What are my chances (CS) at Stanford,Berkeley, UCSC, USC, UW Madison, SJSU and SFSU

[eeli2002]

Greetings!
School: Private, Christian, College Prep school in the Milwaukee area.
Class Rank: (1/39)
I’m a National Merit scholar semifinalist, 35 ACT (2nd try), 1570 SAT, 800 Physics and 800 Math 2 subject tests, 4.36 UC Weighted and capped gpa, accepted already to Madison for Computer Sciences and University of Minnesota- Twin Cities for CS. USC is my top choice for CS. (I get the admission decision this week)
Advanced Freshman Classes:
Honors Algebra 2
Honors Western Civilization
Honors English 9
Honors Biology
Advanced Sophomore Classes:
Honors Precalculus
Honors Chemistry
AP US History (5/5)
Advanced Junior Classes:
AP Calc AB (5/5)
AP Bio (4/5)
AP Lang (5/5)
AP CS Principles (5/5)
Current Advanced Senior Classes:
AP Calc BC
AP Lit
AP CS A
Philosophy
Government (100% on the State Civics Exam)

LOR’s
AP Lit and freshman English teacher (Strong)
Programming teacher (Strong)
Government teacher (Good)

Clubs/Activities:
Basketball (JV for two years and Varsity for two years)
FTC Robotics (Programming Lead, we got 1st in state for a few years running)
NHS (2 years)
Target cashier for the past 2 years (10 hours per week during school weeks)
Would like FA for my school picks.
What are my chances for USC and Berkeley’s L&A CS program along with UCSC’s

[eeli2002]

@Gumbymom I’m curious about my UC Chances especially being OOS

[Gumbymom]

As an OOS applicant, you will receive no need based financial aid from SFSU and SJSU, UCSC or UCB. You may get some merit FA from UCSC or UCB through Regents but these amounts make a very small dent in the cost of attendance which is $65K/year for the UC’s.

You should consider SFSU and SJSU as Full pay.

That said, you are a competitive applicant unfortunately both the CSU’s and UC’s are test blind this admission cycle so your excellent test scores cannot help you.

As an OOS applicant with a Capped weighted UC GPA of 4.36, UCB admit rate (not major specific) was 42% for 2020 and for UCSC was 87%.

UCB is a Reach but Reachable. UCSC looks like a solid Match/Target school. SFSU would be a Safety if affordable and SJSU a solid Match/Target school.

For USC, again a Reach school but Reachable and Stanford is always a Reach.

Best of luck and please update when you get your decisions.

[aunt_bea]

To add onto what @Gumbymom has provided, one of the issues, with OOS applicants to the UC’s, is the “F” requirement of VPA. The UCs expect that students have read through the admissions requirements. You’ve only listed your AP courses.

You need a full year of graded coursework. [quote] F) Visual and performing arts

UC-approved high school courses

One yearlong course of visual and performing arts chosen from the following: dance, music, theater, visual arts or interdisciplinary arts

AP or IB examination

Score of 3, 4 or 5 on the AP History of Art, Art and Design or Music Theory Exam;

Score of 5, 6 or 7 on any one IB HL exam in Dance, Film, Music, Theatre Arts or Visual Arts.

College courses

Grade of C or better in any transferable course of 3 semester (4 quarter) units that clearly falls within one of five visual/performing arts disciplines: dance, music, theater, visual arts or interdisciplinary arts. [/quote]

[Flautist2021]

You’re not “assured” admission but no one can be. That said, I think you’ve got a higher chance of admission than the average applicant.

[PerformingDude]

Hello! Your stats are super strong obviously, though EC’s are pretty weak in my opinion (kind of the opposite of me, with lower stats but solid EC’s, at least imo!). Would be curious about essay topics, since you don’t seem to have a ton of involvements. Those will be crucial, especially given that the UC system is currently test blind (as aforementioned). With that said, your GPA is clearly great and your course rigor is there. I would say that if your essays are really good, UCB and USC are definitely in reach. Stanford is clearly a big reach for everyone, and given your EC’s it is likely even more so. The rest of the schools will be acceptances imo.

I am not aware about how these CS programs factor into your admissions chances, as that is not a field I am familiar with, so take everything I say with a grain of salt! However, I know that CS is a VERY popular and competitive major at UCB, so that may make it tougher to get into than it already is. Also, not super sure about how these specific school award financial aid (I applied solely to east coast schools). Best of luck, and keep us updated!

[ucbalumnus]

California public universities do not offer need-based financial aid to non-California residents, and large merit scholarships are rare. Can you afford them at non-resident list price? CSUs like SFSU and SJSU do have lower list prices than UCs.

SFSU is not an impacted campus and CS is not an impacted major there. So meeting CSU minimum eligibility for out-of-state students (3.00 recalculated GPA with a-g courses complete) should be enough for admission.

See @Gumbymom post above about UCB and UCSC.

SJSU is an impacted campus, and CS is the most competitive major there. See Impaction | Admissions .

[sadzsltohz]

I think your application is strong but every year the pool gets harder and the application pool gets even larger, so I think you have a shot but it isn’t guaranteed.

[eeli2002]

I took a choir class freshman year for a semester. Does that count?

[aunt_bea]

As long as it was a graded course, at the high school, then it counts.

Remember that the admission requirement is named “visual and performing arts”.

Ask your parents how much they are going to pay for your education by year. The California public schools don’t have any money for non-residents.
That means $65K per year at the UC’s and 42K per year at the Cal states. Most of the scholarships average about $2000 per year. These are public universities they don’t have free money to give out. You’ll be accepted, but without crucial California public funding.

CS is very competitive and impacted in the State of California. The UC’s and the Cal states were developed to provide an affordable education for the residents of California. Most students can’t afford the cost as out of state residents.

The problem with the California universities you’ve chosen is that they are in VERY expensive Bay Area rental markets. San Francisco is a very expensive town to live in as is San Jose. If you need financial aid, to attend these universities, then you really need to consider your in state options and come to California after you graduate.

[eeli2002]

thanks @Gumbymom. Is there any full ride scholarships for those schools?

[Gumbymom]

No full rides for OOS applicants for the Cal states or UC’s.

[eeli2002]

Oh, what about USC’s Turing scholarship? Would I be a competitive applicant for it?

[Gumbymom]

USC is not my expertise. I would post on the USC discussion forum where more knowledgeable posters can help you.

[parentkeith]

I haven’t heard of a USC Turing Scholarship. Can you provide some more details on it? UT has the Turing Scholars program that you might be referring to.

[Gumbymom]

@eeli2002 @parentkeith

I did an internet search and I was unable to come up with any information that USC has a Turing scholarship.

[aunt_bea]

Did you mean to say the Presidential Scholarships at USC?

Merit Scholarships

Our son was accepted to USC and did win a corporate National Merit Scholarship.

He opted not to go to USC since they only awarded him ½ tuition and didn’t guarantee full tuition for the Presidential since it was very competitive. It still is very competitive and you find out, later in the year, if you have received it. When you are comparing other universities’ costs, you need to know ASAP. My youngest sister attended USC and graduated from there but it was expensive.

Paying the other half of tuition, along with room and board made USC the same cost as any private college for our son, so we advised him to go to a top ten where they were providing funds.

Since you appear to need financial aid dollars to attend, you need to find a school that will provide need based and merit aid.

Why California schools? Most of them will be very expensive in every which way possible. I generally advise that if you are CS, you can get a degree anywhere and then interview in California for your job. California will still be here.

[eeli2002]

Whoops! I meant Trustee scholarship. UT has the turing scholarship. My bad…