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@billJZ
2 answers, 9 votes
 • 3 years ago •
Admissions Advice

Last minute improving myself for applying to good cs schools

I'm a rising senior that is trying to apply to some rather good CS schools, like UT Austin, UIUC, GTech, Carnegie Mellon, UW, U Wisconsin, UC San Diego, but I honestly don't think I'll get in with my current stats.

I wonder if there is a way, in these last few months, to improve my profile to have a chance of getting into these schools (particularly in extracurriculars)?

I have a 1510 SAT, 3.9 unweighted GPA (4.5 weighed). But based on what I seen at these cs schools, these stats are just average, if not below average. I will have 11 APs at the end of my senior year (currently have 6)

Current ECs: President of Computer Club, Founder of Competitive Coding Club, Officer in Science national honor society, President of an unofficial student run digital newspaper club. USACO silver, ACSL top 20% regional, NHD writing winner regional, made a website for a company, and I'm co-teaching the A.I. mini course my school will offer next year.

I'm really betting on my ECs on exceeding my grades and stats, so I want to push a bit more before I apply, what is a good idea for ecs to boost my application?

risingsenior
computerscience
2
2
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@amar3 years ago

no no noooo, ur so good, i would even go higher such as it, cal state etc. ur golden

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@Appa
2 answers, 2 votes
 • 3 years ago

It sounds like you have a classic case of not believing enough in yourself. This usually happens to highly qualified applicants who focus too much on "stats" and comparing yourself with others. With an SAT >1500 and a 3.9 UW GPA, plus your strong EC's, you would be competitive at even the very top CS schools (CMU, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, etc.)

Don't count yourself out before you even apply. The best thing you can do to distinguish yourself now is to write essays that show you are an interesting and relatable human being, not just a robot with lots of achievements.

2
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Your chancing factors
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
1.0
4.0
SAT: 720 math
200
800
| 800 verbal
200
800

Extracurriculars

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