California Schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I posted this earlier but got no replies because I think my question was too narrow, so I’m broadening it up a bit by asking you what are some good schools in california for the sciences (preferably neurosciences, biology, biochem, chemistry, and physics as a last resort). I dont care if its LAC or National University, but I perfer Nationals because they have division one athletics, but it honestly doesn’t matter to me that much. I want to go to california for undergrad for 2 reasons:</p>

<li>Its the greatest place in the world to me</li>
<li>They have a ton of public med schools that favor instaters, so that helps me when I apply to med school. Yes I want to be a doctor.</li>
</ol>

<p>here is a list so far of what I think I want to apply to:

  1. University of Oregon (safety school)
  2. University of Washington (safety again)
  3. UC Schools (all of them except UC-Riverside, UC Merced, and UCI) (UCB, UCLA, UCSD automatically rejected; UCD, UCSB, UCSC match to high matches)
  4. Stanford (no chance)
  5. Pomona or CMC (ED) (No chance)
  6. USC (no chance)
  7. (I need one more match school)</p>

<p>can you please correct or tell me if my predictions are accurate so far please and help me come up with one more match school as well? I have my stats below to help you judge.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:
(start of resume)
*I am an Asian Indian Male
*From a competitive public high school in Oregon, Beaverton High School, which was also rated the best AP school in Oregon, so yeah, its a smart school.
*student body at school = 500+</p>

<p>The Numbers/ECs
*Freshman year:
4.0 with honors in 2 classes for both semesters</p>

<p>*Sophomore Year:
3.8125 overall for both semesters
(Bs in AP Chem 1st sem, Precalc 2nd sem, Social Studies 1st sem)</p>

<p>*Junior Year (projected)
Human Anat/Phys-A,A
IB Bio HL 1-A,A
Spanish 3-A,A
IB Calculus-A, A (might be at worst 1 “B”)
IB Psychology-A,A
Team Sports-A
IB English-B,B (might get 1 A)
IB Tok 1-B</p>

<p>*class rank UW right now = 38/515. Weighted = 30/515 (will go up because not many kids have taken hard classes yet)
*IB Diploma Candidate (to be)
*Varsity tennis 4 years (will have 4)
*Science Team 4 years (will have 4)
*World Quest Trivia 4 years (will have 4)
*Science Club Treasurer (1 year)
*Science Club VP (2 years)
*Math Club VP (2 years)
*Portland Youth Philharmonic (will have 3 years)
*Mathfest Algebra 2 1st place freshman year
*OIMT Participant Fresh Year
*Mathfest Participant (will have 4 years)
*Oregon Museum of Science and Industry Rising Star Program (will have 150-175 volunteer hours done)
*Mathcounts Tutor (about 50+ volunteer hours)</p>

<p>Right now I get about a 1920-2050 on the SAT, 26-30 on ACT according to Practice Tests for SAT, and the PLAN (it’s like the PSAT for SAT except the ACT version) on ACT. So obviously with pathetic scores like that they’ll laugh at me and then throw my app in the garbage, so I’m wondering what you guys think I should get on the SAT so I can make CMC/Pomona/USC at the very least a match school because these are the ones I am really gunning for because I know I wont get into Stanford, just cuz its stanford, and I wont get into UCLA/UCB/UCSD because of the instaters :(</p>

2

<p>Do check to be certain, but I don't think going to a UC from oos will make you a CA resident.</p>

3

<p>Yes, technically even if I go to california for undergrad, I will still be considered an oregon resident when I apply to medical school. But, I am going to change my state of residency when I reach california as soon as possible, meaning I will get the instate bump from california.</p>

<p>But can anyone please help me, I'm kind of in a pickle right now and I really need some help.</p>

4

<p>It's very very hard to give chances to a junior with no test scores and an incomplete GPA and rank. If you get A's in all those hard classes and get better scores than projected, UCB and UCLA aren't impossible.</p>

<p>What was your actual PLAN score? I'm local, so I understand the context.</p>

<p>Also, best AP school in Oregon or not, you ignore the fact that your school is surrounded by superior IB schools like Southridge and Sunset. And getting residency in another state like that is way harder than it should be...</p>

5

<p>too bad you didn't take the psat since USC loves NMSF's, and it would put them into a match-safety category if you pull off the Jr grades. The mid-tier UCs are definitely within range, and, as you note, Cal, LA and SD are reaches even for in-state. Towards the end of this year, calculate your UC-gpa and that will give you a better feel as to where you stack up in the admissions pool. Like private colleges, Cal & UCLA read the essays thoroughly. Irvine is an up and coming UC so don't discount it until you can visit.</p>

<p>btw: Its nearly impossible to obtain Calif residency for tuition purposes, and, at $40+k per year, not sure that the mid-tier UCs offer that much more value than your state flagship, or U-Dub.</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
But, I am going to change my state of residency when I reach california as soon as possible, meaning I will get the instate bump from california.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>This is not that easy to do. The state of California has tightened up residency requirements such that merely attending school in California does not help that much in terms of establishing state residency.</p>

<p>The best way to establish residency is to simply work for an entire year in California after you complete your undergrad, making enough money that you can prove that you are self-sufficient. But you can do that regardless of where you go for undergrad. </p>

<p>
[quote]
2. They have a ton of public med schools that favor instaters, so that helps me when I apply to med school. Yes I want to be a doctor.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>This gets to a different issue, which is that I don't know if it would really help you all that much anyway. Yes, California has a lot of UC Medical Schools. The problem is that California also has a lot of people applying to these med schools. Hence, California residency may actually not be as beneficial as would be residency in some other state where the competition for state med-school spots is less fierce. </p>

<p>To give you an idea of what I am talking about, compare Caliornia to Oregon. California has 5 public med-schools, with a total med-school student population of about 2600. Oregon has 1 public med-school with a med-student population of about 500. That's a public med-school ratio of about 5:1. However, California also has 33.8 million people. Oregon has 3.4 million. That's a population ratio of about 10:1. So that means that it may actually be TWICE as hard to get into a California public med-school than into an Oregon public med school. </p>

<p>Of course, that is a simplistic analysis, and a better analysis would look at the number of out-of-state applicants each school takes, what percentage of the state population is interested in med-school and is of the right age to be eligible for it, and so forth. But the point is, you can't automatically assume that establishing California residency will really help you much in terms of getting into a public med-school. If that's what you really want, then you should hunt for a state that not only has a large public med-school, but also has few in-state people competing to get into that school.</p>

7

<p>california_love8:</p>

<p>UCB/UCLA: Reach (out of state)
UCSD: Slight Reach (out of state)
UCD/UCSB: Match (out of state)
UCSC: Safe Match (out of state)</p>

8

<p>Lake Oswego High School > Beaverton High School</p>

<p>GO LAKERS!</p>