Chances at Los Angeles-area LACs

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>What are my chances at the following LA-area liberal arts colleges for me? </p>

<p>Claremont McKenna College (not really considering it-but i'm curious about my chances anyway)
Occidental College
Pitzer College
Pomona College (not really considering it-but i'm curious about my chances anyway)
University of La Verne (legacy admit-grandpa and uncle went here)
University of Redlands
Whittier College</p>

<p>Here are my stats:
California Resident
Mexican-American Male
I go to the best high school in the district, which is one of the best high schools in the area.</p>

<p>Possible Majors:
Sociology
Marketing or Business Admin w/focus in marketing
Urban Studies</p>

<p>Maybe Majors:
Geography
Political Science-I've had bit of a fascination w/politics these past few years
Environmental Studies-I've always been one for the environment</p>

<p>9th-12th rank is 108/478-within the top 25%-at least it was the last time I checked my transcript.
10th-12th rank: I don't remember, but it was 120-something.
GPA 9th-12th UW: 3.24
GPA 10th-12th UW: 3.1 (this was last semester)
My HS doesn't weigh GPAs for honors/AP.</p>

<p>My Course List & Grades (P stands for college prep)
Summer School 2003:
Health A</p>

<p>9th Grade-both semesters
Biology Honors-B/B
Composition & Literature I Honors-B/B
World History Honors-A/B
Geometry P-A/B
Spanish I P-A/A
PE (non-academic)</p>

<p>Summer School 2004:
Art Appreciation 1 P-A
Art Appreciation 2 P-A</p>

<p>10th Grade-1st Semester
AP World History-B/C (4 on the exam)
Chemistry Honors 1st sem, Chemistry Concepts P 2nd sem (dropped Chem H because I got a D)-D/B
Composition & Literature II Honors-B/B
Algebra II P-B/C
Spanish II P-B/B
PE (non-academic)</p>

<p>Summer School 2005:
Intro to Computer Applications-A
Computer Applications-A</p>

<p>11th Grade-Both Semesters
AP Biology-B/B (2 on the exam)
AP US History-A/A (4 on the exam)
Advanced Art P-A/A
Composition & Literature III P (didn’t make it into AP Lit)-A/A
Trigonometry & Pre-Calculus P-D/C (may take 1st sem over if my school will let me)
Spanish III P-A/B</p>

<p>My Planned 12th Grade Schedule:
AP Environmental Science
AP Macroeconomics w/Government
AP Spanish
Composition & Literature IV P
I'm tentatively scheduled for finite math, but i'm not sure now which math I'll be taking next year
Psychology P 1st semester; Advanced Psychology P or Speech P 2nd semester
Test Scores: </p>

<p>SAT I: (may take it again in Oct)
Verbal: 590
Math: 490
Writing: 610</p>

<p>SAT IIs:
World History: 720
Biology E: 580
US History: 670</p>

<p>ECs:
Awards: None in HS, but I got a Congressional award in 8th grade for volunteer work.
Community Service: I have done volunteer work for Key Club, and this summer I'm volunteering at the local library, helpingout for their Summer Reading Program.
Sports: None
Clubs: Key Club, Spanish Club, Crackdown</p>

2

<p>Pomona and CMC are pretty reachy. I think the rest of you list is good, but you need to do a good job on your essays and interview if possible - they need to see that you are great kid despite the bobbles in Chemistry and math.</p>

<p>Retake the SAT in October if you can stand the thought of it. If you do sections of it over the summer you should be well-prepared by the fall. Considering the strength of your history scores I suspect your reading score will improve with a bit of practice!</p>

3

<p>Although I know Pomona and CMC are reaches for me, which of these are matches and which are safeties? Also, how competitive are the admissions for these colleges compared with a UC or CSU campus?</p>

4

<p>Most California LACs have more competitive admissions than the general CSU system because they admit so many fewer applicants. </p>

<p>UCLA, Cal, and UCSD are more competitive than many of the schools on your list, with the notable exceptions of Claremont McKenna and Pomona.</p>

<p>Redlands: Match
Whittier: Match
Claremont McKenna: Big Reach
Pomona: Bigger Reach
LaVerne: Match
Occidental: Moderate Reach
Pitzer: Moderate Reach</p>

5

<p>"not really considering it-but i'm curious about my chances anyway"
ha! just admit it mate, you wanna make it there!
I made it to Pitzer with a 3.7.
Pitzer ran a telvision campaign on Univision (spanish TV). They are really trying to capture some Latinos since they're all multi-culturally emphasized and what not. They got me like that. hahhaha, I didn't even know the other Claremont colleges existed! :D</p>