SAT I (breakdown): not submitting
ACT: 30 composite, 32 writing on new essay scale
SAT II: pending in December
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~4.5
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 2%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chem (4); Chinese (5); Lit (3); Lang (5); US History(4); Studio Art (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Math SL (3), Psych (4)
Senior Year Course Load: most rigorous
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): does AP Scholar with Distinction count? hahaha
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
School newspaper (Editor)
Museum volunteer/intern (100+ hours)
Environmental Awareness Club (Publicity)
Science Olympiad (Co-captain; 20+ medals at the regional and state levels)
Varsity tennis (Singles/doubles, 3 yr commitment)
National Art Honor Society (Founder and president)
National Honor Society (member)
Chinese Club (President)
Student government
Yearbook (Photographer)
Volunteer/Community service: 175+ hours
Other
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 100-110k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): n/a
Here’s my (tentative) college list for the time being, including my reaches:
Occidental College (interviewed and think I did reasonably well)
Stony Brook University
UMass Amherst
Whitman College
Scripps College (EDII)
UCSD
UCB
UCSC
UCSD
Any other suggestions? I’m not sure if my prospective major is set in stone yet, so I might go in undeclared for most of these. I’m looking to stick to the west coast (mainly California colleges) so I’m closer to home. Based off of my scores, GPA, and ECs, please feel free to toss me a couple of other suggestions in terms of safeties and matches.
Oh, good catch. I didn’t realize it said unweighted. My UW GPA is around 3.8, and my weighted is 4.5 because I’ve taken 12 AP/IB courses so far in my high school career. I’m not a CA resident, and I’m fairly certain I can pay up to 45k a year without financial aid. I still have to fill in all of my income information into cost calculators because my parents have been somewhat reluctant in disclosing it.
Generally speaking, I’m looking into a marine biology or biology major with an art minor.
UC out-of-state costs are significantly higher than $45,000 per year (more like $52,000 to $58,000). UC financial aid does not cover the additional out-of-state tuition.
If you can’t check the NPC because your parents are not willing to provide all their financial information, check colleges you are interested in on https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ for a ballpark figure.
For instance, Occidental comes in at COA $28,448 for families with an income of 75-110K in 2013-14. Your ACT is right in-line with their admitted freshman and your GPA and ECs are very good.
You really only need one college you love, can get into, and can afford. After that, the rest is just giving you options or reaching for the stars. UC schools for OOS under $45K a year definitely falls under reaching for the stars.
If looking at UMass , might add a school like Holy Cross(imo much better academics). HC located1 hour from Boston also meets 100% demonstrated financial need. Holy Cross offers very good science majors.
Reaches:
-Claremont McKenna College
-Harvey Mudd College
-Pitzer College
Matches:
-Chapman University
-Occidental College
-Pepperdine University
-Reed College
-Santa Clara University
-Scripps University
-Whittier College
-Willamette University
Safeties:
-Azusa Pacific University
-Biola University
-Dominican University of California
-George Fox University
-Gonzaga University
-Mills College
-Pacific Lutheran University
-Pacific University
-Seattle Pacific University
-Seattle University
-Wesmont College
-Whittier College