What are some good safeties or matches for CS Major? [3.94 UW, 1550 SAT]

College Search & Lists
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Going to be a senior in high school in a few months, started creating a college list but it’s been difficult for me to figure out what colleges could be matches/safeties for my profile. Of course, I have Stanford, CMU, UMich, UIUC, etc on my list (don’t think I’ll get into them tbh) but right now I don’t have nearly enough safeties or matches. What are some good schools for CS that I can add?
Stats:
1550 SAT (790 Reading, 760 Math, taken 3 times)
Going to take ACT in fall
3.94 UW / 4.68 W GPA
9 Honors, 6 AP Classes rn (will be 11 Honors and 13 APs by graduation)

Extracurriculars:
Internship at a small company starts in a month, programming
Highest band in my school for 3 years, 1st chair for 2
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra for 2 years (made highest level this year)
Jazz Ensemble for 3 years, lead drummer
Pit orchestra for 2 years, drumline captain for 1 year, leader for 2, top jazz band in district festival
Created computer science club at my school
taking harvard cs50 course rn and going to take full stack development course after + coding projects (only took ap csA at my school since they dont have principles course)
AAPI club leader
School leadership team (helping freshmen learn about high school, organizing orientations, etc.)

not having many good ECs like others definitely hurts my chances of getting into good CS schools but what are some options? Cost is not a factor

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Do you live in Illinois? Beyond prestige in CS, what kind of things are you looking for in a school?

Getting into CS at the schools you listed is just really really hard, even for the strongest of applicants. Don’t worry about your EC’s – they’re good! You’ll have tons of options to get a great education, which is helped by the fact that you can afford any school.

First school that comes to mind is Pitt.

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A friend’s child with similar stats applied to all those schools and did not get in but did get in to UMD, Georgia Tech, UT Austin, Purdue, RPI and Mines. I’m not sure if any of those were really safeties…some were reaches, some targets. I think RPI and Mines were the safeties.

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URochester could be a great match school. CS is strong, and they love musicians and offer a fantastic variety of musical opportunities for non-majors. No marching band/drumline, though, if that’s important. Nearby RIT is also great for CS, and they do have a drumline as well as a good variety of other musical ensembles.

Right next door to CMU, Pitt offers rolling admissions, so if you apply when the application opens in August, you could have an acceptance within a month or two. There is no better safety than already having an acceptance! And their School of Computing and Information is very solid.

If you like UMich and UIUC, UW-Madison and UMinn-Twin Cities could be good ones to add.

What are your own in-state options? Which activities do you hope to continue in college?

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Do you have any cost constraints?

I recommend applying non-binding EA or early for rolling admission schools (when allowed if you REA somewhere). If you get in by December it takes a lot of stress off the process.

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I don’t have much constraint in terms of cost rn, I’m just trying to research now and worry about cost when it comes to after applications. I was planning on applying to nonbinding EA to as many schools as I could (especially UIUC, UT Austin, Georgia Tech since those are pretty high on my list)

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I think you’d have a better chance at Ohio State, University of Iowa, University of Connecticut, University of Maine, University of New Hampshire or Colorado State as more “safe” if you are looking for state flagships.

For privates, you might want to consider RIT, WPI, and RPI.

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thanks for the reply, really helps out for me, for my instate options I’ve only thought of Illinois State and IIT, UIUC ofc but I doubt I can get in. For activities, I want to at least do jazz band since thats my favorite fs. Havent really thought about marching band or concert band even, but ideally I would like to continue those

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Bad, bad idea!

Ask your parents now what their budget is, and if you qualify for need based aid.

They may very well say “don’t worry, any college is affordable”. (For your reference that could be $95k a year)
In this case you are fine and don’t need to give it a second thought.

OTOH if they give you a budget, you need to stick with it. Not apply, get in, and then discover you can’t attend because it’s too expensive.

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Purdue is a good idea. So is University of Minnesota. For further away…how about University of Delaware?

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yea I do live in illinois, tbh I just want a pretty good cs program that can prepare me for the future. also internship opportunities. i def want at least some level of musical activities there which is a big factor as well

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thanks for the info, helps a lot

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Marching band can be tricky in that both the competitiveness and the time commitment can vary widely. You sound as if you may be competitive for top programs, but with a demanding major and other interests (like jazz) that may be higher priority, you may not want a super-high-commitment marching band.

Ohio State, as mentioned above, has excellent access to music opportunities for non-majors, as well as BA and minor programs designed for students with another primary major, plus a CS track in the music BS program, which may be worth a look but might not fit your particular interests. (For that matter, UIUC has a similar combined major, which I would be an easier admit than straight-CS I believe, but again might not be a fit.) Plus, I believe OSU’s marching band falls into the high-commitment category.

U of Utah could be a great safety. Their CS program is excellent, and they also have a great Honors College, with its own robust programming and really nice housing, that you’d almost certainly be admitted to. Music is very strong here, and they have a drumline program in addition to many other percussion opportunities, strong music generally, both for classical and for jazz studies, and a music minor with jazz options. Even though your family seems to have financial flexibility, it can be good to have a safety you like that won’t be overly expensive; and Utah, in addition to having merit-scholarship potential, offers OOS students a path to residency after the first year, which would make it highly affordable if you chose to go that route.

BU is definitely not a safety but not a high-reach either, and could be a good place to combine CS and music pursuits. They have a lower-commitment but still high-quality marching band - their season ends in November, and then there’s a Winter Drumline - seems like potentially a good fit: Athletic Bands | Bands Also jazz: https://www.bu.edu/bands/bands-and-ensembles/jazz-ensembles/

WPI has a lot of great music opportunities, including jazz, and could be a great place to study CS, and they have a marching/pep band which is relatively low-key but does have a pre-semester camp which is a great way to make social connections, in addition to the value of the experience itself.

Lots of excellent options for you; your EC’s are fine for many great schools.

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thanks so much for the info, will def look into these schools now!

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University of Maryland is not a safety, but it’s a fine program and they have a fabulous marching band comprised of students from all majors.

Apply to University of Maryland in the early round…because that’s when they accept greater than 90% of their incoming class.

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Purdue CS has a sub 20% acceptance rate which makes it a reach.

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Maybe check out NC State or Virginia Tech? I don’t know how reachy they are for CS OOS but both solid schools in nice locations. I’ve heard great things about UW(Seattle) as well. It’s probably harder to get into but you are a strong candidate on paper. (Never mind; just read their OOS admit rate for CS is 2%)

I also wouldn’t write off liberal arts colleges. A lot of them offer good financial aid and if you’re a strong and versatile musician you might find yourself filling an important niche for them. Also you don’t necessarily have to declare the CS major right away or apply to the major as you do with publics. Someone this year had a kid with solid but not crazy stats getting into a bunch of really reachy schools including Amherst and Grinnell. I think their hunch was that his horn playing helped set him apart.

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From Purdue website the CS admission rate for class of 2023 freshman profile was 29.5% which is a little better. I didn’t find 2024 data.

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That’s the overall admit rate for IS and OOS. Admit rates for OOS are usually lower because state schools have to admit more IS students. So 20-ish is probably correct for OOS

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For Ohio State you need to apply by the EA deadline of Nov 1 for merit aid and best chance of admission for cs which is a pre-major program.

As a pre-major note that means there is a secondary admission process after taking a set of introductory classes. Your gpa is the most important factor to become a CS major, which allows you to gain access to the upper division courses required for the major as well as to be competitive for internships/co-ops. So be conservative in your first semester when scheduling class credits and be dedicated to those classes.

There is a limit to the number of times pre-majors can apply to their major (I think it is twice). If you are not accepted into CS you will need to choose one of the direct admit majors (like ECE which is a good department with a lot of undergraduate research opportunities) and minor in CS or transfer to another college.

When running the net price calculator remember to add the $4,000/yr engineering fee to the estimate if it isn’t included.

I think your ECs are fine, consider applying for the competitive scholarships that require a separate application, too. Apply for the honors program, especially if you see yourself pursuing undergraduate research or plan to attend graduate school.

https://engineering.osu.edu/undergraduate/future-students/admissions/new-students

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