<p>Hi Reach: None.
Reach: UCB, UCLA.
Match or Semi-Reach: UCSD.
Lo Match or Good Fit: UCD, UCSB, Pepperdine, UCI.
Likely: UCSC.
Safety: UCR.</p>
<p>–An obvious way to cut down on your apps is to apply to only 2 of your Low Matches, but note that Pepperdine has a slightly lower admit rate.
–UCLA is a borderline Match (Semi-Reach) for you, between UCB and UCSD.
–UCSC is not technically a Safety. What is a Likely? I dont know! Maybe 80% chance of being admitted.</p>
<p>–If you want another Match (Semi-Reach) school, you could find a well-funded private for that category. Id say have a look at Dickinson College ¶. It would fall into this category for you. They have a Business major that combines business, econ, & foreign language. Very good writing programs & study abroad. For a small school its produced plenty of alumni in Journalism and Govt. Interesting location for an aspiring journalist, kind of equidistant to NYC, Philly, and Washington. Use the net price calculator on their website to see what you get, if youre interested. </p>
<p>By the way, the calculators are not the final word in assessing cost. If they admit you, and you can show them that you are really interested in the school (hopefully before they admit you!), you can often squeeze more aid out of them. Well-funded privates, at least.</p>
<p>Have a look at George Washington University (DC). Its also a Match/Semi-Reach for you. They have an Economics major/minor, Business major/minor, Journalism major, Communication major/minor, excellent Language Studies. Pretty much the whole nine yards, right in the heart of Washington. Not many better locations for Journalism.</p>
<p>@Dunboyne thank you! I really appreciate you looking into alternate options for me, and considering the majors offered since you know I’m taking the Econ path, but would like to minor in Journalism and/or a a language in the future. </p>
<p>So far I’ve managed to take off USC and UCR from my list. I’m still finalizing my list, but so far I have SDSU, UCSC, Cal Poly SLO, UCSB, UCD, UCSD, Pepperdine, Syracuse, and still choosing between UCB and UCLA. NYU was originally a dream school of mine, but at $60,000+ and little guarantee of any financial or merit aid, I’m not so sure it’s worth it.</p>
<p>If I’m applying to SDSU, UCSC, Cal Poly SLO, UCSB, UCD, UCSD, UCLA, Pepperdine, Syracuse, NYU, and USC (just received 4 fee waivers from College Board for Common App, so I was able to extend my list) do I have a good amount of safeties, matches, and reaches? I feel like I need one more safety because I’m not sure if SDSU qualifies as one for me.</p>
<p>High Reach (0): n/a
Reach (3): USC, NYU, UCLA.
Match or Semi-Reach (1): UCSD.
Low Match or Good Fit (5): Cal Poly SLO, Pepperdine, UCD, UCSB, Syracuse.
Likely (1): UCSC.
Safety (1): SDSU.</p>
<p>Your stats put you very high for SDSU, but it might be a Likely because of the acceptance rate. Only you can make that call.</p>
<p>If you want to lump your choices into three categories (safety, match, reach) then you have 1:7:3. If you want to categorize them with more detail, you have the list above as an approximation.</p>
<p>With 11 applications, many people might move one or two apps out of the Low Match and use them elsewhere. You could be more aggressive and try to win a place at a better school with another Semi-Reach, or even more aggressive and opt for one High Reach and hope to hit the jackpot. However, how you define High Reach would determine where USC (or UCB) would fall. Many people might believe that only the very selective privates (<15%) would be High Reaches for you, while some might think that USC (UCB) would fall into that category already. Some folks might be even more conservative than you, who knows?</p>
<p>In the end, theres a fair amount of guesswork, and the risk has to be acceptable to you and your parents.</p>
<p>Are there no other Semi-Reaches that interest you?</p>
<p>I know you said you are applying as an economics major, but have you considered journalism? My daughter got accepted into the Annenberg School of communication and journalism at USC with a little bit lower scores and GPA than you. She, too, was editor of the school paper and her essays showed her writing skills. She also interviewed with USC, which probably helped.</p>
<p>@Dunboyne Thank you so much for putting that all in perspective for me! I think I have a lot of low matches/matches because I’m incredibly doubtful of my chances of acceptance. My parents want me to shoot high, and my mom really wants me to apply to Stanford (I know, super high reach). I’m trying to be more realistic, but it’s hard to be when, like you said, there’s a fair amount of guesswork. There aren’t really any other semi-reaches in California that interest me, or at least none that I can think of. Although, I read somewhere that Santa Clara University’s undergrad business program for macroecon is ranked highly. As for the east-coast, I’ve looked into Boston U and GWU and both seem like a great options. Since I’m not from the east coast, I’m not familiar with the surrounding area so I tend to be more attracted to the bigger cities, such as NYC, Chicago, Philly, Boston, etc, compared to cities I’ve never heard of. </p>
<p>@tasmom Wow, that’s very impressive! Journalism was actually my first-choice major for a while now, but I’ve recently changed it to Economics. However, as suggested by Dunboyne, I plan on still minoring in Journalism in case I plan to pursue a career in it (or something along the lines of it) in the future. I heard the Annenberg School is impacted though, so wouldn’t that lower my chances if I were to apply to that?</p>
<p>Try UCLA and UCB since both of them r using one application system. And there is interesting rumor saying like UCLA and UCB each select students that are turned down by the other one :P…UCLA and UCB are both you reach, seriously</p>
<p>tasmom makes a good point about the USC interview. If you’re interested in majoring in a competitive program at any school and want to select it on the app, then consider scheduling an interview if you think you can interview well. It’s one more way that you can stand out. They sometimes claim that interviews don’t make any difference to the success rate in admissions (statistically), but that really depends how you come across in the interview. Good interviewees very likely have a slight admission advantage. Its just another screening tool for the school.</p>
<p>If you can impress them with your interests and are well-spoken, then go for it. If you feel like the interview may hinder your chances (i.e. being indecisive, using a lot of ahhhs and umms!, not researching the program/school), then dont bother. You have to go into it prepared and determined to impress. Dont sweat too much over your choice of major, though. Just be clear about which major to prioritize at each school, how much you want it, and whether an interview might give you an advantage. Journalism, Business, Economics will all get you where you want to be if you have a plan.</p>
<p>It sounds like youre not too keen on adding a lot more risk. Stanford is definitely a High Reach and Im not sure youre going to see the payoff there. Your odds are better for UCB if you wanted to add another Reach. But if you decide to add just a bit more risk then consider eliminating your least favorite Low Match and adding a Match/Semi-Reach. Boston U or GWU might be appealing if youre more interested in larger cities. Dont let that recent financial aid scandal at GWU bother you either, it likely wont affect you now. Be sure to consider the travel costs for eastern schools.</p>
<p>I think you said somewhere that youre re-taking the ACT? If so, then the number of schools in each category might change, depending on your score.</p>
<p>@huntershi Wow, I’ve never heard of that before. I’ll probably end up applying to both. </p>
<p>@Dunboyne If you don’t mind me asking, are you currently a college student? Or graduate? Just wondering, because you have given me great advice thus far! </p>
<p>I’m retaking the ACT in December and hoping for a 30+. The practice tests I took before were actually really good at reflecting my actual score on the ACT (a 29), so I’m going to keep taking those, in addition to the usual studying. I’m trying to do everything I can at this point to increase my chances! So, at the moment that includes perfecting and finalizing my personal statements/writing supplements and then studying for a higher ACT score.</p>