Hi! This is my first post ever on CC, so please bear with me.
I would like to be chanced for universities!
Here are my stats and background:
Background: During my freshman year of HS, I received two back to back severe concussions and medically suffered from them until the final few months of sophomore year, and then my dad died right after during summer before junior year. I felt like I needed to escape so I took some online classes and graduated early with the minimum amount of credits. That was last year. After graduating, I enrolled in community college and my goal was to transfer at the same time as my friends (who are seniors now) and get my life on track. I decided I wanted to double major in philosophy and political science. I took 6 units over summer, then 31 over fall, and 27 right now; 64 total.
AP Scores: 4 AP lang, 3 AP Spanish, 3 AP gov, 3 APUSH, 3 AP euro
SAT subjects: all sub 600; literature, history, spanish
SAT: 1330
HS GPA: 2.4-2.5 unweighted, 3.1 weighted
College GPA 3.81 w/cc honors classes and I have all A’s this semester
Already gotten into: Cal, UCLA, Davis, Irvine, UCSB, and UCSD (today)
Rejected: NYU
Waiting on: (Applied into Philosophy as Primary, Poli Sci as Secondary): Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, Duke, Johns Hopkins, and USC
What are my chances at getting into any of these privates? I feel like my HS experience puts me at a severe disadvantage compared to people who are also applying and the typical 17 year old.
There is no way for us to predict this kind of thing, sorry.
Your chances at Harvard and Princeton are very nearly zero, but you already knew that. They admit very few transfers. If your CC regularly sends transfers to Columbia, Duke, JHU, or USC, then the transfer advisor there can give you a notion about your chances.
Can you affo any of the UCs that have admitted you? If so, congratulations! You have a place to go to next fall!
@happymomof1 I did this months ago and was actually told by my counselor to see what a larger consensus had to say about Columbia, Duke, and JHU because my cc is notorious for pushing people out as fast as possible into the CSU system, not really helping people to dream bigger. He also noted USC will likely accept me because I am from a cc with a good gpa in a low enrollment major there.
About the UCs, I applied originally because I knew they were great schools, but from every impression I have been imparted with, it seems going to a private during undergraduate serves someone far better for a plethora of reasons. It is not that I do not want to attend a UC or even dislike UCs, but I have long term career goals that would benefit from a more individualized undergraduate program.
I only applied to USC for privates in California. I looked at CalTech; did not want to go there. I looked at Stanford; want to go there for graduate school so I know I should not go undergrad. Also looked at pepperdine, but my extended family has ties with pepperdine, and I do not want an acceptance to be anything but my own merit.
For my career, I want to become a cardio-thoracic surgeon or maybe go into the legal side of biotech. It depends on where I go. If I go to any private (excluding Hopkins), I am going to double major in philosophy and bioengineering (or bme depending on the school), with a minor in CS. Hopkins would be a double major in cs and philosophy plus their bioethics masters. If I go to a UC, it’s a double major in philosophy and political science, with 3 new languages.
If Pepperdine has the program you really want, not applying there because of the family contacts is just plain stupid. Yes, your admission might be very slightly easier if you are a legacy, but once you are there whether you finish or not is entirely up to you.
Congratulations on some great admissions into the UCs! The CA CC system is working just the way it should with you.
With transfers, there is no telling what your acceptances will be. You know the most selective schools are lottery tickets at best. JHU as a philosophy major looks possible to me. I have no feeling about USC admissions.
You are prepared to pay for these colleges? It’s going to be a step up in costs.
I think you are in a good place right now. I can see why you would prefer a private college as crossing the lines from your humanities major to taking premed courses could be a challenge st the UCs. I’m a bit concerned with your transition into the sciences since your background courses give no indication of strength in the STEM areas. Hopefully, you’ve taken and excelled in early college courses in this area.
@happymomof1 you’re probably right that it was stupid(ish), but it is in the past and I don’t regret not applying.
@cptofthehouse Thank you! Yeah you are very much correct int he notion of it being like a lottery ticket. So far I have been rejected from columbia, Harvard, and Princeton in the last 2 days which has really bummed me out. I am hoping Duke, JHU, or USC takes a chance on me.
In regards to paying, I will most likely have to take on a little debt like most people, but I plan to get a job and my mo says she will contribute if I go to a university she likes. Concerning transitions to the sciences, I took general chemistry in fall (received an A), Marine Biology (Honors and have an A currently), and Honors Astronomy (received a B but my teacher screwed our class). I also placed into Calc 1 I am pretty sure. Do you think going deeper into STEM will be a problem?
Sidenote: I am in logic right now and have an A, it seems like a STEM-ish class even though it is philosophy.