) and Loyola Maryland. (Personally, I like to see at least two schools in the extremely likely bucket, though as I indicated earlier, I suspect your D will have more than just one option based on this current list.)

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For some maybe more Likely LACs near DC, I would suggest checking out:

Gettysburg. They have a pretty robust CS department, Harrisburg is about 45 minutes away, DC about 1:40:

Susquehanna. A little more remote but still 50 minutes or so from Harrisburg, about 2.5 from Philly, 3 from DC. Again a robust CS program, also Data Science, and also a very well-known integrated study abroad program, what they call Global Opportunities:

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