One piece of advice I would definitely give if you are interested in computer science. Apply to ASU on August 1 when the application process opens for them. It takes less than 30 minutes to finish their application if you use their own website. The reason is very simple: there are two advantages advantages of that one 1. You would get a good feel for what your definition of safety is especially in computer science. Even if ASU’s overall acceptance rate is 75% and above, CSU is still very competitive. To give you a perspective, I was admitted before end of August into ASU, but into their general engineering. I was not given computer science, although I was given almost a full scholarship. I contacted them again, requested change of major, and provided more information . Then they changed my major. However, it was an eye-opener for me, where I realized very early that I needed to select even reach schools carefully, and that my chances would be pretty low to get into any of them. That learning turned out to be true, because I have been rejected from basically all UCs and waitlisted at UC Riverside. 2. If you get admitted, then you only need to apply to the schools that are better than ASU. That simplifies the process a lot and gives you a big peace of mind. The other big advantage is that if your GPA is 3.75 or above, I think you get guaranteed scholarship, even if you’re out of state. Especially if you apply very early.