<p>I'm currently a junior in high school, and I'm looking forward to going to college! Preferably San Diego State and UC San Diego. I do have others in mind that are closer to home, but San Diego seemed a right fit for me.
My current weighted GPA is a 3.4 and unweighted is a 3.25.
I usually get As and Bs, but this semester I got two C's in my two AP classes, AP Spanish Literature and AP English and Composition.
I took the March SAT and I scored very low on it (1370). I am retaking it in June and doing major study time for it. I also took the ACT this past weekend, and I am awaiting the scores.
I also do a fair amount of extracurricular activities along with volunteer hours.
I've always questioned my chances of getting into both schools since their acceptance rate is very low!
Plus, SDSU is a school that emphasizes the hispanic culture and I would like to see if I would have an advantage to it along with the fact that I am going to be a first generation college student.
If anyone can give me some advice and assistance, it'd be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I’m afraid I don’t do Chances. </p>
<p>I thought that CA publics could not use race and ethnicity in admissions?</p>
<p>First gen is usually believed to be a tip factor at most, and even then, only for some schools. I’m not that familiar with CA publics, so maybe others here can address whether first gen will be helpful for the schools you’ve listed.</p>
<p>Hi Alexa, </p>
<p>Unfortunately, with colleges here in Ca. and specifically San Diego being impacted, even being Hispanic won’t help you much. Being first gen may help but yes, your scores are low, even for SDSU and definitely for UCSD.</p>
<p>If you like San Diego, check out Cal State San Marcos. It looks like your scores would be in line with it and it says it’s an Hispanic serving institution with a 40% Hispanic population. Your gpa is on par, as well.</p>
<p>SDSU’s average SATs are higher than yours and your gpa is a bit low; as well, their admittance rate is 33%, but I think you could still get accepted. </p>
<p>Just remember to have back-up schools; I think San Marcos would be a good match school and a good back up.</p>
<p>@sbjdorlo Yes, CSU San Marcos is one of my back up schools.
I was questioning SDSU’s average SAT score, which I saw on their information booklet that it was around a 1150. Seemed a bit sketchy, but I kinda did know that it had to be a bit higher than that.</p>
<p>I believe SDSU is the most difficult Cal State for admission. Have you thought about Cal State Fullerton? It’s got a lot of fine programs and not too far from San Diego. As far as UC admissions, entomom is right that they do not consider ethnicity in admissions but they do consider first generation, family income and the school to which you went. It can also help if your school does not have a high percentage going to college. A couple of years ago (and they may have changed things) UCSD used to give points for these various factors and they published their point system.</p>
<p>@Copterguy CSUF is also one of the schools I’ve considered.
My school does have a high percentage of going to college.
I’m still trying to work on a higher UCSD & SDSU SAT score & GPA, but thank you for clarifying the factors that some may include!</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO is actually the hardest.</p>