Hello, my son is in the beginning of his Junior Year of HS. He wants to go OOS for college, but that is not possible for us financially. I am having him look at the CA state schools. His GPA so far is at 3.5. We did a GPA calculator, and if he gets all A’s this year we think his highest GPA would be 3.75 (no idea if I did that right) he has only taken 1AP class (scheduled to take this year) 1 IB course and 1 Honors class. He would like to major in Political Science, and career goals are politics or Law. He is involved with his Human Rights club at school since freshman year, he will be one of the Vice Presidents this year. He is signing up to volunteer at the Election polls. He also was accepted to the ACLU advocacy institute, but the physical trip to Washington DC was canceled due to Covid and he ended up doing it online. Just looking for some guidance on where would be a good fit for him. His Reach school is Georgetown or George Washington University, but it looks like his GPA and such won’t be enough, along with us not being able to afford them.
For California public universities, use this GPA calculator: GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub
UCs use all three variants of GPA; the weighted-capped is the most common one when GPA is listed on UC web sites unless a different one is mentioned.
CSUs use the weighted-capped variant of GPA. If the student has taken any college courses, the GPA needs to be recalculated for CSU with each semester college course counting twice (two grades, two courses). For CPSLO only, it needs to be recalculated with 9th grade as well as 10th-11th grade courses and grades included.
UCs and CSUs do not use SAT/ACT.
Each college has a net price calculator on its web site to get a financial aid estimate. Applying to a college that is certain to be unaffordable is a waste of time and application fee.
Law school admission is mostly based on LSAT score and college GPA. Any college major can be done. Law job hiring is heavily correlated to law school ranking which is heavily correlated to law school admission selectivity. https://lawschoolnumbers.com/ and Discover law schools | Law School Transparency can help with these topics. Law school is very expensive, and usually funded with lots of loans.
Fall 2021 admission rates by campus and weighted-capped HS GPA range from Freshman fall admissions summary | University of California :
| Campus | 4.20+ | 3.80-4.19 | 3.40-3.79 | 3.00-3.39 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | 30% | 11% | 2% | 1% |
| Davis | 85% | 55% | 23% | 10% |
| Irvine | 60% | 31% | 14% | 1% |
| Los Angeles | 29% | 6% | 1% | 0% |
| Merced | 97% | 98% | 96% | 89% |
| Riverside | 97% | 92% | 62% | 23% |
| San Diego | 75% | 35% | 5% | 1% |
| Santa Barbara | 73% | 28% | 4% | 1% |
| Santa Cruz | 91% | 81% | 46% | 9% |
These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective).
Thank you! This is all very helpful.
Depends on his test score - he very well can find an affordable OOS school. Will depend #1 on budget and #2 his whole package - test score (won’t have yet), ECs - don’t sell yourself short.
But it’s still early.
If you give us some desires - size, weather, etc. we can give some ideas to watch, etc. But you’re early.
Let’s take the DC schools off because even if he gets in, short of demonstrated need, they’re off anyway.
You can, for now, run the Net Price Calculator at Georgetown to measure - do you have need or not - need in their eyes, not yours 
Poli Sci and law school - you can go anywhere, major in anything, and as long as your grades and LSAT are strong, that will impact law school more than anything.
Thank you. I will run the calculator on their site. SO far doesn’t look like any CA schools will give him need based aid. He at this point hasn’t stated what he is looking for size wise etc. We still need to go on college tours this year. But definitely somewhere NOT hot. He HATES our CA weather. He really wants cooler weather, he likes cool and maybe rainy, but not necessarily snow.
He might want to consider some of the WUE schools in Oregon, Washington and Montana. Also Cal Poly Humboldt might be a good option as a Safety school and has cooler weather than much of California.
Through WUE, eligible students can choose from hundreds of undergraduate programs outside their home state, and pay no more than 150 percent of that institution’s resident tuition rate.
Got it.
Urban. Rural. Suburban ??
Sports ??
Any idea on budget - what you might have $ wise ??
One suggestion and don’t put much on your kids plate now but go visit a small, medium, large college when you can. If you go somewhere stop and see a school…just to see the environment forgetting the location, etc.
Btw California has publics that describe the weather you mention…just head North
What part of California is the weather too hot?
Some places with CSUs or UCs may be cool enough: Humboldt, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Monterey.
I would say more Urban. No Sports. Not sure budget yet, at this point I am thinking $25k-30k/year max.
We are in the East Bay, and we are slated for low 100’s starting tomorrow through the next week. We are normally in highs of 80’s/90’s. He hates summers here and prefers winters. He is possibly interested in SF State. Due to the weather there. His grandparents are from there, so he is familiar with their weather. I think the UC’s are out of our budget from what I saw online.
If you do not qualify for need based aid for the UC’s based on the NPC, then they will be above the $30K limit.
That is what it looked like. We are currently looking at the CA State schools to keep costs down.
Cal states are a great option and as noted by @ucbalumnus there are a few that meet the cooler weather criteria.
Actually, some of the more coastal CSUs, even south, have lower high temperatures. Examples include San Luis Obispo, Channel Islands, and San Diego (in addition to Humboldt, San Francisco, and Monterey Bay). You can look up the seasonal temperatures for each location on the web.
I agree with the Cal State Schools and a lot will depend on a test score (obviously not for Cal State Schools) - but here’s some thoughts - just for you to look at:
Fort Lewis College - a small school in Durango CO - and yeah there will be snow. With merit aid, high 20 (basing on a 3.5).
Southern Illinois and Central Michigan - no OOS tuition - will work - but not urban and maybe too cold.
Iowa State potentially - 40 minutes North of Des Moines - could happen without but may need 30 ACT.
Wichita State - so in a city.
U of Louisville
Grand Valley State
Truman State (rural)
Mizzou - if he gets a strong test score.
Western Carolina - rural
U of Toledo
MTSU
U of Memphis
U of Wyoming
I’m sure with the WUE there’s more - looking at tuition and I’m not sure but I don’t think WUE is assured - but you have NAU, Boise State, Idaho, Nevada Reno, Oregon State, Utah - there’s over 100.
btw - on the list above - I left off so many schools he “might” qualify at $25K-ish in states like Alabama, MS, Florida, GA - etc - too hot.
You’ll have lots of choices. I promise.
I wish you and your kid luck finding the perfect fit both academically and in terms of environment. I think it is great that you have been able to identify weather, urban setting and athletics as defining factors.
With that in mind I would stay clear of some of the larger OOS schools that try to draw kids with merit money. For example southern schools like Alabama and Georgia certainly will be hot, Tuscaloosa and Athens aren’t particularly urban (particularly for a kid from SF area) and both schools have a sports obsessed fan base and culture.
Based on your description I suspect many of the northern CA options suggested will work both cost and fit wise. I just caution you not to be tempted based solely on affordability versus fit as your kid seems to be pretty clear about what will and won’t work.
Good luck
The University of Utah is a WUE school within budget and is located in the state capital. PoliSci majors tend to need internships and state government provides many opportunities. The U is also the home of the Hinkley Institute of Politics which helps fund local, state and national internship experiences. He should consider other universities located in or near state capitals (perhaps Willamette in Salem,Oregon which is generous with merit aid). Salt Lake City is warm in the summer, but cool or cold during most of the school year. But if law school is definitely the goal, he may want to consider maximizing savings with his undergrad choice to minimize loans for law school. Also, many universities have “Semester in D.C.” programs, but there are no affordable OOS options in Washington D.C. for his undergrad degree and he is unlikely to get substantial merit.
One more suggestion is Portland State University which is also a WUE. Not in a capital city, but a very activist campus which may suit your son (based on his EC’s). It is located right in the urban core and he might be accepted to the Honors College (average GPA 3.75) with additional merit a possibility and great housing in the Honors Living Learning Community. The Honors Curriculum replaces General Ed classes and is writing intensive, which is the most critical skill for success in his major and in law school.
One school you may want to keep in mind is Evergreen State College in Washington. It’s a 12m drive to the Washington State Capitol building and it’s part of the Colleges That Change Lives association (school-specific CTCL link). It’s a WUE school, so tuition is likely to be about $11k if he gets it (and it appears as though the requirement is a 3.0 and applying by the WUE deadline).