Chance Me for UCLA/USC Please.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a sophomore, and my dream school is UCLA. I know it's kind of too early to chance me, but I just wanted to know your opinions on my chance to even attend this school.</p>

<p>Ethnicity/Gender: Vietnamese American/Male
Income: Single Mother < $17,000
Location: Mississippi
Other: 1st generation to attend college</p>

<p>ACT: 26 (Will definitely bring this up)
SAT:
SAT II Math II:
SAT II US History:
SAT II Biology:
SAT II World History:</p>

<p>Class Rank: 1/300 (300 is estimated)
UW GPA: 4.00
Course Load (All of these courses are either grade requirement or college preparatory that are E-1 credits, which a 100 in the class yields 4.50 QPA versus the standard 4.00 QPA, and E-2 credits, which a 100 in the class yields 5.00 QPA versus the standard 4.00. QPA is used to measure class rank. 7 AP TOTAL):</p>

<p>Freshmen:
-Accelerated English - 100
-Accelerated Geometry - 100
-Accelerated Biology - 100
-Spanish I - 100
-STEM - 100
-Art I - 100
-P.E. - 100
-World Geography - 100
-Mississippi Studies - 99
-Health - 99</p>

<p>Sophomore:
-AP World History (As of the 8th week of school, 100)
-Algebra II (As of the 8th week of school, 100)
-Chemistry (As of the 8th week of school, 100)
-Spanish II (As of the 8th week of school, 100)
-Spanish III (Not taken yet)
-Accelerated English II (Not taken yet)
-Advanced Algebra (Not taken yet)
-Zoology (Not taken yet)</p>

<p>Junior (Not taken yet):
-AP US History
-AP Biology
-AP Language III
-Trigonometry
-Pre-Calculus
-Economics
-Marine Aquatics</p>

<p>Senior (Not taken yet):
-AP US Government
-AP Language IV
-AP Calculus BC
-Calculus
-Physics
-Human Anatomy Physiology
-<strong>One more undecided course</strong></p>

<p>Mississippi Subject Area Testing Program (This is SATP2, not College Board's SAT II):
-Algebra: Perfect Score
-Biology: Perfect Score
-English II: Not taken yet
-U.S. History: Not taken yet</p>

<p>Extra curricular:
-Student Council (9th-Representative, 10th-President)
-Key Club (9th-Member, 10th- Editor)
-Art Club (10th)
-Drama Club (10th)
-Junior Leadership (10th)
-Science Olympiad (10th)
-Math and Science Club (10th)
-Foreign Language Club (10th)
-Beta Club (10th)</p>

<p>Sports:
-None, due to severe myopia (-12.00)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
-None</p>

<p>Community Service:
-Over 60 hours and still adding</p>

<p>Other:
-Trilingual (Spanish, Vietnamese, English)
-Sufficient with Word, Powerpoint, and teaching myself Excel
-Will Self teach myself how to play a piano or guitar
-Will work during summer
-Will intern during summer
-Will perform in community theatre soon
-Will organize community projects soon
-Will study to compete in AMC10 and AMC12
-Will swim junior and senior years</p>

2

<p>Are you a California resident? Oh, wait, I see that you are not.
That makes UCLA, as a non-full pay student, a bit of a stretch. Not that you can’t get in, but it will be harder. </p>

<p>USC, being private, is a whole other ball game. If you can get a National Merit score high enough to be a scholar, there may be some good money there for you. Take the PSAT this year, as a sophomore, and see how you do. (It won’t count.) Then practice again to take it for real as a junior. Score well enough to meet your Mississippi NMSQ score. They will probably love you. :)</p>

3

<p>I will apply for FAFSA, but do you think UCLA will award me based off of merit and aid? I’m trying really hard to compete for UCLA. I think my geography puts me at an advantage as well.</p>

4

<p>No, UCLA doesn’t give merit aid. They are a state supported school, and they only take a percentage of out-of-state kids. Right now they are suffering financially, as are all public schools in California, and they are looking for full-pay OOS students to help their bottom line.
Your geography would help if you were full-pay.</p>

<p>USC gives tons of merit aid. I’d really focus on this school if I were you.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t apply to UCLA, but it’s likely that the cost will be prohibitive if you do get in.</p>

<p>A full tuition scholarship would be very possible at USC if you could be a National Merit Scholar. Very possible. And it’s a great school.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the information, Moonchild! That’s very informative. I know CAL is suffering, but I see people with along the lines of “free ride at UCLA,” and I wonder how they get this full ride.</p>

6

<p>Also, while I say “focus on USC,” don’t take that literally. Just think of it as a really good possibility. If you are set on the sunny coast, you need to look at Pomona College and Claremont McKenna. Both of these schools offer great financial aid (not merit) and they are dynamite colleges.<br>
As a sophomore, keep your options open and don’t get too invested in any one school. With your stats, you will have a lot of opportunities if you do your research and apply where you have a chance of getting admitted, and just as importantly, where you will be able to afford to go.</p>

7

<p>Where do you see “free ride at UCLA?” If you are a poor Californian with super stats, you might get decent financial aid. I’d be very skeptical of anyone who says they have a free ride, however. (Maybe a star quarterback??)</p>

<p>Some of the less exalted UCs will give scholarships to very high stat students that are worth something-full tuition for the tippy top kids. I know Santa Barbara does give some, but they are for in-state kids only.</p>

8

<p>I saw it on Yahoo Answers, but it’s probably inaccurate. Well, I just lost all hope on going to UCLA now. I really don’t want to go elsewhere besides southern California due to its networking and I appreciate the lifestyle there. What can I do now? Regents Scholarship sounds too far out of reach.</p>

9

<p>I think you could get in if you keep it up! :)</p>

10

<p>Thanks you gganesh. Being accepted would make my dream come true but having to pay all expenses is not worth it.</p>

11

<p>Even a Regents at UCLA isn’t much money. Maybe 5K - I think that’s generous. A good friend of Dds was a Regent’s Scholar and was awarded $2500, priority housing and class registration. That’s it. And she was a resident.</p>

<p>There are a lot of good colleges that would love to have someone like you, so don’t be discouraged. You can apply to USC, Pomona, Claremont, and Occidental. These are all private institutions and they are much more likely to give you a financial package you can live with. If you’re looking for business networking, nothing is better than USC in Southern California. If you want a first class education and the possibility of great financial aid, look at the Claremont schools, especially Pomona where they are very generous with aid, and where your state would give you a bit of a boost.<br>
If you turn your nose up at these fine schools just because they’re not UCLA, you are doing yourself a disservice. Many Californians think these schools actually have more to offer than UCLA. Check them out.</p>