<p>Hello
So here are my stats:
-GPA: around a 3.6 weighted (I know, super duper bad) but I have an excellent trend! My freshman year I got a 3.0. I wasn't adapting well and was dealing with anxiety and stress problems :/. Sophomore year I got a 3.7 & 3.85. Since I had bad grades freshman year I couldn't take honors classes sophomore year. Junior year I got a 4.0.& 4.1. Unfortunately throughout junior year (and still now) I have been battling a medical illness that makes it difficult/painful to use my hands so my GPA isn't as high as it could've been. In addition to what I have been facing my grandfather who is mentally ill had been living with me until the end of sophomore year. We had to move him to a rehabilitation facility. Its been pretty rough on my family :/
-SAT: 1670 (low because of my issues) definitely taking again
-EC: I have a myriad of activities. (Sports,music, academic clubs, language clubs, writing clubs)
--leadership: I am a leader in 3 clubs/extra curriculars
--i am apart of Junior classical league, CSF, and another honor society
--volunteering: I have atleast 100+ hours so far. I am apart of multiple volunteer organizations. One teaches leadership skills to middle school students. Another one is an after school organization that teaches science to inner city students. I spent a summer volunteering at a retirement home.
-awards: I have awards in music, athletics, and academics.
-I served an internship one summer at a college doing research in environmental science
-URM
-female
-low income
-first generation college
-I really am interested in environmental science/engineering.
-i live in California
Pleaaaase help me find colleges! I'm pretty open to any suggestions and would greatly appreciate the help :) thanks!</p>
<p>Okay, I have my own spiel that others on CC might disagree with, but here goes. You will be applying to colleges in the fall. You should take the SAT/ACT again, by all means, but you need to build a list of colleges based on your existing scores and your actual GPA. I recommend ignoring everyone who advises you to “study hard and aim for a 2100 next time around.” If your scores rise substantially, you might be able to make some minor adjustments. You could remove one super-safety from your list, for example, or go ahead and apply to that school where you were previously 100 points below the 25th percentile - it will still be a reach, but not a completely impossible one. Do you want to remain in California? Your stats are low for most of the UCs, but Merced, Riverside, and possibly UCSC might be feasible. You ought to have a decent shot at a number of Cal. State campuses, Whittier, et al. If you want to go outside of CA, you will need to research colleges that are very generous with scholarships to URMS. They are often small, rural colleges in areas without large non-white populations to draw from for campus diversity. You can also consult lists of test-optional colleges.Since you are low-income, and will require a lot of aid, public universities outside of California probably aren’t your best bet. You are also likelier to find specialized, individual attention at smaller colleges. I know that there are a number of small, faith-based colleges on the West Coast, but don’t know enough about them to make specific recommendations. They are often very nurturing to students in circumstances like yours. </p>
<p>Since you are in CA, your likely best option financially is to try for a UC because they give such great aid to low income. Since it is only one application you can apply to quite a few. If you write a really good essay you may have a decent chance. UC won’t count URM, but they will count first gen and low income and overcoming family circumstances and the essay asks about ‘your world’, so you have a chance to show what you had to deal with. Also they don’t count freshman grades so your grades look good except I don’t know if you have the rigor that gives you UC weighting. Did you calculate your UC gpa? Although your scores aren’t much above average UC don’t count them as much as comparable privates.</p>
<p>You may get 4 free applications from UC, depending on income. I’d apply to Merced, Riverside, UCSC, UCSB, Davis, Irvine I guess. Which do you live near?</p>
<p>If you retake SAT be sure to prep. Read Silverturtle’s advice pinned to the top of the SAT-Preparation forum. Watch the Khan academy free videos. I don’t know that you can expect too much better though people sometimes do. Do you get accommodations for your hand problem?</p>
<p>Then there is CSU do you live near any that are commuting distance? Calgrant will cover most of your tuition if your income is low enough.</p>
<p>I don’t see you getting too many private options where you can afford it because of the SAT. You could try some but I don’t know about the major. But there may be some free tuition colleges for you in oos locations-- check the financial aid forum, pinned to the top, Automatic Full and Half Tuition Scholarships.</p>
<p>If UCR is affordable and your GPA >= 3.9, sign up during June 16th-July 31st at <a href=“New Students | Apply | Undergraduate Admissions | UC Riverside”>https://vcsaweb.ucr.edu/gap/index.aspx</a> for guaranteed admission to UCR (you must then include UCR in your regular UC application).</p>
<p>Regarding your GPA, it probably uses UC admissions GPA (which is 10th-11th grade, with +1 for up to 8 semesters’ worth of honors courses; see <a href=“http://doorways.ucop.edu”>http://doorways.ucop.edu</a> for the list of such courses at your high school). You can email the UCR admissions office to ask whether this is the case.</p>
<p>^^ yeah, I always forget about that. The 3.9 IS weighted</p>
<p>Earn a minimum (weighted) 3.9 GPA in all “a-g” coursework (and maintain academic excellence as a senior).</p>
<p>Score at least 1600 on the SAT Reasoning exam or 23 on the ACT Plus Writing. SAT Subject exams are not required, but can be a bonus.</p>
<p>Wisewalnut, calculate that gpa and definitely do this!</p>
<p>Thank you guys so much! I calculated my Uc GPA and its like a 3.85. Also I knoooow my sat is super low but it will definitely be a lot higher. A few months before I took the sat my medical condition appeared to have almost disappeared and on practice tests I was consistently scoring like 1760 w/o studying…then about a month before I took the sat my pain levels rose incredibly high and I was taking sat prep and scored 1500 on a practice test 
so to day the least I was slightly relieved with the 1670 (yet still disappointed :/) after the summer I believe I will be totally healed up and I’ll be taking sat prep so my scores will be 20x better… Thanks again 
</p>
<p>Also I tried finding a CSU I might like but I just can’t feel the connection 
but I definitely feel connected to UCs</p>
<p>Sorry another quick question: if I get waitlisted from a UC would they look at my first semester senior grades? Is that how that works?</p>
<p>A lot of my daughter’s friends who did SAT prep didn’t increase scores more than the average reported of 20 or 30 pts. There have been some amazing progress reported on the SAT forum from self studies but that’s the exception.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about waitlist, UC doesn’t use it much I don’t know why you would be worrying about that now. All colleges will look to see that you are taking an aggressive Sr year schedule.</p>
<p>How will you afford to be away at CSU? Does your family have college money? </p>
<p>Any increase in SAT scores will be cause for cheers. A 100+ increase in your composite will be thrilling; probability for increases beyond that decline sharply. You cannot count on breaking 1800; you should be delighted if you do, but don’t use that as a working number when you are calculating your chances. The number you need to work with is the number you have. A score of 1800 will not get you into the top tier of UCs; it might improve your chances at a few more schools. You have not attained that score, though, and you will be in trouble if you haven’t identified colleges you are confident of getting into with your existing score. </p>
<p>@woogzmama my counselor graphed me on naviance and I have found schools that I have a decent chance of being accepted to. I know my sat will definitely be above 1800. @BrownParent I have a college fund but there’s not much in there. When my family faced serious financial issues we had to use it to keep us afloat and unfortunately it hasn’t been built back up. I can definitely afford CSU. And sorry I didn’t mean to say wait listed from a UC, I just meant colleges in general but thank you so much! Also I know sat prep isn’t going to be a major booster but it definitely helps to show me how to focus on my weaknesses. Thank you so much guys :)</p>
<p>And when my counselor graphed me she graphed me with my current sat score</p>
<p>If you are going to be applying RD to colleges, they are going to look at your 1st semester Sr year grades. CSUs run about 23k a year, so did you run any Net Price Calculator to see what the cost would be to your family, to get an idea if you get enough aid? Or are you saying you still have almost 100,000 in your college account?</p>
<p>@BrownParent I have not done that yet, but I’ve talked to my parents and the tuition for CSUs are cheaper than it costs to go to me current school so my family is not too worried about it. Also I plan to apply to a lot of scholarships. I wish I had 100,000 in my college account! ahaha</p>
<p>Ok because I thought you were low income, so I am surprised you could afford an away CSU. you Pell Grant eligible? Are you Calgrant eligible? How much are your parent prepared and able to pay each year without counting any scholarship? These are important considerations. Most scholarships come from private colleges that give it for 4 years. Outside scholarships can help with 1,000 here or there but usually are just for one year. You need a 4 year plan. </p>
<p>I just want to remind you that, according to College Board’s own statistics (and they have a vested interest in encouraging students to re-test as many times as possible), 55% of students who took the SAT as juniors and re-take the test as seniors, will see an increase in test scores. That’s the good news. The bad news is that 35% of students’ scores go down, and 10% remain the same. The sobering news is that, for the 55% whose scores go up, the average 3-score increase is 40 points. That means that only 27.5% of seniors will have a composite score increase of more than 40 points. No student should presume that he or she is the only one who will prep for tests. Everyone taking the test a second time wants to do better. The simple, inescapable fact is that a 100+ increase is statistically improbable. Both of my sons did it, so they were lucky, but you should not presume that it is a certainty until you have the scores in hand. </p>
<p>@BrownParent I am low income but you are absolutely correct. One of my goals this summer is to formulate a plan for how I will afford college for state schools, private schools,aand OOS public schools. When my parents are available I will definitely sit them down and talk to them about these things @woogzmama I know that applies to the average student but since I took it while being unable to perform my best, I know I will do a lot better. I know I will be healed by october </p>
<p>@woogzmama but don’t worry in my colleges searching I’m using my actual sat score</p>
<p>Well you can pretty much forget about OOS publics, except the list of automatic merit aid. Why would you pay a premium to go out of state to a college when you don’t have money? We have every qualify to match instate. Hell apply to UCB, UCLA and UCSD if you want, you will at least be able to pay for it. with the instate packages. OOS saves their money for their own state students (except UVA an UNC very hard to get into.)</p>
<p>OK, look into applying to Questbridge. They don’t give scholarships but they partner with a lot of colleges that offer full rides. If you are a finalist, you get the option to try for one of those. Even if you don’t choose that option (called Match) your Questbridge application can go along with your regular application and it can get you extra consideration as it is more detailed and gives you opportunity to talk more about your background. I think the top end of those partner colleges are going to be too big of a reach for you. But they will all give you free applications and you can try a few. But the others, which are still all excellent colleges, every single one (if you haven’t explored too much you may not heard of some), may take a chance on you with your very strong upward trend in grades. I’m afraid lack of rigor may hurt you though, since it didn’t look like you took honors or advanced. Those are all ‘meets needs’ schools I’m pretty sure. In any case, the QB application is long and detailed and you need to do it over the summer.
<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/”>http://www.questbridge.org/</a></p>
<p>Run the FAFSA forcaster to see if you will get a Pell Grant or not.
<a href=“https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1”>https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1</a></p>
<p>@BrownParent thank you so much! Junior year I had 3 honors/ap and senior year I have 6 honors/ap</p>