Colleges in California.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I'm looking to build my list of reaches, matches, and safeties. I'm a resident of California (interested in staying in-state, preferably in Southern California). I'm looking to major in psychology as well.</p>

<pre><code>* I'm a Sophomore
* GPA: 3.8 this year.
* PSAT: 220
* Going to take: SAT II US History, Spanish with Listening, and maybe Chemistry.
* My school doesn't have any AP courses.
* Ethnicity: Hispanic
* Extracurriculars:
1. I work at a Crisis Hotline - includes motivational speaking at other schools (minimum 5 hours a week)
2. Intensive Art Classes
3. Yearbook Editor-in-Chief
4. My school doesn't have any ECs.
</code></pre>

<p>Thank you so much!!</p>

2

<p>

</p>

<p>If you find yourself having run out of courses to take in high school due to the absence of AP courses, consider taking transferable courses at your local community college. English reading and writing courses and math (freshman calculus and sophomore multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations) are commonly useful and can help free up schedule space in your college schedule.</p>

<p>If your grades stay at the 3.8 level, the UC campuses are obvious choices to consider. You may want to check out information on [UC</a> admissions](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/freshman/applying-fall-2012/index.html]UC”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/freshman/applying-fall-2012/index.html) and the [url=<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/freshman/california-residents/statewide-path/scholarship-requirement/index.html]UC”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/freshman/california-residents/statewide-path/scholarship-requirement/index.html]UC</a> eligibility calculation<a href=“and%20%5Burl=http://www.ucop.edu:8080/eligibilitycalc/]web%20calculator[/url]”>/url</a>.</p>

3

<p>Thanks, I’ll definitely look into those. :D</p>

<p>Any others?</p>

4

<p>Your PSAT score indicates that you will do well on your SAT and you should also be competitive at USC and Claremont McKenna. Good luck!</p>

5

<p>Can you tell us more about what you’re interested in?</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>Among well regarded (for academics) private colleges and universities in California, there are:</p>

<p>California Institute of Technology (well, maybe not for psychology)
Claremont colleges (Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Pitzer)
Occidental
Stanford
USC</p>

7

<p>Take a look at the University of San Diego. It has an absolutely beautiful campus overlooking Mission Bay.</p>

<p>[Collection:</a> Buildings and Architecture](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■/photos/usandiego/collections/72157619531520405/]Collection:”>Collection: Buildings and Architecture)</p>

8

<p>I would suggest that you explore the Claremont Colleges, in particular Pomona College and Claremont McKenna College, given your interests.</p>

9

<p>Work on building extra-currics outside of your school, or start some clubs or volunteer. Consider self-studying some APs, since it’s still early enough to stack up on them. Keep your GPA up (3.8+ UW) and you’ll look pretty good for the top UCs (Cal, LA, SD), USC, and you could have a shot at CalTech or Stanford (if your ECs/research/essays/etc. are impressive enough.) Your chances would also be good at schools like USD, Pepperdine, Chapman, and the other UCs.</p>

10

<p>Chapman, Santa Clara, Pepperdine, Occidential, U of San Francisco and the Claremont Colleges.</p>

11

<p>Keep your GPA high.</p>

<p>Your soph PSAT suggests that next year you will score high enough to become a NMSF. (So, try to study a bit for next year’s PSAT!). If you make NMF, USC will want you as long as your other stats stay strong. </p>

<p>If you stay on the same trajectory that you seem to be doing, as a URM, you could have many, many choices. However, don’t slack and think that URM status will make up for that. Being a female Hispanic isn’t as much of an edge as being a male URM. </p>

<p>You will be wanted by Santa Clara (that’s almost for sure.)</p>

<p>Now is the time to have a conversation with your parents about how much they’ll spend on college. Any financial constraints will play a part in which schools you’ll need to apply to. </p>

<p>Congrats on your PSAT!</p>

12

<p>Concordia-Irvine</p>