Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone. All very helpful advice. Much appreciated.
I’m going to encourage him to apply. He thinks he has no shot of getting in so feels like why bother to apply.
His weighted GPA is 4.1. SAT scores are average. Teacher recs should be strong.
We know it is a reach and not counting on it in any way. Freshman connection would be ok as well.

Will also apply to UMBC along with Virginia Tech and JMU
Does Towson have a decent CS program? Someone mentioned Salisbury in an earlier post which is intriguing but I don’t know anything about that school

In your original post, OP, you said:

"My son is a senior at a MCPS middle of the road HS.
He is very smart but matured on the later side so his overall grades are middling.
Junior year was good and senior year is going great. He is finally challenging himself and getting all As. He had a bad 10th grade virtual year."

Since when is a 4.1 GPA "middling"??? How could he possibly have had a "bad 10th grade virtual year"? By "Bad" you mean he got a B+ or two?

Anonymous wrote:Does a kid with a 3.4 unweighted GPA and a 1230 SAT have a chance at UMD with no hooks? I don't think it's worth taking the time to complete the application with those stats.

Not being mean here, but to the PP (above), your kid has no chance at UMCP. Your kid does have a good chance at GMU, UMBC, and other schools. So, focus the search.

As for OP --- you come on to DCUM saying your kid was a mess for the first year of HS, then did OK for sophomore year, and better for junior year, and now, as a senior is really doing well. So, you lead people to believe that at least half of his HS grades are not very good. AND THEN, you come back and say he has a weighted GPA of 4.1 ???????????? Damn. I'd hate to be your kid. You have a very negative/critical eye on your son. And you pretty much wasted everyone's time on this thread who generously gave you advice -- that you only "needed" b/c you have anxiety. I think your 4.1 son is probably more capable of handling the college search than you are.

Anonymous wrote:He can apply to UMD as a CS major and if he doesn’t get admitted to CS program, they may still admit him to arts and sciences or even freshman connection (less competitive, classes are after 3 pm, still get housing). My son was directly admitted to CS, but he has two friends who got in through FC and transferred to CS in sophomore year. It’s not that difficult.

My daughter got a spring admission for UMD after applying for CS and she had top grades and looked great on paper. About 25 students (non-CS) got fall admission from her school that had lower grades and test scores (it was easily knowable based on naviance data when it got updated). I would not apply for direct CS admit if it's unlikely because it will affect overall admission chances. They only need so many CS majors, but NEED other majors so they can pay for non CS- professors.

Does a kid with a 3.4 unweighted GPA and a 1230 SAT have a chance at UMD with no hooks? I don't think it's worth taking the time to complete the application with those stats.

For CS, he can go anywhere. It's more about what you do with CS especially in your spare time.

If he is set on a certain school (Maryland for example), don't rule out community college. I wanted to go to VT and only VT. I went to CC for a year, got great grades and transferred in. My only regret is that I wish I'd transferred in as if I was a freshmen. It would have been like a gap year. I missed out on meeting more people and really getting ingrained in the campus and student life. As I'm visiting now with my daughter, I'm realizing how much I would have enjoyed that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone. All very helpful advice. Much appreciated.
I’m going to encourage him to apply. He thinks he has no shot of getting in so feels like why bother to apply.
His weighted GPA is 4.1. SAT scores are average. Teacher recs should be strong.
We know it is a reach and not counting on it in any way. Freshman connection would be ok as well.

Will also apply to UMBC along with Virginia Tech and JMU
Does Towson have a decent CS program? Someone mentioned Salisbury in an earlier post which is intriguing but I don’t know anything about that school

George Mason has a very good CS program.

Thx. Have added this to our list

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone. All very helpful advice. Much appreciated.
I’m going to encourage him to apply. He thinks he has no shot of getting in so feels like why bother to apply.
His weighted GPA is 4.1. SAT scores are average. Teacher recs should be strong.
We know it is a reach and not counting on it in any way. Freshman connection would be ok as well.

Will also apply to UMBC along with Virginia Tech and JMU
Does Towson have a decent CS program? Someone mentioned Salisbury in an earlier post which is intriguing but I don’t know anything about that school

George Mason has a very good CS program.

Thanks everyone. All very helpful advice. Much appreciated.
I’m going to encourage him to apply. He thinks he has no shot of getting in so feels like why bother to apply.
His weighted GPA is 4.1. SAT scores are average. Teacher recs should be strong.
We know it is a reach and not counting on it in any way. Freshman connection would be ok as well.

Will also apply to UMBC along with Virginia Tech and JMU
Does Towson have a decent CS program? Someone mentioned Salisbury in an earlier post which is intriguing but I don’t know anything about that school

He can apply to UMD - CS. In the application, since CS is a limited enrollment program, they will ask for a second choice major. It's worth noting that in the last enrollment cycle, 56000 applications were received and the average GPA was 4.4 for admitted students. There are a few scenarios, he gets rejected from UMD completely, he gets accepted to CS, he gets accepted to UMD but not CS. If he gets accepted to UMD as undecided (College of Letters and Science) it can be a challenge to get the CS classes he needs for access to the program. Class priority goes to CS-enrolled students.

He can apply to UMD as a CS major and if he doesn’t get admitted to CS program, they may still admit him to arts and sciences or even freshman connection (less competitive, classes are after 3 pm, still get housing). My son was directly admitted to CS, but he has two friends who got in through FC and transferred to CS in sophomore year. It’s not that difficult.

Anonymous wrote:Have him still apply to UMD CP CS.
He may not get into CS but he will probably get into UMD.
It has a 50% acceptance rate.

Is he open to Engineering? If he does well his first year at UMD, he can try to transfer into the CS program or Engineering.
If he can’t get into CS, he can still probably get into Engineering

May have a 50% acceptance rate but that’s because most people don’t apply to get rejected. It’s not easy to in. For a kid with 1380 SATs and all As except a few Bs with plenty of APs/Honors, they’re teetering on edge of acceptance vs rejection. Sounds like this kid has much lower grades, but could have higher scores.

Have him still apply to UMD CP CS.
He may not get into CS but he will probably get into UMD.
It has a 50% acceptance rate.

Is he open to Engineering? If he does well his first year at UMD, he can try to transfer into the CS program or Engineering.
If he can’t get into CS, he can still probably get into Engineering

OP UMBC has an excellent CS program. They are very tied into getting kids jobs which is the goal right?

Anonymous wrote:My son is a senior at a MCPS middle of the road HS.
He is very smart but matured on the later side so his overall grades are middling.
Junior year was good and senior year is going great. He is finally challenging himself and getting all As. He had a bad 10th grade virtual year.
And he is now taking school, college etc very seriously. I know it is a bit late but I’m relieved he finally got there.
He is a nice kid and intellectually very capable. He wants to apply for CS at UMD but we are realistic that his odds of admission are low.

My question is if he applies for CS and doesn’t get in, will he get a straight out rejection from UMD or will they perhaps admit him but not for CS.
Once you get in to UMD College of Arts and Sciences, if you do well your first year, can you apply to transfer into the CS program.

My recommendation - Don't apply for CS. Top students get rejected from CS because they can only take so many and it does affect your chances of getting accepted. Apply to another major that doesn't have as many people, you're more likely to get into the university as a whole, then you can change major later.

Oops. Typo:

The kids getting in there have 4.0 dor 9th, 10th, and 11th grade...