<p>Hey guys my younger sister is applying for colleges soon. She'll be a senior this fall and as a family we're trying to decide where she should go for college. Her grades aren't the greatest and she hasn't taken the SAT or ACT yet. It's been around 4 years since I applied for colleges, so what exactly is the standard for getting into Riverside nowadays for CA residents? She has around a 3.2 weighted GPA (unweighted isn't much different, probably a 3.1), some extracurriculars involving band and chorus, and a good amount of community service hours working at a hospital. What SAT score should she be aiming for if she wants to get in? And what are her chances given her GPA?</p>
<p>Also, do you think it's worth going to Riverside over, say, transferring after 2 years from a community college to potentially a better school? This is probably a tough question to answer...</p>
<p>Don’t know anything really about riverside but I can answer the cc question. </p>
<p>I’m also a CA resident and my sister was in a similar situation to yours last year. She opted for a gap year (which I would also consider for your sister as it can be a really valuable experience) and doesn’t know what she’s doing from there but I always advocated the cc transfer route. CA has some great systems set up to transfer to some of the better UCs. For example, UCSB has Santa Barbara City College which is a direct transfer contingent on a certain gpa (I want to say 3.5 but I don’t really remember. Lower gpas can still get in, it’s just more work on the app). City college students can still experience all Santa Barbara has to offer but at a fraction of the price for two years. </p>
<p>I would highly recommend something like this, especially if she’s not in love with riverside and it’s a default in stage choice.</p>
<p>To be honest, if you keep a 3.2 average GPA with a minimum of a 1500 SAT, there is about 40% chance that you’ll be accepted. For me, I kept a 3.6 GPA with an SAT of 1600 and 3 years of sports and I always thought I was lucky to get in. My friends got in the first day UCR sent their acceptance letters out while i got mine in about a month and a half. So try to get a killer SAT score as well as a excellent essay!</p>