Chance me: CA senior, 3.83 GPA, 1430 SAT, 31 ACT, Liberal Arts or Business, <$50K

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics

  • US domestic
  • State/Location of residency: California
  • Type of high school: Public High School (3,000 students)
  • White Male
  • Other special factors 3 year varsity Water Polo (starting goalie), varsity swim

Intended Major(s) UNDECIDED. Liberal Arts (History/Classics) or Business. Would prefer to go in undeclared but for schools requiring major will probably choose liberal arts track due to weak math and strong english/humanities

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.83
  • Weighted HS GPA 4.1 (4.24 for CA - doesnā€™t include 9th grade)
  • Class Rank: School doesnā€™t publish this or disclose it
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1430 SAT (760 Verbal; 670 Math); ACT 31

Coursework
Through Junior Year: 3 APs; 2 Honors; 1 Dual Enrollment class. Senior year taking 4 APs + Latin 5
*highest math was Algebra II and taking AP Stats this year (NO calculus. Not interested in STEM but still not great on the math front)

Awards
NHS
California Scholarship Federation
Water Polo Academic All-American
Swim Team Most Improved sophomore year

Extracurriculars
Co-Founder of school Adventure Club (backpacking) and have led multi-day backpacking trips
4 years sports (varsity Water Polo and varsity Swim)
Starting goalie for L.A. club water polo team
3 years work experience (camp counselor, swim instructor, Lifeguard)
Latin Club
lots of volunteer work (nursing homes, preschool, environmental)
Fly fisher and birder

Will have strong letters of Rec and good essays

Cost Constraints / Budget
< $50K

Reach
University of Georgia
William and Mary
Wake Forest
Florida State
Wake Forest
Cal Poly SLO

Target
Auburn
Clemson
Virginia Tech
Penn State

  • Likely *
    Tennessee
    Southern Methodist Uni
    Pepperdine

Safety
University of New Hampshire
UNC Wilmington
University of Utah
Arizona State
University of Oregon

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Looking at your past threads, I canā€™t tell if you are the student or the parent.

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Iā€™m a student.

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Assuming youā€™re not swimming in college:

Your safeties are that.

Your likelies are that. However, SMU is $86K and Pepperdine is $96K. I donā€™t see you getting to cost so if it were me, Iā€™d factor that in. Iā€™m not going. But determine if it is possible.

Clemson is $60K, Va Tech is $59K, and Penn State is $52K. If you get in to any, youā€™re unlikely to get aid - maybe Clemson. I say you get into 1-2 of these four but only Auburn affordable.

Reach - agreed (you have WF) twice. Do you have demonstrated need - that could help with Wake. Otherwise, itā€™s cost is $75,474.

W&M is $67.5K.

FSU is affordable as likely will be UGA.

Cal Poly is affordable.

So you have a lot of schools that will not be affordable - so letā€™s look at your list and not sure how you picked it out.

The most commonality I see is UGA, Va Tech, Clemson, and PSU - in my mind, very similar as large, expansive campuses. But theyā€™re also big football schools. I would add U of Alabama and the Culverhouse B School - another sprawling campus but less so like a UGA, Va Tech - and with the 1430, you get $28K off $33K tuition and itā€™s low $20s a year for you total. This is perhaps why more than 1100 Californians are there. Also, look at Mizzou and U of Arizona and its Eller school (vs. ASU) - which would cost you under $40K a year.

Finally, for a safety admissions wise if I have my #s right but will need merit but it is possible - elite business school Indiana Kelley. You would be direct admit with your GPA and ACT or SAT. About $58K but merit possible to get to that # and if you decide not to go business, then itā€™s social sciences like poli sci and international relations are strong too. Itā€™s a reach level school (for business) thatā€™s a safety admission wise for you.

Other thoughts - I see SMU and Pepperdine - Iā€™m going to go non-religious as possible - but would a U Denver work here? American U could work but unlikely. How about a Butler U type of school that could get there with merit or a Quinnipiac.

I see UTK - and I wonder about U of SC, U Kentucky and the very good Walton School at U of Arkansas - all schools in a city with Arkansas being a bit smaller.

I see Auburn and to me the match is Mississippi State - an admission and financial safety.

Wake Forest - Iā€™d look at Furman for admission and cost success as a sub.

Best of luck to you.

I like your list - but itā€™s not set up for your $50K target so hopefully I helped with that with some sub schools.

But there are many options for you.

Good luck

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thanks you so much, this is really helpful. Itā€™s hard to understand which schools really give aid and which donā€™t. Auburn and UGA are actually my #1s. I toured them both and loved them. Grandfather and Great grandfather went to Auburn so itā€™s very much a family school (Iā€™d be crucified if I went to Alabama). I know UGA is a long shot, but I would be thrilled if I got into Auburn. It seems like Iā€™m right on the edge. I will definitely look at some of these other schools you listed, many of them i know nothing about. Thanks

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What an exciting time as youā€™re going through the college search and application process! You have good scores and GPA and your longevity and commitment to water polo and swimming are great.

Does your family qualify for any need-based aid? Your family may want to run the Net Price Calculator (NPC) at Wake Forest and Southern Methodist to see. If not, then I would strongly consider removing these schools, as I suspect they are unlikely to provide you sufficient merit aid to bring the price within budget:

That leaves you with your list looking like this

Reach
University of Georgia: About $42k

Florida State: About $31k
Cal Poly SLO: About $27k

Target
Auburn: $48k
Clemson: About $52k
Virginia Tech: About $48k
Penn State: About $52k

  • Likely *
    Tennessee: About $43k

Safety
University of New Hampshire: About $51k
UNC Wilmington: About $34k
University of Utah: About $25k (using WUE-rate)
Arizona State: About $46k

Iā€™ll defer to @ucbalumnus or @Gumbymom with respecting to chancing you for Cal Poly-SLO. For Virginia Tech, you can see admissions rates by major, sex, race, etc here: https://udc.vt.edu/irdata/data/students/admission/index#college.

I would look very carefully at each school when deciding what to do. At some schools the business school is very popular and an only be entered in through freshman admission, or through a very difficult process after admission. Other colleges itā€™s much easier. At any college youā€™re thinking about, I would recommend applying for the harder major to get, as itā€™s much easier to switch into the humanities/social sciences than to switch into business.

Thereā€™s no need to apply to a ton of schools if you have some clear #1s. If you apply very early to Auburn, you can be among the earlier sets of people to get a response. And the longer you wait to apply, the lower your chances will get. But you do need to make sure you have at least one sure thing on your list that is extremely likely to be affordable, accept you, and that youā€™d be happy to attend for four years. So long as you have at least one of those, anything else is lagniappe.

Edit:

If you search the schoolā€™s name and ā€œmerit scholarshipsā€ it will usually take you to their page with that kind of information. Additionally, some Net Price Calculators, if it asks for your academic stats, will also indicate the minimum amount of merit aid you should expect. Another tool is to use the schoolā€™s Common Data Set (search ā€œSchool Nameā€ and ā€œCommon Data Setā€ to find them). Section H2A will give details on the number of students without financial need who received scholarships and the average amount of scholarships. (A CDS also provides lots of info on admissions data, faculty, majors, class sizes, etc.) Lastly, this site aggregated the merit aid info for a number of schools, which can be a fast way to get an idea of how much merit aid a school might give: Merit Aid by Institution ā€“ College Transitions. Of course, itā€™s always best to verify from the collegeā€™s own CDS, but this is a quick tool.

Edit 2: You donā€™t need any other schools, but as a fly fisherman, have you thought about U. of Montana? I always think of that and A River Runs Through It (about a family of fly fishermen), and as WUE school, itā€™d definitely be within budget.

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Business majors at many colleges do require calculus, although a less rigorous calculus for business majors course is commonly offered.

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I donā€™t mind taking calculus in college, i just worry that not having it in high school could hurt me with admissions to a business majorā€¦? But I am taking AP Stats

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I live in TN and call on the state. Thereā€™s lots of split families. You have to leave that at the door. Bama is 25-30k under budget. People understand. A business I call on is owned by a Bama legend. Lots of Auburn people work for him.

Bama is more like UGA than Auburn is. If you like Auburn, Miss State is a financial and admission safety. Itā€™s inexpensive. To me, they feel like a pair. Auburn is a risk.

A UGA / Auburn combo may leave you either with no admission or over $50k. UGA Terry, if you do business, is not direct admit. So you get in - and have to get it in again. Do you want a non direct admit school ?

When it comes time to choosing colleges - the reality of admission and cost must prevail over rivalry. Youā€™ll start a new trend.

People in my MBA at ASU came from U of A. At Syracuse, I know people who went to IU and Auburn - both no no based on sports. Bama and Auburn - well one will 100% admit you at half your budget. The other will be a tougher admit and if you get in, may not make budget. At some point you need to be realistic. In life people are realistic.

If they donā€™t work, add schools like Mizzou, Kansas for more cheap safetiesā€¦Ole Miss, etc.

If UGA and Auburn are your two top, then why WF, Pepperdine and SMU?

You can see how many get aid in the Common Data Set but forgetting that, your most important schools are not UGA and Auburn or SMU or Wake.

Your most important school is the assured admit and assured affordable. So thatā€™s your Bama, Miss State, Arkansas, Mizzou, U of A, Ole Miss, KU, UC or CSU types. You list UTAH and UNH too. Theyā€™ll fit here - UNH is vastly different vs the rest of your list. This sort of list matters more than the schools youā€™d like to attend. Choose the right ones because they may be where you end up.

Likely cost wise and some likely admit wise ahd some not - Auburn, ASU, FSU,U of SC, UTK, Miami Ohio for other types.

Reach - UGA but will be right at budget without merit, IU - may or may not make cost with merit but itā€™s an admission safety and top b school, UF could be another.

Make sense? Thereā€™s many flags on homes with Bama/Auburn splits - half each. Not telling you to go but your reason is a poor one IMHO for not looking at it especially given the types of schools on your list. But there are lots of others you can choose that while not as cheap, will be that admission and financial safety. Thatā€™s the school you need to pay attention to most in choosing.

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Math through algebra 2 plus a course with algebra 2 as a prerequisite fulfills ASUā€™s math requirement, according to https://admission.asu.edu/apply/first-year/competency-requirements . ASUā€™s business majors ( https://degrees.apps.asu.edu/bachelors/major-list/interest-area/04 ) require ā€œ1230 SAT Reasoning OR 25 ACT score, OR graduated in the top 8% of high school class, OR an overall high school GPA of 3.40 in ASU competency courses (scale is 4.00 = ā€œAā€)ā€ for frosh admission. So thereā€™s a safety if you can afford it. However, the business majors do require a calculus course (an easier one for business majors).

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You need to calculate your Cal Poly SLO GPA which is 9-11th a-g grades with a maximum 8 semester honors point cap for qualified courses taken 10-11th grades.

Use the CSU GPA calculator and include 9th grades.

Guesstimated admit rate for History at SLO is around 50% if you are using a 33% yield. For this major, SLO could be a Match/High Match

Guesstimated admit rate for Business Admin at SLO is around 24% so the would go in the Low Reach/Reach category.

Changing majors at SLO is possible but they do have consider if you were qualified for the new major at time of your Freshman admission. This keep students from back dooring into more competitive majors later.

With only 1 California school on your list, you might want add a few more for affordability purposes.

Middle 50% SLO GPA admitted range for the College of Liberal Arts: 4.00-4.25
Middle 50% SLO GPA admitted range for the College of Business: 4.11-4.25

Best of luck.

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thanks! I just used the calculator and my GPA is 4.24

They are test blind so what else really impacts the decisions?

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Admission selection is listed below:

SLOā€™s admission is mainly stats based and their MCA (MultiCriteria Admission factors) are no longer specifically spelled out but taking a-g courses beyond the minimums were (are?) given extra bonus points (HS course rigor), being within the local admission area, First generation, Veteran Status.

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Will the OP explain why thereā€™s no UC especially since heā€™s from California? Cost wise it makes sense right?

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The only UCs I would want to attend I canā€™t get into. UCs are really a mixed bag. Iā€™d love UCSB but based on the people I know who got rejected last year I donā€™t see the point in applying. I also really prefer to go away for college. Iā€™m tired of California :slight_smile: I put a few on my list just to have a couple local schools but itā€™s not really what I prefer.

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Why not UCR abd UCI - if you want to study business, thatā€™s who has it. Not UCB.

UCs are hard to apply to so I can see not applying but getting rejected somewhere is not a problem. Iā€™m fact I think itā€™s good. But thatā€™s why even though UGA and Auburn are your top schools, they are not most important. Rejection comes both admission and budget wise.

Seems like youā€™re an SEC guy !!! You have some great affordable Big 12 too !!

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I donā€™t know what i want to study. As I said in the OP I am undecided. I am more interested in fit and culture and I have ZERO interest in living in Irvine or Riverside.

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and yes, I think I am an SEC guy :slight_smile: But my mom wants me to have a few CA schools on the list. I do like SLO. Pepperdine was only on the list because my mom went there. I havenā€™t even visited yet and honestly as an L.A. guy I donā€™t really want to go to college a few miles awayā€¦

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Ok. The title says liberal art or business. Thatā€™s where I got that from and keep going there. Sorry.

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Pepperdine = religious.

Lots of great, fun SEC schools will easily hit budget, some more geographically diverse than others because they ā€˜buyā€™ kids in - mainly the one you said is a bad word in your house. But Miss State, Mizzou, Ole Miss too and then others to a lesser extent. Access isnā€™t easy but Arkansas, U of SC, UTK, and UK all have airports within minutes. UF too.

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