California school suggestions?

<p>Hey guys. I'm just doing a little thinking about schools in California. Could you possibly suggest some schools which might be in my reach? Also, I plan on re-taking the SAT in October. Thanks</p>

<p>Hispanic male from a public school in NY state.
GPA- 89.8, so about a 3.5 uw
SAT- 470 CR, 550 M, 620 W, 10 essay :-/
AP- 3- English Lang.
AP- 2-USH </p>

<p>Freshman and Sophomore years: 6 honors combined
Junior year clases:
- AP Humanities USH
- AP Humanities English
- IB TOK
Senior year clases:
- IB TOK
- IB Spanish
- IB English</p>

<p>IB Certificate candidate
Freshman Baseball
Indoor Track
JV Volleyball
Guitar lessons- 3 years
Madden Club
Olde English F Award
Gifted and Talented
Spanish NHS
National Honors Society
Camp College Prep
Volunteer @ Empire State Games
Little League Baseball Ump
Work at Wegmans - grocery store
Editor of school newspaper
50+ community service hours
School Lit magazine</p>

<p>Private or public? Some in the Bay Area to look at, University of San Francisco (private), St. Mary's (private), Cal State East Bay (public), San Francisco State (public), Santa Clara University (private).</p>

<p>I'm sure others will chime in with many more.</p>

<p>There are so many, but few have decent financial aid. If you don't need money: Whittier, Occidental and Pitzer are a few.</p>

<p>As far as public or private goes, let's say I'm looking into both. Also, I'll need financial aid. Any schools that match my criteria?</p>

<p>If you need financial aid, what schools you look at matter. Very few schools are need blind and very few meet 100% of demonstrated need. Better to figure out what you can afford now by doing EFC and Profile calculators to see if your parents can pay what the colleges expect. Also look at all of your school to see what percent of need they meet on average.</p>

<p>Unless you have incredibly high stats and will go to a tier 2 or 3 school, chances of money not mattering are zero.</p>