Chance me for UCs, CSUs, privates

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Middle-class Asian female in SoCal, moderately competitive public school

Intended Major: linguistics w/ minors in poli sci and/or CS? idk

GPA- massive downward trend (yikes) → somewhat less massive upward trend
Freshman year: 3.8, Sophomore year: 3.35 uw, 3.64 w, had 3 c’s and multiple b’s w/ literally no extenuating circumstances, Junior year: 3.9 uw , 4.7 w (1 b in second semester junior year which is literally the worst time to be getting b’s yeah ik)
Cumulative: 3.65 uw, 4.0 w (oof), UC gpa: 3.92

Test scores
APs: Chem (3), APUSH, Lang, Calc AB, Bio, Macro (senior year), Stats (senior yr), Gov (senior year), Lit (senior year)
SAT: 1540, ACT: 35, Subject Tests: Korean (790), Chem (770), USH (TBD) , Literature (TBD)
PSAT: 224 but probably won’t make NMF due to grades

ECs: no leadership positions at all -.-
Track-3-4 years, hopefully 4
100+ hrs of community service from sophomore year on
NHD- 1 yr
A bunch of clubs that I really didn’t do anything in
Trying to get a summer job atm
Might start a blog + pursue some other hobbies over the summer

Essays/letters of recs: I don’t have any high expectations for my essays but my LORs shouldn’t be that bad

Here’s my extremely unrealistic college list:
UCs (SD, I, SB, D, SC)
CSUs (Fullerton + SDSU)
U of Delaware
USC (lol)
Purdue
BC
BU
Northeastern
Brandeis
UofR
Minnesota
Tulane??
Syracuse
CMU (lol)
Pitt
LACs like Pitzer, Scripps, Carleton, Macalester, Bryn Mawr etc w/ a solid linguistics program and FA

Also please reverse chance me for medium-sized (about 2,000-30,000 ppl) matches and safeties in the Northeast and CA that give out generous FA and merit scholarships; my parents can pay for slightly less than half of our EFC (EFC is around 20k, parents only willing to pay ~10k at most but I can take out loans and work) so that’s an issue as well. Thank you c:

2

CSU Fullerton and San Diego State are definitely possible due to your excellent SAT score. What is your local Cal State since this would make a good safety school and consider adding UCR to the list. They can be very generous with FA and has a good Poly Sci and CS programs.

The UC’s will be tough since they are far more GPA focused vs. test focused so UCSC looks solid. UCI/UCD and UCSB could be possible and UCSD will be a Reach.

Your UW GPA for USC will be an issue but they tend to like high test scores so with excellent LOR’s and essays, it might be enough for consideration.

I cannot comment on any of the other schools, but you might want to look at University of Redlands, University of San Diego and possibly St Marys College of California for merit. For Scripps and Pitzer, your GPA will be a stumbling block but worth an application.

I would run the Net Price calculators (NPC) on colleges of interest.

Best of luck and a great academic recovery.

3

@Gumbymom Thank you for your suggestions! CSUF and SDSU are my local Cal States.

4

You can only have 1 local CSU based on your HS location. SDSU no longer gives local preference to applicants but CSUF does.

Here is the local service area instructions to determine which CSU is local: https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/freshman/documents/csulocaladmission-serviceareas.pdf

5

You have a great attitude, perspective, and sense of humor - I’m confident that you’re going to go far!

However, that 10K gap between your EFC and your actual budget is going to slash your realistic college list way, way down. Yes, you’ve got some good merit aid schools on that list… but merit money and need-based aid are not going to “stack.” If you get a merit award, it’s going to get swallowed into your financial aid package, and your out-of-pocket will remain at your EFC. And a realistic contribution from working is already going to be figured in. So, this is tough.

I would tend to urge you toward universities that offer full-ride automatic merit for your stats, such as the University of Alabama. However, the overlap between the full-ride schools and schools with substantial undergraduate offerings in linguistics is… zero as far as I can tell so far, though maybe someone else knows of one…?

What I really might do in your situation is to identify the best possible CC-to-UC pathway, both academically and experience-wise. To give one example, you could secure housing in one of the privately-owned dormitory communities in Isla Vista http://www.sbcc.edu/housing/Dorm_Stryle_Living.php and do your AA in PoliSci or Anthro in the Honors College at SBCC http://www.sbcc.net/honors/ , taking Intro Linguistics at SBCC and taking additional open-enrollment Ling classes at UCSB in the summers… and then transfer seamlessly to UCSB and graduate with a UC degree, having saved many thousands on tuition along the way. I chose the Santa Barbara example because I think there is more social blending between the UC and CC communities in Isla Vista than in any of the other UC communities… but Berkeley City College, Irvine Valley College, Sacramento City College (which has a satellite campus in Davis) and… I don’t know, what’s close to UCSD?.. you get the idea. Something to think about, as you’re going to have a tough time making four years at a UC add up financially even if you can get accepted to your desired program. In the long run, you might end up with greater opportunities for less money by going CC-to-UC than by starting and finishing at CSU. There are many fine CSU programs, but often it’s difficult to graduate in four years and the costs end up adding up, even though it looks like the affordable route up-front. Just an option to ponder.

I hope you continue to update on how things turn out for you!

6

UCs (SD, I, SB, D, SC) Probably not
CSUs (Fullerton + SDSU) Almost certainly
USC (lol) Probably
Purdue Almost Certainly

I don’t know the rest but would suggest you add UCSC, UCR LMU, Santa Clara and USD to your ap list.

Good luck.

7

Bump

8

Why is USC “lol?” Does she mean University of South Carolina? If not then the chances of being a USoCal admit would be even slimmer than the UCs’ “probably not” as you listed.

As for Purdue, it generally is easier to get into, but for CS and Engineering it is actually quite competitive.

9

UCI, SD, SB is within reach, at my kid’s HS in NoCal we had plenty of kids get into those schools with lower stats. But then again my kid got waitlisted for I and SD with 4.05/SAT 1540/ACT 35 so you never know.

Northeastern pretty much gave my D a full ride 2 years ago (also a K girl) with very similar stats. She applied ED.

Your two lol schools surprisingly you might have a better chance than you think. Apply ED.

You should be able to be NMSF which will help your cause even if you have no chance for NMF.

10

I can’t speak to the UCs and CSUs, but I live in Delaware, and based on the SATs and GPA splits plus your ECs, I would give you a favorable chance of getting into UD. UD Honors may be stretching it a little, but still within the realm of possibility. GL!

11

@Skadamoosh I meant that I didn’t think I had a chance at USC or CMU.