Not sure how to value my strength as an applicant to build a college list

College Search & Lists
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My issue at the moment is that I’ve had some interesting circumstances in my life that have put a bit of a twist on my application, and it seems no matter how much research I do, or how many counselors I ask, it is difficult to value the strength of my application due to every school’s preferences. I’d love to go to a top cs/AI school, but I really don’t know how I stack up, although CMU SCS is my number one choice, and I plan to apply ED.

My GPA is lower than average, at a 3.2UW and a 3.6W (not counting 9th grade – 3.6UW and 3.8W), because of some severe family issues that I plan on talking about in my application. These issues have also limited my scope of opportunities, for example, I am unable to leave the US until I turn 18. Despite this, I have a very strong upward trend in my grades, along with some, what I feel to be, impressive extra curriculars. For example, I developed an AI that could differentiate between cancerous and non-cancerous cells, and have won multiple awards for my work, along with currently pending publishing my research in a journal. I’ve also always worked in multiple STEM-related teaching/tutoring positions, as well as volunteering as a tutor as well. Another drawback, however, is that I have a 1400 SAT (710 EBRW, 690 math) as I’ve only been able to take it once, however, I plan on taking it again in August. In addition, I have also maxed out my school’s CS track (APs included), and will be both doubling up on math next year (BC calc + AP stat), as well as working towards a Google Data Science online certificate, which they verify will be treated as equivalent to 4-year-degree. I have confidence in my essays and recommendation letters to be stellar as well.

I am fortunate to be someone who was not terribly affected by COVID-19, and can afford the cost of tuition, so I won’t be applying for financial aid either. I believe CMU is need-blind, however, due to many universities’ concerns over next year’s financial aid situation, this may also be a notable benefit, or at the very least, not a hindrance to me.

In any case, there’s a bit of a duality to my overall story, which makes it difficult to interpret, and has been making the application process a bit stressful. Can anyone recommend some universities that would be good reaches/fits?

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IMO you should use the weakest part of your application to choose your safeties and some of your match schools. That should be where you focus your time and attention first and foremost.

I’m sure you know CMU for CS is a reach for every students with perfect GPAs. It will be a high reach.

Have a well balanced list and also have your guidance counselor address the family issues

Clarkson would be a good match to consider.

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Equivalent to a 4-year degree in whose eyes?

The vast majority of US students will not have left the US before they turn 18. This is not exactly a terrible “limitation” from the pov of a US AdComm.

Last year, 1% of accepted students had a GPA between 3 & 3.24. ~45% had a 3.75-4.0, and 1/3 had a 4.0.

I don’t know how to weigh the weight of the awards or your other ECs- not enough info to do that. Multiple awards could be anything from best 9th grade student in X subject to gold medals at the international level; published can mean a lot of things. Only a few ECs will trump grades though.

What it does say, however, is that you had the ability to do these ECs, win awards, and work on the online cert despite your severe family issues- but (at least in grade 10), not your regular schoolwork.

Your trend is a dip, not a strong upward, b/c you went from a 3.6 to something very low to something pretty high to average out at a 3.2, but it does align with a family crisis in Grade 10. If that is something you GC can speak to that will help. But even without these challenges, at 15% acceptance rate CMU is a full-on reach.

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  1. equivalent to a 4-year-degree in google’s eyes, as in, they guarantee that those who successfully complete and pass the course (obviously there are tests and labs to pass so it’s not like an easy cop-out or anything) and who later apply to google for a data science position will be treated as if they have the same level of experience/education as someone with a bachelor’s degree.

  2. the awards my project won were at a regional science fair level, however, my county gives out “grand prize” awards which allow us to skips states and nationals and move on to the international fair. I won this award, but was not able to compete because I could not leave the US, so I’m stuck with my regional award, as well as other private organization awards.

  3. In ninth grade my parents got a divorce (they’d had an arranged marriage), however, it wasn’t a very easy split, and things escalated to the point that my younger brother was kidnapped and nearly taken out of the country and out of US jurisdiction. We filed an emergency civil case which thankfully made sure he was safe, but the entire year was basically civil hell for me, and I got a C- in English honors. In 10th grade, I had even more family issues, but managed to at least end the year with mostly Bs and a few As - so an upward trend. (Yes, my GC can speak about it as he helped me through a lot of it, and even called SPC for me when I needed it, and that’s how I built a really strong connection to him and why I’m not too worried about his rec letter - he’s seen my progress) I ended junior year with straight As and a 4.02 GPA for the year. So yes, that would be considered a strong upward trend. I meant “not counting 9th grade” as in my GPA increases without my freshman grades because a lot of colleges don’t consider those (CMU and UCs)

Thank you for the response, though, I really appreciate it. I know CMU is a reach, but it’s my dream school, which is why I’m applying ED, but I was looking for some other schools to consider that I may be a good fit for/where grades may not be the most important factor.

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Since Google these days is apparently willing to hire non-degreed people who have proven technical competence in various other ways, is the above really saying that much?

Of course, you could always apply for a data science job at Google. If you get it, you may be able to go straight into the work force without spending four years and a lot of money going to college.

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I’m not quite sure what you’re saying here? Google is a REALLY competitve company to get hired for, with infamously difficult interviews. There are multi-month prep courses people take specifically to ace the google interview.
This specific course is developed by google themselves, which is how they know it’s value compared to a four-year degree, they make no such guarantees on any other courses outside of google. Also, yes I could go into industry, but I want to major/focus in AI research, the reason I’m taking this course is because data science and AI are very closely related. This is also the reason I chose to take AP stat this year, it’s super important to AI and is another way for me to show my interest and depth in that subject alongside my own independent research.

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I think you have encountered a bit of scepticism, @Hyroas, because some may not be fully familiar with Google’s credentialing program. For hiring purposes at Google, as you have noted, its data science certificate represents the equivalent of a college degree in the area it covers.

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Yeah, that’s fair, although I am still confident in Google’s ability to uphold it’s standard. Maybe it’s because I’m a CS nerd and have done a lot of research on what it takes to get hired at FAANG (facebook, amazon, apple, netflix, and google), the most selective tech companies in america, but I assumed people would understand their incredibly high standards. Either way, my main question was just to get some examples of good cs schools I would be a fit for. I just put down some of my extracurriculars (btw forgot to mention I’m also president of my school’s cyber patriot club and that my regional science fair included thomas jefferson high school - the top stem school in the country), so feel free to just focus on what you believe is impressive, cause I don’t know and that’s why I’m asking for everyone’s opinion :slight_smile:

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Btw, do they refer to it as data science certificate, or a data analysis certificate?

On your central question, posters will try to come up with some appropriate schools for you. As of now, I don’t think RIT would be a difficult admission, so you may want to research its programs to see what you think. They might be less theoretical than you desire, however. For a destination more academically similar to CMU, look into the University of Rochester. For a school that aspires to world-level status in certain areas of CS, consider RPI.

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Thanks for the recommendations, they’re really helpful! And yeah, you’re definitely right about that - it’s data analysis not data science, the first being a subset of the other. My point still stands, however. Since you asked, I’m sure you already know what the differences are, but for anyone who cones across this thread and is curious about the relationship between data science, data analysis, and machine learning, here’s a really good source that explains it:

https://www.simplilearn.com/data-science-vs-data-analytics-vs-machine-learning-article

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The 690 in Math is a concern as well, your math grades, especially BC would have to be good, like As. Try to take it again.

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Yup! I’m taking it again in August (fingers crossed it doesn’t get cancelled)