<p>They tell you not to do "chance me"s if you want to stay sane. Unfortunately, I seem to be a sadist.</p>
<ul>
<li>3.62 UW GPA / estimated 3.8 W</li>
<li>Ranked top 15% out of 700+ students</li>
<li>Senior year courseload: AP Calc BC, AP Euro, AP Lit, Honors Chem, Honors Gov, Honors Art History, Journalism</li>
<li>SAT I: 1930 (1290 CR + M), will be retaking in November</li>
<li>SAT IIs: 730 USH, 640 Math, 630 Lit, will be retaking Math & Lit in October</li>
<li><p>APs: 5 APUSH, 3 AP Calc AB</p></li>
<li><p>ECs:</p></li>
<li><p>Key Club member (9)</p></li>
<li><p>Student council member (9 & 10)</p></li>
<li><p>Journalism as Layout Editor of beginning journalism edition (9), Sports Editor of school newspaper (10), News Editor (11), Editor-in-Chief (12)</p></li>
<li><p>Robotics secretary (10-12)</p></li>
<li><p>Local library teen council (10-12)</p></li>
<li><p>Junior Statesmen of America vice-president (11 & 12)</p></li>
<li><p>Volunteer at library, local farmers' market (300+ hours)</p></li>
<li><p>Attended a prestigious journalism workshop over the summer</p></li>
<li><p>Colleges: Major in Public Relations/Communications/Media Studies, minor in History</p></li>
<li><p>USC</p></li>
<li><p>UC Berkeley</p></li>
<li><p>UC Davis</p></li>
<li><p>UC Irvine</p></li>
<li><p>UC Santa Barbara</p></li>
<li><p>UC San Diego</p></li>
<li><p>Pepperdine University</p></li>
<li><p>Occidental College</p></li>
<li><p>CSUN</p></li>
<li><p>SDSU</p></li>
<li><p>Cal Poly SLO</p></li>
<li><p>Loyola Marymount University</p></li>
<li><p>CA public HS in a pretty poor area</p></li>
<li><p>Income bracket: Low</p></li>
<li><p>The GPA: I did pretty badly during the first semester of my junior year - got a D in AP Calc AB that couldn't be raised to a C. (Teacher didn't offer EC, but that's just me griping.) My mother was hospitalized and I had been diagnosed with mono. Bleh. I retook AP Calc AB in the spring and got an A. As you can see by the AP Calc AB exam score, I knew enough calculus to pass the exam, although not enough to get a 4.</p></li>
<li><p>The APs: My program did not allow me to take APs in freshman year, and only 1 AP was offered for students in this program in sophomore year: AP Bio.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>If you've got any other suggestions for good colleges with communications majors (and fabulous financial aid), please let me know!</p>