Tips to Getting Into a Computer Science Program

In the ever-growing field of computer science, it can be especially difficult to enroll in a competitive computer science program. With the California State Board of Education’s  Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan, the field is expecting a significant increase in students proficient in computer science. This begs the question, “How can I level up my computer science skills to get into a competitive computer science program?”

Computer Science Programs Look For Competitive Students

Computer Science Programs are highly competitive and schools often have additional requirements: MIT requires research experience before applying to the major and Carnegie Mellon requires high school calculus and physics. Additionally, colleges like UC Berkeley are expecting their students to “present an academic profile much stronger than that represented by the minimum admission requirements.” This means that on top of all the Advanced Placement (AP) courses, International Baccalaureate Higher Level (IBHL) courses, honors, and awards universities are expecting much more out of their students. 

In a traditionally male-dominated field, many top universities are searching to diversify their cohorts. Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College, says “they have redesigned the computer science courses to focus more on problem solving” to remove “the macho effect” and encourage more students to join. As part of the BRAID initiate (Building, Recruiting, And Inclusion for Diversity) colleges like Cal Poly-SLO and University of Illinois at Chicago are integrating these directives to increase diversity within the field. In short, it helps to be a minority or girl or gender non-binary. 

Admitted Student Profiles 

Aside from the top SAT/ACT scores and 4.0 unweighted GPA, below are snippets of the extracurriculars and awards and honors of high school seniors who were admitted to these Computer Science Programs: 

UC Berkeley EECS Student

Georgia Tech Math & Computer Science Student

A common theme for all admitted students is a true interest in learning and extracurriculars that display interest in the computer science field. The typical extracurriculars for computer science students include hackathons, summer programs (Girls Who Code and Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science by MIT to name a few), research (independent or with a college), clubs, and competitions (like USA Computing Olympiad). 

Key Takeaways

• Maintain a top academic record and student profile by optimizing GPA, extracurriculars, and awards and honors.
• It helps to come from a diverse background