I’m applying to these schools from out of state so I’m not a California resident. My parents make around 65k a year and they are both Bosnian refugees who came to the U.S. escaping genocide. I’m a first generation college student and I have an older sister in college who just goes to a state school where I live so she’s a dependent and lives with us along with my younger sister as well. My high school is not really competitive at all and even with my stats I rank top 1% and it’s only a 10-12 school so we don’t have freshmen.
Stats:
GPA: 4.0 UW, my school doesn’t weigh
ACT: 34 composite, 35 English, 31 math, 35 science, 35 reading, 10 writing
AP: 3 human geography, 4 world history, 4 statistics, 4 English language, 5 U.S. history (this year I’m taking chemistry, physics 1, English literature, and American government)
ECs:
key club 10-12, president this year
French honor society 10-12, French club 12
national honor society 11-12
class officer 12
DECA 12
ACS chem club 12, first year for this club at my school
Community service/volunteer work:
volunteering weekly at the humane society since October 2016
tutoring at a local elementary during the 2017-2018 school year
since sophomore year I’ve been helping out in my school’s food pantry
volunteering monthly at the food bank
organizing community cleanups, food drives, and clothing drives
200+ other service hours doing tree plantings, working at the road home, helping out at a local senior center, helping make blankets for primary children’s, and countless of other projects (although I didn’t really mention this all on my application because there wasn’t room for it)
Hooks??
had to learn to speak English in school
family was kicked out of our home in 2011 and we lived in an attic for a year and I didn’t go to school during that time
first gen and immigrant parents
Please be brutally honest if you think I even have a shot at getting accepted because I’m extremely nervous. I did apply to a really good state school where I’m practically guaranteed a full ride on a presidential scholarship because the criteria for that is a 4.0 GPA and at least a 34 ACT. I’m bound to get in and my sister already has a scholarship there so it’s not like these are the only two schools I’m applying to. I consider these UC schools reaches and want to know how likely it is that I’ll be accepted to them so please please be realistic.
As an out of state applicant you will receive little to no financial aid for the UC’s, so expect to pay $65K/year to attend. Since you state your family makes $65K/year these schools are unaffordable.
Run the Net price calculators for UCB and UCLA and you will see that your family will not be able to pay for these schools.
Overall you are a competitive applicant and your story is very compelling but UC’s give good need-based aid to in-state students only.
I suggest since you have competitive stats that you look at some California private schools that will give you some need-based and merit aid such as the Claremont Colleges (Pitzer, Pomona, Claremont McKenna), University of San Diego, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, USC, Occidental to name a few.
Best of luck and consider UCB/UCLA for Graduate school instead. Getting a full ride at your state school is huge and the UC’s are not worth going into debt.
Are you aware that the UC schools have almost NO financial aid for out of state students? Is there a way for your family to afford the ~$65,000 annual cost of tuition, room and board? Plus transportation, incidentals, … with your stats, I suspect you have a good chance of being accepted, but it’s not clear that your family can afford for you to attend.
Please be sure to apply widely, and if California is where you really want to move, consider it after you graduate. Good luck.
What state are you from? If Missouri (guessing since you’re Bosnian and St. Louis has a large Bosnian population). Mizzou will give you a good aid package.
Thank you so much for all of your replies. I’m actually living in Utah right now so I would be going to the University of Utah if I did go to a state school but the student life there is almost nonexistent and that wouldn’t be something that I’d enjoy since I do love being involved. The only other Utah school I would consider would be Utah State since the others do not have the best chemistry programs. I have really been contemplating the costs associated with going out of state and it does scare me because I don’t want that to be something that stops me from going to school where I would like to. I’m looking into California in particular because I have plans to live there when I’m older and I figured it would be nice to start out there now. I also would love to apply to a lot more schools but I hate asking my parents to pay the application fees (I don’t have a job because my parents have always stressed that they never want me to have to work hard in life like they have had to). If anyone has any particular suggestions of schools they think would be a great fit I’m open to all suggestions. I currently plan on majoring in chemistry with business as an alternate or minor. After graduating, I’m looking to go into law school to then pursue a career in patent law. I’m just trying to find the perfect fit right now so any guidance is appreciated.
Since you are in Utah, consider looking into schools that are a part of WUE. That could help you get closer to, or even in California. Unfortunately, UCLA and UCB are not part of that program.
I would suggest Washington University in St. Louis. Large Bosnian population, pretty involved student life, and good for both Chemistry and Business.
Given that you’re first generation and your academics fit very well, you will likely get a good merit package should you decide to apply and are accepted.
Your opinion of the University of Utah is really not accurate at all. I’m sure there are commuter students who don’t have much involvement in student life but if you live on campus it’s a different matter. The grass always seems greener elsewhere but your stats will likely get you a full tuition scholarship (or better) there as you already know. Take that and save money for grad school.
If you want some lottery tickets apply to Stanford and some Ivies or other top “meets full need” private schools, not the UCs. That’s probably the only way to get better value for money than the U of U and your story may be a good hook for some of those schools.
FWIW my daughter turned down Berkeley and UCLA to attend Utah. She loves it and is convinced she made the right decision. She has a great social life there and her largest class is ~30 students. And even though we are in-state for the UCs she is saving $20K per year compared to her brother at UCLA.
@Twoin18 thank you so much for the advice. I’ll definitely apply to one or two private schools because you’re absolutely right that I shouldn’t be throwing out so much money to go to schools where I could receive the same education elsewhere for free. Also, that’s the opinion of the U that I have gotten from friends going there now and teachers who have graduated from there, but maybe it is just based on personal involvement and how willing you are to participate in events. Thankfully I still have time to submit more applications at this point.
@Hamurtle I have received emails and mail from WashU but it’s just not somewhere I would like to go. Too far from home and I don’t have any family that I personally know there (I’m sure my parents know people there but there’s no one I’m familiar with). There are lots of clusters of Bosnians throughout the U.S. you may not know about. There’s a pretty big population in Waterloo, Iowa where I have a lot of relatives and also Atlanta, Georgia. I also have family and cousins in San Fransico so Cal Berkeley would’ve been pretty close to them.