After attending CS info sessions this summer I’ve realized how competitive the CS landscape is. Yes I knew this going in but I had a reality check at UMD. We need more safety schools and I’d love your informed opinions.
GPA 5.25 w / 4.0 uw
ACT 33 (awaiting July scores hoping for 34/35)
5’s on APs including pre cal, cs p, cs a and a bunch of other less relevant ones
Took CMU’s pilot online freshman CS Academy course and earned an A (and CMU credit)
Multi sport varsity athlete, district recognition, team captain blah blah
Math awards at school and national coding competition “silver” level
He can do the work. BUT, and I blame myself here, I now know his big weakness is that he isn’t taking AP calc til senior year and our school offers BC. I didn’t push him to take a summer class after 8th grade which is how our district accelerates. Regrettably. And there were other missed opportunities I just wasn’t informed about. Seems like EVERYONE who could has already taken Calc and is onto BC senior year. This is the weakest spot in his rigor and it seems like a big one.
Current list:
Penn State
U Maryland
Umass
VA Tech
Purdue
GA Tech
— just tossed out Pitt (he didn’t like it, unfortunately)
— tossed out CA schools (too far)
— tossed out small schools like RPI (he prefers a big school atmosphere)
— we’re in PA
— doesn’t really want to go as far as Arizona
Cost is a factor, we can’t really afford 70-80k/yr so Bucknell & Lehigh are out.
Any feedback about the list we have so far, or suggestions for less competitive programs to add? Thanks in advance!
You can’t afford $70k but what can you afford ? What do you want to afford - starting at $20k?
I can find you $20k or $50k etc with likely little outcome difference. But there’s a lot of gap under we can’t afford $70k. Please be specific.
Also what’s the UW GPA. Take 4 for an A, 3 for B, 2 for C. Add up the points and divide by # of classes.
Weighted GPAs are all calculated differently so need unweighted to ensure it’s where I think it is. In other words each school weights differently so 5.25 of 4 doesn’t help much.
Also how many APs? There aren’t less relevant ones as rigor matters. And what math will he take in 12th grade ? AB or BC ? Frankly AB gets you into any school in the country and I don’t know why you blame yourself.
First and foremost your kid needs to be a kid. And seems like they are a great one.
Don’t worry - even with a 33 and even in CS - tons of options.
You are over stressing for little reason on this one.
Thank you. His unweighted is 4.0 (all As.) We expect to pay 40-50k but UMD with no merit at 60k would be painful. He does have enough AP credits to start as a sophomore (according to PSU and UMD’s calculators) so that helps.
So I joined the 2028/9 UMD prospective parents page at the urging of one of their admissions people and have been making my eyes bleed doing a deep dive into the discussions. I found one where the CS admissions person said “it is rare someone is admitted to CS that has not already taken Calc AB before senior year.” Since I know who said it I believe that it’s true, hence the stressing.
Hmmm. Yeah. No. There will be kids who start calc in college. UMD is a tough admit but there’s sooooo many more. Your student is above 95% plus of the population probably. Give me an hr.
Neither of mine did BC.
One did engineering - got into a top program.
UMD is now attracting kids who may fail to get in the tippy top. There’s 3 biggies in your state he’s a shoo in for even if he doesn’t want and tons of others - at and below your budget.
Three of the SUNY Universities are solid choices. I see Stony Brook, Buffalo, and Binghamton all well represented in bay area tech. RIT is an option and heading south I would consider NC State as well. Great reputation in tech circles.
I think the schools he picked are reasonable for him, but as you said, you never know with CS.
Perhaps add Ohio State. I know kids (with lower GPA, ECs and rigor) that didn’t get into the schools on your list, but did get into Ohio State for CS.
Your son will also meet the RAI for Iowa and Iowa State. He can apply online tonight and have his acceptance by next week. First-year Students - Iowa State University. If he’s worried about a safety, and would be happy at either school, it’s always nice to have one this early. Takes a lot of the pressure off. And Iowa State has a really fun acceptance video. It’s a great first acceptance.
Both Iowa and Iowa State are great schools and yet the application is a no brainer! Unlike many engineering schools that accept a lot of students into the program with the intention of weeding them out, Iowa seems to work to keep them in.
Some people look down on their >90% acceptance rate, but I think they are so upfront about their RAI that people that come in below it don’t apply. Successful applicants self select in while those that don’t meet the criteria self select out.
Iowa State and Iowa are two of the most underrated schools in the nation. Iowa State is the engineering flagship so he’d be among more similar majors there. It also is one of the few schools with a national lab. Iowa is solid too. My niece is an alum and is in medical school now. My other niece is a Purdue alum. She had a great experience and is now gainfully employed.