Junior looking for help in putting together a college list

College Search & Selection
1

hey y’all !! currently i’m a junior that’s trying to build my college list. a certain degree of anxiety is preventing me from looking beyond my state so I’m trying to expand my viewpoint. i would like to avoid the South though. I’m thinking between journalism, poli sci, international relations, or English for my major, although I’m open to suggestions. i want to be a journalist in the future although this also might change.

demographics: Asian (Chinese), first generation American, from LA area, queer nonbinary person (currently passing as female for safety reasons, probably will not indicate this in any applications), low-income
GPA: 4.33 W (10-11th grade GPA), overall GPA: 4.11 W with upwards trend, school doesn’t calculate UW
edit: according to the link provided by Gumbymom, 4.00 UW, 4.28 W
rigor: freshman + sophomore year - 6 honors classes, currently taking 3 APs (APUSH, AP Lang, AP Chinese) + 1 honors, planning to take 4 APs next year (AP Gov, AP Spanish, AP Lit, AP Stats)
scores: PSAT 1410 from sophomore year, waiting on March SAT score
school stopped calculating class rank this year

extracurriculars:
freshman year: speech & debate (general member)
sophomore year: none (parents didn’t let me participate)
junior year: speech & debate (general member), red cross (general member), key club (general member), FARMS (local student run organization to help w/ food drives + food distribution; English Outreach Coordinator)
presumptive senior year: speech & debate (event co-captain), red cross (art chair or some other position, not clear yet), key club (member), FARMS (EOC), AP Ambassadors (hopefully some position but at least general member), link crew member

other important stuff:
gold key - Scholastic Art & Writing Contest 2020
honorable mention - Scholastic Art & Writing Contest 2021
I am representing my school at Girls’ State this summer.
Currently I am applying for QuestBridge College Prep Scholars, also plan on applying for National College Match next year.
I am fluent in Mandarin Chinese and learning Spanish.

my college list so far:
UCLA (reach?)
UC Berkeley (reach?)
UC Irvine (match/reach?)
UC Riverside (match???)
UC Davis (reach?)
UC Santa Barbara (low reach?)
CSULB (safety)
UC Santa Cruz (match?)
Stanford (my dream school, very high reach)
Swarthmore (I just started considering this, def a reach)

that’s all I have on my list. It’s very very short and generally I don’t have a really good grip on my qualifications so I tend to either underestimate myself or overestimate myself a lot. thank you for any help!

edits: adding to list based on suggestions

2

The UC’s only use 10-11th grades with extra honors points for UC approved Honors, AP and IB classes taken 10-11th grades only. Here is the calculator and all three UC GPA’s are considered in the admission process.

Intended major?
UC’s are test blind through 2024.

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Also lookup your HS Honors classes since not all Honors classes are UC approved. University of California A-G Course List

You need at least 1-2 safeties and UC Riverside can no longer be considered a safety for most applicants.

What is your local Cal state? That should be a good safety and I would look at couple of other Cal states as possible Safety/Match schools.

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hi !! thank you for the response. since i’m from SoCal I’m aware of the A-G requirements and I’m already on track to meet them all. however thank you for reminding me about the honors thing, only 1 of my honors from freshman + sophomore year gave me a GPA boost. the GPA i put there is my 10-11 grade academic GPA.

regarding the CSUs as safeties and matches - I’m not saying I can’t go to them or consider them. my parents just have crazy high standards for me and would rather see me enter a “lower” UC than a good CSU. I’d consider them as safeties but would rather not consider them as matches unless my stats are just not good enough for UCs?

4

Having high standards is fine but what happens when you do not get into any of the schools on your list. None of these schools can be considered a safety at the moment. UC Merced would be a safety if you are in the top 9% of your HS or statewide (ELC). ELC guarantees students that are not accepted into their choice UC, they will be referred to UC Merced if room is available.

You need a backup plan so if your parents are not happy with the Cal states, how do they feel about community college?

5

they’d burn me alive if i went to community… I’m just not really sure on my options at this point and i’d be willing to consider schools on the east coast or in the Pacific Northwest.

6

Hey! Welcome to the forum. I have a couple schools to suggest :slight_smile:

UC Santa Cruz sounds like a great fit for you, it’s super welcoming from my experience and the campus is just beautiful. Still California but NorCal so it will feel like an adventure. With your stats, being in-state, I’d say it’s a match.

Seattle schools! It’s an AMAZING city. Look into both University of Washington and Seattle University. Seattle U might be better for scholarships/aid as a private school for an out-of-state applicant (and also higher chances of admission).

This might seem a bit out there, but here me out. University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada. The city is totally gorgeous, one of the most accepting places I know, and my friends there absolutely love it. In fact I have a non-binary friend there and they’ve told me how nice everyone is - that’s part of the reason I’m suggesting it. Only like a 2 hour flight from SoCal, and the tuition for international students is still far cheaper than the out-of-state or private school tuition in the US. I don’t know if you care about this but the city is also like 50% Chinese so you wouldn’t face any issues with racial bias. Definitely do some research and check it out!

As a non-binary applicant, I don’t know how you feel about women’s colleges. In case you’re interested in them, I strongly suggest Barnard College. The solidarity and sisterhood there is just amazing, it’s in the middle of New York, and you have access to Columbia while maintaining a small school feel. Might be a reach in terms of stats but I’ve heard they really focus on the supplemental essays.

Last one: Emerson College. Small college in downtown Boston with a top-notch journalism program (like top 10 nationally). Super progressive and forward-thinking. Might be a reach, but not an impossible reach by any means!

Please don’t hesitate to ask me more questions or for details if you need! I have so many other ideas lol but these are some of the main ones. Spread your wings and good luck!

7

hello !! thank you so so much for your suggestions. i’ll consider uc santa cruz definitely, it sounds amazing.

I’m definitely considering seattle. I’ve been there once and it seems very progressive and forward thinking, but i’d have to do more research on the colleges

woah! i have not thought of that. i think i might have some relatives living in Vancouver too, although i think they are a bit on the elderly side. I’ll definitely check this out.

i’d probably say I’m female for the purpose of applications so gender wouldn’t be an obstacle, but im a little iffy about single-gender colleges. no specific reason, i just prefer a co-ed. thank you for this suggestion tho!

i have not thought of this one! i don’t know how i think about smaller colleges but the journalism program sounds like something i would like.

overall, thank you for all of these options! you’ve truly been a great help <3

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Since you are from a low enough income family to consider Questbridge, be sure to run the net price calculator on the web site of each college you may consider. You are likely to find that most out-of-state public universities such as University of Washington will be unaffordable.

Journalism is not a high paying career or profession for most, so taking on lots of debt for college would not be a good idea.

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i definitely will run the price calculator. price is a pretty big factor whether my parents like to admit it or not which is why up until now i haven’t considered out of states. and yeah… my parents have warned me about journalism not paying very well which is why i’m open to consider other majors and career options. going into diplomacy, translation, or politics is on the list.

10

Hi!

I recommend UCSB, SDSU, and USC!
Your stats are amazing but it is always good to have a few safety’s. SDSU is a great safety and UCSB seems like a good match to your stats. USC is private and may have higher tuition however their financial aid programs are amazing and they offer 100% of your needed aid.
Good luck!!

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hi !! thank you for these suggestions, UCs are definitely on my list. the only reason i’m a little iffy about USC is because my dad doesn’t really have a favorable view of USC ?? i know that it’s my education and he shouldn’t control it but its kind of a factor ://

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No Problem! Maybe you can convince him on USC! It is amazing school and 1# for journalism! Syracuse University and Boston University are also great with really strong journalism programs and very generous financial aid. :slight_smile:

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It’s definitely vital to have safeties, there’s no denying that. You don’t wanna end up in a bad position. That said, you only apply to college once! Have fun with it. If a particular school seems really cool or amazing, apply! Don’t let finances or acceptance rates deter you from the mere act of applying; as long as you’ve got your safeties locked, there’s no harm. The worst thing that can happen is that you don’t get in/can’t afford it. Or, you might get in and get lucky with a scholarship :slight_smile: So just make sure you have the full range – you can be practical and dream big all at once.

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thank you so much :)) those are option i will definitely look into

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ah i will !! applying to college has always seemed like a ticking time bomb for me and I feel like my extracurriculars really dragged me down in terms of schools I could get into.

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Hey! I’m a senior and I’m Chinese too. As someone from Washington state, I can confirm it is extremely forward thinking and progressive. Since you’re considering polisci, I recommend you consider UC Davis, they have the number 17 political science program in the nation. I’m considering it for premed genetics (where it’s number 18). Pm me if you have any questions:)

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hey there !! washington state seems cool but i’m just really scared about the cost.

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It’s a bit difficult to secure an out of state scholarship at state flagship schools like UW. Seattle U is also a pretty decent school that offers scholarships. I am a bit curious why you didn’t list UCD on your list considering they’re one of the best polisci programs according to US News. Also I’d recommend you consider CPSLO which is quite well known for turning out well prepared individuals for the workforce. However, as a fellow minority, I’d advise you exercise caution given some shady history with racism

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I’ll add them right now lol, I’ve been updating my list as i go along. a family friend’s daughter went to UC Davis and I think is now doing research at UPenn so that sounds like a solid option in terms of being favored by family.

yeah… CPSLO isn’t really offering what I’m looking for and racism is a big no no for me.

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Have you considered UCSB? THATS also a gorgeous campus, albeit a bit isolated. My girlfriend in your grade dreams of that school. Next year, when the class of ‘22 applies, hopefully it will be a bit less chaotic than this year, given all the uncertainty. Honestly, I recommend applying to as many schools as you can possibly afford given nothing is for certain anymore. College admissions have been wild. I was waitlisted at SC bio but accepted at Davis genetics which makes no sense to me. For your stats, I think SDSU might be a good safety/low match. I’m not sure how the specific programs rank, but I read of another CC User who was said to work for a large telecom firm that recruits out of SDSU. Another thing to think about is how much emphasis you want to put on the student demographics in terms of diversity and etc