Are these schools reasonable with DS's stats?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Options:

1. Purdue. Apply as a pre-studies major, then buckle down and apply to CS.
2. Indiana University.
3. University of Tulsa.
4. University of Kansas

Changing majors to CS or Engineering at Purdue is virtually impossible. Really, it's impossible at most schools.

.. impossible at most schools that are T20 or T30 for CS, like Purdue and UMD.

Is it impossible to transfer to CS at GMU, JMU and VA tech?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like your high school’s college counseling office has fallen down on the job a bit. We have been hearing from freshman year on how competitive the college process is currently. When I say “we,” I really mean “me,” because my husband and son basically tuned out all of the information (and also my warnings) until the end of junior year when they were shocked that DS didn’t have the stats to get into schools that would have been slam dunks 30 years ago. (eye roll)

Anyway, our son has similar stats, but unbalanced in the opposite direction, so I don’t have any personal experience applying to engineering or CS programs. DS has a friend with stats like your son’s (weighted toward math and science) who has been accepted to Pitt, Penn State, WPI, RIT, Denver, and Dayton for engineering, fwiw.

I would do as everyone else has suggested and get an appointment with your school’s college counselor to get a realistic list of colleges where kids from your high school have been successful.

Thank you, this is how it is here too. DH and I both went to top schools, and DH comes from a family of scientists with impressive alma maters. So it's been shocking to see that schools we never considered "good" schools are now apparently out of reach. We don't really want to put so much pressure on DS, as it seems this area is already ultra competitive, but we are really confused about this. The counselor is no help at all - they just keep giving us lists of schools kids have gone to, and won't provide any kind of comparison.

College Confidential will help you understand the landscape. But you also have to understand that engineering and computer science probably require higher stats than average. The good news is Penn State is fairly friendly to OOS students. Pitt gets a lot of love from the DMV. But most of the time the parents want merit which isn't a given. Delaware is nice option. Minnesota is the new Pitt since it has rolling admissions.

You also may want to consider hiring a college counselor to help developing a list.

[Anonymous]

He can get into a million schools.

My advice: focus less on getting in and focus more on finding a place where he'll succeed. I'd be mostly concerned that he's getting close to an F in history, while you at his side, feeding him, clothing him, and getting him to school on time.

Dig down on that. Why? Is he working too many hours? Does he have an undiagnosed issue with reading? or is he just a "this is boring" kid (which, wake up, get it done, adults do boring things sometimes).

I'd focus on figuring that out. Building some confidence with a summer program someplace like Syracuse or Penn State. And thinking about what kind of school he wants.

Then just apply to schools he'll get into. He'll get into MOST of the 4000 colleges in America - but no, maybe not T100 schools.

Avoid potholes (literally): UC Bolder will have a lot of drugs. Can he deal with that?

Go to a college basketball game. Does this look fun? Walk around a big giant school. And a tiny one. See what clicks.

Don't have a scarcity mindset. There are plenty of places. Don't worry about that. You just want him to GRADUATE and be happy. That's the trick.

(I'd visit a place like Marquette for Engineering. Good program. New town. Low drama kids who expect to work and pay for themselves after college. School spirit. But there are so many options out there...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:University of Texas at Austin basically took about 2 kids OOS this year. I know so many local kids with SATs in the high 1500s and GPAs 4.5+ who were denied this year---and for humanities majors. It was crazy.

Sorry OP. It's rough. You need to go down a step.

My son was admitted. Must be one of the 2

[Anonymous]

As others have said the list is delusional. 1350 for CS and those top 50 schools will not compute. Kids with 1500 and 12 APs aren’t getting into many of those schools. You need to recalibrate. Here are some suggestions:
UMBC
Colorado School of Mines
WPI
RPI
Rose Hulman
Minnesota


These are targets still, not safeties. For a safety try ASU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS wants to major in computer science or engineering. 1350 SAT, will graduate with 5 APs (math, science, foreign language), 3.8 weighted GPA (unweighted 3.5), extra curriculars include 1 varsity sport, one club, and a part time job he's had for years and where he works quite a few hours. We are still hoping he might get that GPA up before the end of the year, but he doesn't seem very motivated. Based on what I usually see on dcum, these stats aren't great, but is the list below reasonable? What should we add?

Virginia Tech
Georgia Tech
UT Austin
U Wisconsin
U Washington Seattle
U Maryland
Ohio State
University of Florida Gainesville
Boston U

All Massive reaches except maybe Ohio

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As others have said the list is delusional. 1350 for CS and those top 50 schools will not compute. Kids with 1500 and 12 APs aren’t getting into many of those schools. You need to recalibrate. Here are some suggestions:
UMBC
Colorado School of Mines
WPI
RPI
Rose Hulman
Minnesota


These are targets still, not safeties. For a safety try ASU.

Good list!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Texas at Austin basically took about 2 kids OOS this year. I know so many local kids with SATs in the high 1500s and GPAs 4.5+ who were denied this year---and for humanities majors. It was crazy.

Sorry OP. It's rough. You need to go down a step.

My son was admitted. Must be one of the 2

I wonder if some of these rejections of high performers are yield management.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Texas at Austin basically took about 2 kids OOS this year. I know so many local kids with SATs in the high 1500s and GPAs 4.5+ who were denied this year---and for humanities majors. It was crazy.

Sorry OP. It's rough. You need to go down a step.

My son was admitted. Must be one of the 2

I wonder if some of these rejections of high performers are yield management.

Pretty sure schools like UT Austin don't need to yield manage. It's was reported both UT and UF received over 90,000 apps this cycle. I imagine it's hard to distinguish applications at some point with so many. Becomes like a lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Options:

1. Purdue. Apply as a pre-studies major, then buckle down and apply to CS.
2. Indiana University.
3. University of Tulsa.
4. University of Kansas

Changing majors to CS or Engineering at Purdue is virtually impossible. Really, it's impossible at most schools.

.. impossible at most schools that are T20 or T30 for CS, like Purdue and UMD.

Is it impossible to transfer to CS at GMU, JMU and VA tech?

pp you quoted here.
I don't know about GMU and JMU, but I went on a college tour in the summer of '23 and VT specifically said this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Options:

1. Purdue. Apply as a pre-studies major, then buckle down and apply to CS.
2. Indiana University.
3. University of Tulsa.
4. University of Kansas

Changing majors to CS or Engineering at Purdue is virtually impossible. Really, it's impossible at most schools.

.. impossible at most schools that are T20 or T30 for CS, like Purdue and UMD.

Is it impossible to transfer to CS at GMU, JMU and VA tech?

pp you quoted here.
I don't know about GMU and JMU, but I went on a college tour in the summer of '23 and VT specifically said this.

Not PP, but it is virtually impossible if the school has a separate school of engineering with a very specific curriculum. Students have to start from year 1 to complete it, and even if the school technically allows a transfer in, the logistics of it would probably make it not feasible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Texas at Austin basically took about 2 kids OOS this year. I know so many local kids with SATs in the high 1500s and GPAs 4.5+ who were denied this year---and for humanities majors. It was crazy.

Sorry OP. It's rough. You need to go down a step.

My son was admitted. Must be one of the 2

I wonder if some of these rejections of high performers are yield management.

Pretty sure schools like UT Austin don't need to yield manage. It's was reported both UT and UF received over 90,000 apps this cycle. I imagine it's hard to distinguish applications at some point with so many. Becomes like a lottery.

And 3.5/1330 isn’t buying you a ticket.