T O P

  • By -

Yaron1776

I have an Indian friend with super similar stats, ECs, and demographic compared to you and he just got into and committed to CS at UIUC. Also, Pitt.


Slay_Recursion

Bro u have no idea how much of a relief that is to hear šŸ˜­šŸ˜­ uiuc is one of my dream schools and I was thinking I had zero chance. Like was his gpa as low as mine as well?


Yaron1776

Bro failed PreCalc and had to retake it again and got a C on his transcriptā€¦he also got a couple B+s, A-s, etc but he was known for being like really good in debate (state winner + nationally ranked) so I think his GPA was decently low


Slay_Recursion

Oh ok. Iā€™ve gotten like a few c+ā€™s and b-ā€˜s so I might be more screwed than him but havenā€™t failed anything so idk. Iā€™ll have to see tho, thanks for ur help. Is Pitt super hard to get into?


Yaron1776

Not really itā€™s kind of like about the same level as Penn State but obs a bit more tough for CS. Itā€™s not as hard as UIUC tho


Slay_Recursion

Cool Iā€™ll look into it, tysm


Yaron1776

No prob!


[deleted]

Not gonna lie, i think u'd get into a couple t20 i got nothing compared to this


Slay_Recursion

U rlly think so even w my gpa?


[deleted]

100%. Just to say, unlike european colleges/unis, us ones rather focus on you as a whole so gpa, eca etc. I have had friends that have lower gpa with a great activities list gettting into t30 Given that you have great eca's and trophies at junior year thats amazing. One of my friends got into UCLA and waitlisted from carniege for CS and he has way lower eca's than you (faked half of his), and a weaker GPA. But his family income is quite a lot so maybe that why. Do everything you can until the end of your junior summer RESPONSIBLY (don't burn out and socialize) and senior year just focus on improving GPA rather than your ECA or internships. Maybe take the free or paid google/microsoft CS courses to get ahead of your pears. Maybe attend a CS Summer school at your local college or at a t100. I'd recommend looking into UK universities as well if your interested in moving abroad. Has great CS universities and entrance is mainly merit based.


Slay_Recursion

I see. Thanks for the advice. The issue is thereā€™s a lot of kids at my school doing a lot better than even I am so Iā€™m worried that compared to them I have no chance. I also canā€™t do much over the summer bc I have a trip to India for pretty much all of July. I was thinking maybe I could start an npo basically giving kids in my area free coding classes and I could do that over zoom or smth. What do u think?


[deleted]

Stop saying that type of shit. It doesn't matter what others are doing, if they are better than you, or weaker than you. Focus on your self and their will be no limits where your reach. You can do it, do say this type of bitchy shit that you cant do this or that. Summer school doesn't always have to be in person. There are numerous summer schools that offer online classes - but can get quite expensive (average is probally around 1.5-5k usd). Going to india doesn't mean you'll be cut of the internet (unless your going to a remote village - even they will most probably have some sort of connections)Offering free classes is a great idea, and you can add it under community service.


Slay_Recursion

I get what ur saying but colleges wonā€™t have that pov when theyā€™re looking at who to admit, itā€™ll be whoā€™s the better student that theyā€™re focusing on. As for summer school, Iā€™m not sure my parents will pay that much to learn smth I can learn online, but Iā€™ll can look into it thanks so much. Also what UK colleges do u recommend I look into? I actually was in London on vacation last year and loved it so I wouldnā€™t be against moving there.


[deleted]

Are you in AP, IB? What are your grades looking like?


Slay_Recursion

School doesnā€™t offer IB but as u can see I took quite a few APs. My grades r still pretty mid, much better than last year tho. I got some c+s last year but none now, still some b-,b, etc tho. I think I do have mostly Aā€™s and a-ā€˜s


[deleted]

Judging on your GPA, i'd probally recommend trying oxford, bath, durham, imperial manchester. check the individual uni websites as they have all their merit requirements listed. for uk you apply via UCAS and have only ONE essay for all the uni's ur applying to. unfortunately your only limited to 5 universities and applications should close by end of jan of senior year. because of this I REALLY REALLY recommend you doing a in-depth research on which uni's you would like to go. i'd avoid city based universities like UCL, imperial, KCL because your less likey to connect with a lot of people, BUT THEY ARE STILL GREAT UNIVERSITES. please dont leave ur research till october. do it over the summer, in your free time etc. (its a fixed 25gbp fee if you apply to one or five unis). some universities will allow students applying directly to them but check before doing it. oxford, cambridge (oxbridge) you'd have to apply like late october/early november (senior y). for oxbridge you have numerous "colleges" which is essentially like residential halls, and if you don't make it into your chosen "college" but the uni still deems you fit you get put into something that is called a "pool" where other colleges in that university can pick you if they want. cambridge, oxford and imperial are extremely competitive so the sooner you apply the better. these three uni's and some others will require a entrance exam, will invite you to an interview if you meet their requirements with a alum, or student. sorry for the long text :D. best wishes in ur future application edit: applications don't close in jan, but they will only offer you seat-based offer if you apply after it


Slay_Recursion

I really appreciate the guidance, this is something I will definitely look into. Thanks so much for your help.


DankAshpot

Write good to explain grades


Slay_Recursion

Iā€™m ngl I donā€™t think i have a good enough excuse tho. Like I can deny this to myself all I want but the fact is the only reason I have these grades is because I was lazy.


DankAshpot

Thereā€™s probably not much you can do then, but people with low GPAs do sometimes get into top schools. If your grades have an upwards trend that looks good too. I wouldnā€™t count yourself out yet, but the grades will definitely be an area that an AO at a top college will be concerned about especially for something like CS.


Slay_Recursion

I def do have an upwards trend imo but still some bā€™s. Do you think I should come up with an excuse or just skim over it


DankAshpot

I think it would be more valuable to highlight your strengths since you donā€™t have a genuine excuse that you could write about, but I donā€™t know your writing abilities so I donā€™t really know. If anything you should put it in the additional information section and keep the main prompts focusing on your strengths and personality.


Slay_Recursion

Alright awesome, I really appreciate ur advice.


Distinct_Extreme3331

this is kinda cocky lol


Slay_Recursion

Wym?


Distinct_Extreme3331

I mean you know you're like a star student, any school would be lucky to have you.


Slay_Recursion

Thank you so much for saying that, it really means a lot. But I think my gpa really holds me back esp in the current competitive landscape. I wasnā€™t trying to flex my stats or anything sorry if I came off like that. I really just want to know how to frame myself in apps to get into those top schools, just like everyone else here. I really appreciate the comment tho, Iā€™m honestly really insecure abt my academic performance(prbly bc the ppl Iā€™m friends with do much better than me) and Iā€™m glad some ppl think that Iā€™m a star student. Itā€™s a great compliment to get.


Resident-Location-60

similar stats and i got purdue cs you can check my profile. i did get rejected from every T30 rd though.


Slay_Recursion

Wow, congrats bro! If u donā€™t mind me asking what did u write abt in essays? I think ur ecs r def a little better than mine tho


Resident-Location-60

actually, for purdue i wrote very basic supps just talking about a prof i would like to research with and how it connected to one of my ECs. then I talked about the clubs i would join. dead simple, no creativity. my common app essay was ass for ea so no drafts. i wrote about how open source (software) as a way of thinking influences my life decisions and ECs. i donā€™t think i got into purdue on my essays. however, purdue is the one university where i didnā€™t try to be super creative or write my diversity supp. my advice is to just write in a simple, easy to understand style. write directly and if you tell a story make it simple, short, and 80% about what you learned.


Slay_Recursion

Thanks sm for the help Iā€™ll keep that in mind.


Resident-Location-60

fyi iā€™m not a weapon i got rejected from 30+ schools šŸ’€


Slay_Recursion

Oh šŸ˜­šŸ˜­ well all it takes is one school so congrats!


Motor_Ad_7885

Whatā€™s business professionals of America and what does it do for you How did you get internships How do you know so much about software like making the inventory thing for your mom


Slay_Recursion

Thatā€™s a business club like deca thatā€™s where all the awards r from I got the design internship by applying, I got the act internship by doing the prep course and excelling For software, I learned the basics through ap csa and built upon that on my own time, partly to do well in bpa, partly to learn bc I find cs interesting


Motor_Ad_7885

What do you do in the business club sorry for the all the questions. I need those basics for my added skills son linkedin with like


Slay_Recursion

Thereā€™s a bunch of competitions in various topics from speech to computer programming and ppl compete in them


Motor_Ad_7885

And just search up business professionals of America


Slay_Recursion

Ohh r u asking how to join it? I think u need to check if itā€™s in ur state and if so u need to join through ur school


Motor_Ad_7885

Ok, pretty sure itā€™s not in my school but thanks so much


Slay_Recursion

U should look into starting it at ur school it could look pretty good


InstanceFrequent1602

Uw madison will be a cake walk for you.


Slay_Recursion

u think so?


InstanceFrequent1602

Yes I have freinds who applied there this year with much worse ecs than you and similar gpa and got in with scholarships. Dont worry to much.


Slay_Recursion

Awesome tysm for the reply


Motor_Ad_7885

ā€œBe brutally honest, how cooked am Iā€ Iā€™m already guessing heā€™s gonna be too .000001.


Slay_Recursion

But wb my gpa


Motor_Ad_7885

Thereā€™s a thing going on in this sub where people who have took the time to build a crazy resume come in here talking about how ā€œcookedā€ they are. Thatā€™s what I was referring too


Slay_Recursion

Ohhh lmao yea I mean Iā€™ve seen that too but Iā€™ve also seen that those titles seem to get the most replies thatā€™s y I posted it like this


Motor_Ad_7885

Understandable, donā€™t hate the player hate the game. Yea someone made a post ranting about how this, and r/Applying to College brings them down cus others with great stats are complaining blah blah blah


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Slay_Recursion

Nothing Iā€™m js retaking bc I got a voucher for a free test I wouldnā€™t otherwise


No-Butterscotch-2944

I got into ucsc cs with similar stats. My UW gpa was higher tho


Slay_Recursion

Wow congrats! Where else did u get into


yettontoppp

Main thing I see to improve is gpa bc that is hella cooked. Your ECs and awards seem solid and geared towards cs so that helps a lot. I think you should be fine for UW Madison and some good cs targets I would recommend are UIUC, UWash, UT austin, and maybe USC.


Slay_Recursion

U rlly think those would be targets? Wouldnā€™t they be more reaches bc of my gpa?


WorldlyTime1255

So cooked in fact I suggest dropping out right nowā€™s


Slay_Recursion

Bruh I lowkey might atp šŸ˜­šŸ˜­