Love crafting intricate code? Diving headfirst into the realm of artificial intelligence? Tackling complex computational conundrums? Then you're probably thinking about pursuing an undergraduate degree in computer science. Comp Sci is that girl right now, like she’s truly the absolute most popular major on the market right now. This means that Comp Sci is hypercompetitive. Even the most impressive, high-graded, perfect SAT score-having students are struggling to stand out – thankfully, we know how you can.

You’ll need more than just exceptional grades and test scores; a portfolio of impressive extracurricular activities that reflects your unwavering dedication to computer science is a must. Let’s talk about how to build your resume:

Discover Your Passion

Computer Science isn’t enough, you need to get more specific than that. So how do you get more specific? Reading! Online Classes! Start with intro books and classes and keep track of what interests you the most. Once you have your first slate of sub-topics, start finding books and classes that fit into those, and then further and further you go until you’ve gone from “computer science” to “machine learning” to “deep learning.”

Define Your Niche

So you've narrowed it down to "deep learning.” What's the next step? When it comes to admissions-minded niche-building, that’s still pretty broad. Start asking yourself questions about why you like this topic. Maybe AI tickles your fancy, but what about it? Are you interested in ethical AI development? The history of AIs biases? How AI can be used to solve ecological problems? AI can be applied to a lot of things!! So explore these other things! In addition to your computer science foundation, explore books and courses in ethics, philosophy, history, ecology, etc., keeping in mind your future goals

Learn to Code

Like, obviously. You absolutely cannot wait until you get into college to learn how to code. Students who get into Stanford, MIT, and CalTech for Comp Sci have been coding since before puberty. If you don’t currently know how to code, learn a basic language like C++, C#, Java, HTML, Python, SQL, or Ruby. Some of these are utilized by different subsections of computer scientists, so try to match your language with your niche. If you already know a language or two, congrats, time to learn a few more!

In-school Extracurriculars

Join computer science clubs, robotics teams, or programming clubs at your school. If those clubs don't exist, start one. If you can start a club that covers your niche, like the AI club, even better. Explore science or programming competitions, like the USA Computing Olympiad or the Google Code Jam, or any others that might be sponsored through your school, to give you a boost.

Internships + Jobs

Whether it involves working with a local software development company, contributing to open-source projects, or interning with a tech startup, or teaching coding to kids, any hands-on experience with computer science is a huge plus. Not only does it look good on an application, it’ll also help you see what the day-to-day will look like if you keep going down this path. You might even realize that your ‘thing’ isn’t 100% your thing, but this other thing that’s related to it actually is your thing. And you wouldn’t have even realized that unless you got hands-on experience!

Research + Independent Projects

Researching something within your niche with a Comp Sci professor is one of the best things you can have on your application. Now that you've pinpointed your specialization, begin reaching out to professors at local universities or colleges who are engaged in research within your chosen domain.

In addition to research, colleges value initiative, so brainstorm and embark on your own independent project. Make an app! Start an open-source project! Develop your own AI!

One final note: extracurriculars, especially niche ones, are incredibly important. However!!! It should come as no surprise that top-notch grades and test scores are the bare minimum for getting into a top-tier school with such an incredibly competitive major. Colleges want candidates who get the highest grades in the most challenging courses, so enroll in AP, IB,  or honors courses, whatever the top level is at your school. Exceptional scores on the SAT or ACT, such as 1550+ and 34+, respectively, are expected, so get a-studyin’.

There isn’t a singular path to getting into a Computer Science program, but we hope our guide can help you figure out what your niche is, how to implement it, and how to prove to colleges that you’re interested in what you want to do.

Need help figuring out your college admissions strategy? Reach out to us today.