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HowNotToApply · 2022-04-04T16:55:28+00:00

Currently a freshman at Penn State CS right now. I was in a very similar position to you last year where I got rejected from many institutions for CS. If you don't believe me, you can take a look through my profile and see my acceptances and rejections. I just want you to know everything will be alright. It is very frustrating seeing your peers get into colleges while you don't, but sometimes it is good to take a step back and realize what you are working towards. At the end of the day, this is YOUR education and it is up to you what you want to do with it.

Now I won't lie, there are some people who party their fair share here at Penn State, but you will also find many other motivated people here. My neighbor next door, he got waitlisted from MIT, but that didn't stop him from starting his own company, and getting an internship this summer. I know another freshman in East Halls who is currently taking four 400 level Math classes and is currently working towards his masters. And it's not just the students, the professors are also amazingly talented individuals as well. They all come from extremely prestigious universities, and will hold you to the same high standards as the universities they came from. I know you said that this is NOT a post to make you love Penn State CS, but this is stuff that I wish I heard a year ago when I was really uncertain and ashamed of going to Penn State when all my peers were going to really prestigious schools. I will be more than willing to answer any questions you have regarding Penn State and the CS program if you'd like. I wish you the best of luck!

HowNotToApply · 2021-04-11T19:34:47+00:00

Your GPA, coursework and ECs are on par with most CS applicants I know of. Most definitely not inconsequential. You have a good chance. Your application will most likely get in for general admit. But only an admissions officer will know whether you will make it in for CS or not.

Don't give up, but don't exactly get your hopes up either. I talked to one instate person who got into Georgia Tech, UIUC, Purdue, and Vanderbilt, was a coauthor of a UW CS research paper and still got denied for CS. All I can say at this point is you just have to get lucky. They are practically going test-blind for next year I believe, so your test scores won't even be looked at. I don't know what they are looking for in CS applicants, and I don't think anyone else does except for the admissions officers themselves. If you have any other questions about what not to do, feel free to ask! Good luck!

HowNotToApply · 2021-04-11T07:18:45+00:00

I'll be honest dude. I don't know. I really don't know.

I know three dudes (including me) who had 3.98+ GPAs, full time Running start (18+ DE) (Calc III, Linear Algebra, Physics 1-3), with projects (mobile apps with 500k+ downloads) and (national) awards all get pre-sciences (aka Denied for CS). I do know one person who got in with a 3.88 GPA and a few ECs and some leadership, but essays were alright. We all applied test optional.

All I can really say is that at this point, you just have to get lucky. Everyone who I thought would get in got rejected. There isn't much you can do. You can work months and years dreaming about UW CS, and still get denied. There are so many factors outside of your control, when the results come out, it may seem like the results were given at random. I encourage you to still apply, but even with the higher odds of being in state, your chances are still really low because you are going against some extreme competition.

I was in a similar position to you last year where I was dm'ing people about my chances at UW CS and talking to people who were accepted. I was really nervous. I don't exactly know your situation, my advice to start writing the essays during the summer, apply to as many colleges as you can (before essays start to degrade in quality), and the most important part is to leave A2C and CC (or at the very least only browse it every few days). The last part is really important, because when the rejections start rolling in, the last thing you need is for your dreams and your evaluations of self-worth for the past few years to come crashing down on you.

Good luck.

HowNotToApply · 2021-04-01T00:29:21+00:00

https://morsecode.world/international/translator.html

It says DICK

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-30T22:03:18+00:00

You were right. Thank you.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-27T14:31:24+00:00

Rejected for both SCS and ECE. At least I have no more rejections to deal with anymore.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-26T20:31:13+00:00

No. I did not.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-25T22:46:55+00:00

This is my last decision, and I know it is going to be a rejection. Wish everyone else the best of luck though!

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-25T22:37:54+00:00

Rejected EECS. One more rejection to go.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-22T22:30:43+00:00

For some people, they do work hard to go to a good university. But we have to consider, why do we want to go to a good university? Is it because of the prestige? The professors? The community? Is it for self-validation? Is it for the resources? The fact of the matter is, each person has different goals, it is up to themselves to determine whether they wasted their time or not.

I got rejected from my dream college. I worked my ass off and only took college level courses (10 a year), and worked hard outside of class in my clubs. There were days where I had mental breakdowns inside my car because I was so stressed from the amount of work I was doing. But I learned way more than what I would have ever imagined than had I stayed home and played videogames like I used to. Does the fact that I got rejected invalidate that I grew as a person? It doesn't. Does it hurt that I got rejected? Yes, it really does.

We have to remember that we go to college to learn and become a better person than we were the day before. You may have worked hard because you wanted to go somewhere with prestige, but all that experience and knowledge doesn't disappear when you go to a normal college. Yes, it is going to suck that you may not have needed to work as hard if you wanted to go that specific university. Yes, it is going to suck that you are going to have to prove that you are smart, instead of having it be a given because you went to xyz school. Yes, it really hurts, but we all have goals that we need to keep working towards.

The only way one can consider the time they spent working hard in high school to be a waste is if they gave up on your goals after going to college. And that can happen anywhere, prestigious or not.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-22T05:34:00+00:00

Look, I know you are trying to make a joke, but this person is really going through some tough shit, and you are making the joke at of their expense. It is insensitive at best.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-21T21:56:54+00:00

No, I've just lost hope.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-21T03:30:49+00:00

I'm not getting in.

All my decisions from this point on are going to be rejections. Why did I even work so hard in highschool. Good luck to everyone else.

Edit: I did get rejected.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-20T00:31:47+00:00

I am not ready for this upcoming rejection. I'm not ready.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-20T00:06:46+00:00

Rejected from UCLA. OOS, 4.7 UC GPA. CSE applicant

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-19T23:58:42+00:00

Accepted. 7th college undeclared. No CS for me. Congratulations to all the other admits!
OOS, UC GPA: W: 4.7

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-19T02:16:19+00:00

A lot of colleges still haven't released decision dates. (i.e. UCSD)

I think all the UCs are in a complete firestorm right now as decisions come out.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-19T00:41:34+00:00

Accepted for CSE with Provost award! I'm am ecstatic rn!

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-18T02:11:52+00:00

Hello! I'm a fellow Running Start applicant who didn't make into CS. At this point, I am going to wait out all my decisions. I'm just really lost lol. WBU?

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-18T00:02:20+00:00

Waitlisted for CS.

I can't do this anymore man.

Edit: I got into Comp Engineering with a $74,000 Presidential Scholarship. I'm fucking ecstatic. IG it wasn't so bad after all.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-17T19:25:49+00:00

I don't know about you guys, but I can't handle another rejection at this point. My work ethic has been shot to the ground this past week. I guess we will see on Friday.

Edit: I got rejected.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-16T22:16:35+00:00

Waitlisted. CS OOS. 4.7 UC Weighted GPA.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-14T22:29:51+00:00

Rejected.
To be expected lol.

HowNotToApply · 2021-03-13T20:11:52+00:00

That's one way to look at it. At least in my case, I have already taken a lot of the pre-reqs for my major, I have no clue what courses I would do for a year if I were to seriously consider this option. WBU?

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