Hello CC!
I’m a junior is high school, and I’m planning to, no, I HAVE to go to school in California due to family circumstances. I’ll be very honest and say that I’m not exactly sure with what I want to major in, but I’ve really gotten into Econometrics/Economics and Finance. Which schools in California would you say have the best of these programs?
Thanks!
Do want a lot of math in your economics courses? If so, Berkeley and Stanford are the obvious choices.
Are you a California resident?
Stanford and Berkeley are great. UCLA has a “Business Economics” major that’s an economics degree but with a business approach (it’s not a business degree), so you should consider that.
Claremont-McKenna is also very strong in those fields, but you have not provided your credentials here. All the aforementioned colleges are extremely selective, even for highly-qualified students. Will you qualify for CA residency? If so, you should apply to most or all of the UCs. They all have excellent faculties.
CMC has a more preprofessional flavor to economics, while next door Pomona has a more liberal arts flavor to economics. Which would be better depends on your goals.
My GPA is way too low for the school’s that were listed; I’m at 3.29 from my Junior year. If anyone can list any safety schools/schools that are good for me would be great!
Are you a California resident? That makes a difference.
@“aunt bea” Unfortunately, no.
If you are NOT a Calif resident, then it is going to cost you $40,000-60,000 dollars PER YEAR to go to college in Calif.
Can you afford that??
UCSD is top 3 in econometrics.
@menloparkmom I know, I saw the tuition rates that are offered, but I don’t have choice due to my situation with my family. Thanks for making sure though.
@DrGoogle I heard that that school is pretty good as well, I’ll look more into it!
why dont you tell us about yourself- SATS, stats, interests, etc, etc.
3.29 is going to eliminate you from the most competitive UCs, including UCB, UCSD, UCLA, UCBS.
we can help guide you into Calif colleges you will likely be able to actually go to. You may have a much better chance at the Cal State U’s.
Will your family contribute to the out-of-state costs if you attend a California public university (or community college for two years followed by transfer to a university)? Cost estimates at https://secure.californiacolleges.edu/Financial_Aid_Planning/Financial_Aid_101/college_cost.aspx . You can check the net price calculators at each school. You will find out that UCs do not provide financial aid grants against the non-resident additional tuition, and CSUs do not offer any financial aid grants to non-residents at all.
Or are your parents moving to California and may possibly get California residency?
Out-of-state students need at least a 3.4 HS GPA (calculated the UC/CSU method) to be eligible for UC frosh admission. So you are probably looking at CSUs among the public universities, unless you want to start at a community college, do well there, and transfer as a junior (which also costs less than starting at a UC or CSU).
You say a family situation will force you to CA - but you don’t live here now… if it is a military transfer, you may be i luck.
A 3.29 is going to keep you out of the UC system because you simply won’t be competitive (the 3.4 threshold doesn’t come into play much anymore. except perhaps Merced)
Cal States require a specific list classes (google CSU a-g) and an eligibility index above 3502 -
You can read about it here:
https://secure.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/elig_index_calculator.asp
With an SAT above 950/1600, you’ll meet that threshold - making unimpacted campuses available to you. (How did we go from Stanford to CSU Bakersfield???)
Here’s a list:
http://www.calstate.edu/sas/impaction-campus-info.shtml
A better score will make other campuses viable. Sac State, Sonoma and maybe Chico in N Cal, Northridge and Fullerton in SoCal. Just be prepared to pay OOS tuition all 4 years.
@ucbalumnus Yes, my parents will contribute, but I’ll also need to take out a loan. Thanks for the calculator though, that’ll be helpful!
My mother and I will be moving to California, but that’ll occur once I graduate. My friends told me I can’t qualify as a California resident since I would have to live there for a year or so. I don’t know if this will help my situation, but I was born in California, went to Preschool, 2nd grade, and then I did less than one semester of my freshman year there.
My UC GPA is 3.68 actually, so I qualify. I am looking into CSU’s though!
@NCalRent It’s a personal situation, but I guess I should say since people keep questioning my intentions, haha. My parents are filing a separation and I have to live with my mom. She had no problem of where I live, as I long as it is in California.
Also, I had a friend who graduated with a 3.2, low ACT score, but she took many AP classes and had a good reason for her low GPA, which she stated in her personal statement. I’m using this story as my 3% of hope, and hoping I can get into a UC school. I also referred to the forum who had a bunch of people like that (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-general/1282861-lowest-accepted-gpa-sat-stories-to-ucb-ucla-ucsd-ucd-uci-and-ucsb-p1.html). However, I know it’s a low chance.
Thanks for the index calculator! I meet the index score with my ACT score (although I am retaking), and I’m sure I’ll get more than a 950 on the SAT, haha.
Do those schools have economic majors? I’ll look into them though, thanks! I was already thinking of Sonoma, but I heard bad things about it.
If you retain residency for in-state tuition purposes in your current state, would she object to you attending a state university in that state, if it is less expensive than a UC or CSU as an out-of-state student?
You may want to check if there is a possibility of becoming a California resident based on your mother becoming a California resident (there is at least a 366 day waiting period, and both you and she would need to switch all legal stuff like driver’s license, voter registration, paying state income tax, etc. to California as soon as possible). Consider whether a gap year may be helpful in avoiding a year or more of out-of-state costs at a UC or CSU.
http://ucop.edu/residency/
https://secure.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/residence_classification.asp
You could come to CA next year, graduate from a CA high school - then you’ll have no trouble with residency.
Also, you will hear bad things about every school.
@NCalRent Oops, I guess I didn’t mention this, but I’m already a Senior attending high school. It would be impossible.
@ucbalumnus Yes, I can’t stay in my current state of residency, period (Though, I will be applying to one or two schools in my state, just in case). Wouldn’t taking a gap year ruin school for me? I was told not to take a year off, or I’ll be very behind in my education and I’ll have a harder time getting a job.
I just wanted to know which schools would be suitable for me in California as an Economic major… I’m glad all of you are helping, though!
How about this scenario- you graduate, move with your mom, acclimate yourself to Calif for 1 semester and then enroll in a local CC.
By the time you apply to transfer to a Calif state college or UC university you will qualify for instate tuition - saving your mom tens of thousands of $$. Starting college in the Spring wont “ruin” college for you.