My son is a rising senior at a public high school in Southern CA. He would like to apply for CS, but I feel as if most schools will be reaches for him because of his GPA. He has his head in the clouds, so I thought that I would look to experienced parents for guidance. His stats:
UC GPA: 3.79
SAT: 1500 (800m/700 ebrw) will take Oct.
SAT II: 800 Math and will take Physics August
ACT: 33 - will take September
I think that he can bring tests scores up a little bit. He has taken all of the usual AP stem and non-stem classes. His school doesn’t teach Calc BC, but they bring in a cc professor to teach a comparable class. He finished Calc so he’ll take linear algebra this year.
EC’s: paid programming internship at a well known federal agency last summer; a few CS internships at our local UC; summer entrepreneur program similar to MIT launch where kids create a real start-up; fundraising and programming for hs robotics team; volunteering with elementary robotics team
I think that I’ve given you all of the relevant info. I would really appreciate any help identifying potential matches and safeties for my kid!
However, CS is commonly a more competitive major, so he should adjust his expectations downward. He should be sure to include UCM, UCR, and UCSC in his UC application list. Also include some CSUs (but note that some of them like CPSLO and SJSU are highly competitive for CS).
His UC GPA will be in that 4.1-ish UC Capped GPA range. Looking at the chart from post #1 that puts him in the match category for the mid UCs. However my kid got in for UCB, L&S CS-intent with a 3.73 uw, 4.05 UC GPA, so there’s always hope for the upper tier schools.
You didn’t mention about your budget, but obviously there are good private schools in CA for CS as well - USC, Santa Clara, Harvey Mudd, etc. Santa Clara would be a solid match for CS but will be more expensive than any UC.
UCR and UCM will be your most likely admit among UCs. SDSU, CSULB. CPP all have great programs and are likely admits. Chico also has a solid program and will offer an authentic 4 year ‘college town’ experience.
@ProfessorPlum168: OP’s UC GPA is listed as 3.79 and I am assuming capped weighted.
A UC GPA below 4.0 will make the Mid-tier UC’s very difficult even with excellent SAT scores. I think UC Santa Cruz, Riverside and Merced are the most likely. Definitely worth applying to UC Irvine, Davis and Santa Barbara but all these will be tough admits since UC’s tend to be very GPA focused and have average UC GPA’s of 4.0+ and CS will require a higher GPA than the averages.
I would add San Diego State, CSU Long Beach, Cal Poly Pomona, San Jose State (Sofware Engineering not CS). San Francisco State would be a good safety and is not impacted for CS.
Santa Clara might be an option if his Freshman grades are good.
Yeah @Gumbymom that’s what I get for looking at posts on a cell phone late at night. At 3.79 UC GPA, the UC choices are pretty limiting I’m afraid. The mid-tiers are looking for pretty close to 4.00 UC GPA as a baseline. Getting the SAT up another 20-50 points might help though.
The UCs tend to prioritize GPA over test scores, which works to your son’s disadvantage.
Check out UCSC. CS is a strong point there.
The privates tend to prioritize test scores over GPA, which could be a better fit for your son’s stats. The obvious downside is that a private school will probably cost more than the in-state cost at a UC. The wealthiest privates, like Stanford, may offer great financial aid, but are also the most competitive in admissions. Your son would likely be a strong applicant at a school like Santa Clara, which has excellent CS, but SCU does not have the same resources as Stanford, and does not offer the same great financial aid.
If you are prepared to consider private schools, then you have options nationally (not just in CA), since the privates don’t change their prices based on residency. Lehigh, for example, has opened a secondary admissions office in the Bay Area to boost their recruitment efforts on the West Coast.
If you are considering private schools, which can be expensive, and if you can afford it, consider some out of state public schools (flagship schools). Out of state public schools are more expensive than the UC’s (about 50K per year vs. 30K per year for UC’s), but less costs than a private school (60 to 70K+ per year).