Chance me for UCSD & UC Davis please

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Female, middle class, 120k+ income, pretty competitive high school but not extremely so, in-state

Major
UCSD: International Relations - Linguistics
UCD: Linguistics

UCSD: Put Warren as 1st choice (OOPS!), ERC as 2nd choice but I am actually hoping I get ERC because I don’t want to have a STEM concentration, I’m okay with 6th and 7th as well

GPA:
UC GPA: 4.21/3.88
HS GPA: 3.9 (out of 5 which is actually not great)/3.69

SAT/ACT: none, couldn’t take since tests cancelled

AP’s:
Biology (5)
USH (4)
Lang (5)
WH (5)
Spanish (pending)
US Gov (pending)
Stats (not taking)
Lit (not taking)
*school offers 16-20 APs for context

Class rank: 37/731

Extracurriculars:
Volunteered summer after 10th at program at aquarium, 80 hours
Nominated by teacher for 2 week summer internship class with college credit- received an A
Volunteered at local library here and there during sophomore year and junior year (50ish hrs total)
Review college essays online via Collegevine, Super Reviewer status, 50+ essays so far
Culture Club member for 4 years, VIP for 1 year, host exchange students and have cultural awareness presentations
Did choir during 10th grade but quit after

Essays:
Bad. Wrote them last minute. Potentially interesting topics (my synesthesia, transitions to hs) but written poorly. I do not recommend procrastinating. Worst part is I was up until 4am but then they extended the deadline until after I had submitted. They were ok I guess but they just did not sound that good. Scared to read them.

Addtl. Info:
Paying for my own college, parents make too much to qualify for any need based aid so I’m kind of stuck
Homeschooled up until 8th grade- rough transition to hs
Talked teacher into letting me skip a year of Spanish by studying over the summer so I could take AP Spanish (I did)
In Legal Careers Pathway (series of classes) to become a lawyer
Overall upward grade trend- rough start but got straight A’s junior year
9th grade- no advanced classes, 10th- 1 AP class, no honors, a zero period, 11th- 3 AP classes + career class, 12th- 4 AP classes, 1 career class

Summary (strengths & weaknesses):
Strengths: Class rank, uncommon(?) major, in-state applicant, AP scores
Weaknesses: Extracurriculars, essays, coursework

If this helps you estimate, I got accepted to SDSU early and was invited to apply to the honors program (I’m not trying to brag, please don’t take it that way I’m just trying to give context where I got accepted and ik it can vary alot). I heard that CSU is getting less applicants this year though and they don’t require essays. My essays were not good so I’m hoping I can get into either UCSD or UCD because I feel like I fit in the culture better there. SDSU has good academics but has a party reputation and honestly I’m looking for a culture that is more “nerdy” I guess. Ofc stereotypes do not apply to everyone but yeah. Thanks my dude

2

If your parents will not contribute anything, then the chances of being able to attend college in this situation (regardless of admission results) are very low. Looks like you need a full ride merit scholarship, which (if they exist at all at UCSD and UCD) would be a high reach.

3

Based on your posted GPA (if 4.2 is UC capped weighted) along with your profile, you have a good chance at UCD and UCSD.
2019 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCSD: 33%

UCD: 47%

2019 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 4.20 or above capped weighted and not major specific:

UCSD: 71%

UCD: 84%

2020 UC capped weighted GPA averages along with 25th-75th percentile range:

UCSD: 4.16 (4.04-4.28)

UCD: 4.11 (3.97-4.25)

What needs clarification is your financial situation? If your parents income is high enough for you not to qualify for need-based aid, then they are not willing to contribute to your college expenses or have no college fund established for you?

You as a student can only take out a total of $27K for the 4 years in student loans along with any money you earn. Any loan amount above the $27K would have to be taken out by your parents so are they willing to help you?

If you are paying for college on your own, then you need to target schools where your stats will get your significant merit aid and as stated by @ucbalumnus, these schools would be a Reach.

Are you local to SDSU? Being local and commuting would make this school affordable if you take out the Federal student loans along with summer work earnings since tuition is around $7500/year.

For the UC’s, you are looking at around $14K for tuition and add in room/board, you are looking at a price tag in the $30K range.

I wish you the best, but the reality is most students cannot afford college without help from their parents. Community college for 2 years and then transferring may be a more affordable option if you are having to pay to college on you own.