Hello, I am currently a junior in high school and a sophomore at a community college (dual-enrolled) in Phoenix, AZ and have recently experienced a large amount of anxiety and uncertainty about which university to attend for my undergraduate studies. I am looking for a school where I will have lots of opportunities for hands-on learning and particularly research opportunities since I am hoping to focus more on research as a veterinarian. So far the colleges I have been considering are as follows:
Reach schools-
- UC Berkeley
- USC
- UPenn
High Difficulty- - UCSB
5.UC Davis
Safety schools- - CSU
- Barrett Honors College, ASU
- UofA
Here are some things about me to possibly take into account:
GPA unweighted- 4.0
GPA weighted- 4.7-4.8
Class rank- school does not have one
SAT- 1330 (December 2017), taking it again this May and aiming for high 1400’s to a perfect score
Dual Enrollment- On course to graduate with an associate in science from my community college in spring 2019
Extra Curriculars- Horseback riding: I am a competitive dressage rider and frequently show my horse, I will be receiving at least 2 varsity letters from the USEF by the end of this year
Service dog training: For 2 years I raised and trained a golden retriever to be a service dog specializing in mobility support and PTSD response through a program at my school, at the end of her training she went to a marine veteran with PTSD (yes, I loved her and it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but it was also extremely rewarding and taught me a lot)
Work: I am currently a kennel technician at an animal hospital where they are training me to become a veterinary assistant
I will also do other odd jobs such as tutoring, dog training, babysitting, etc
NHS: Active NHS member hopefully on track to become an officer next year
FFA: I am technically in FFA because I am taking the vet science classes at my high school which automatically put me in FFA with them being agriculture related (the vet science program is a 4-year program at my school 1st year: intro to vet 2nd year: anatomy and physiology 3rd year: animal diseases 4th year: clinical- requiring 200 hours of vet shadowing experience)
Volunteer Service: around 200 altogether between horse shows, NHS, my sister’s school, and Hunkapi Farms (a horseback riding center for children with disabilities)
Now to the issue:
My dream school has always been Cal, but recently I have felt uncertainty about it pertaining to the academic rigor and mental health aspect. I still want to enjoy my time at college while working hard and learning. I am definitely not opposed to hard work, however the extremely competitive environment and lack of assistance from admin that I have been reading about at Cal has been throwing me off, in other words, I do not want to be miserable and having panic attacks every other night during college just to pass a class. On the other hand, I know that at Cal I would be going for a degree in Molecular Environmental Biology at the College of Natural Resources which is one of their smaller colleges with a better student to faculty ratio. I am also in love with the bay area and ultimately want to live there one day even though it is very expensive.
So the constant question for me has been is Cal really the school for me or should I just transfer all of my community college credits over to ASU who I am more likely to receive a full ride scholarship from anyways? The obvious difficulty in choosing an in-state school is that they are not as acclaimed as a school like Berkeley is. Additionally, I do not want to live in AZ, this may sound trivial but I have lived here my entire life and am ready to move out of this desert.
Lastly, in order to pay for a school like Cal I would most likely apply for ROTC, it’s an awesome way to avoid student debt, but I know that it can also be pretty tough.
This is a ton of information, but seriously any advice, experience, and/or opinions are greatly appreciated. Thank you guys!