Find me a "good" college my parents won't be ashamed of

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I'm currently a second-sem Junior in a public high school, and I'm full Korean.</p>

<p>E.C.s first-
Cheerleading Freshman Sophomore year, JV Captain for Sophomore year, quit Junior year, planning on going back Senior year
Science Bowl member (not much participation)
Working on a Science Research completely independent from school for the data on algae photobioreactors and how efficient they are in our environment
Envirothon member (not much participation)
Red Cross member, (certified CPR yay!)
100+ Community Service Hours (not much, but still something)</p>

<p>AAAAANNNNDDDD the GPA (insert drumroll here)</p>

<p>3.41
3.41
3.41</p>

<p>:-O</p>

<p>Not much to say about it. I took</p>

<p>Freshman year: Honors Chem and Honors Alg2</p>

<p>Sophomore year: AP World and AP Bio, and Honors English</p>

<p>Junior year: AP US History, AP Lang and Comp, AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, Honors Spanish 3 and Advanced Art</p>

<p>I signed up for:
AP Gov/Econ, AP English Lit, AP Spanish Lang, AP Chem, AP Studio Art, and AP Calculus for Senior Year</p>

<p>My GPA trend is pretty stable, some C's here and there, mostly B's, A's in regulars classes.
The reason I'm bombarding myself with AP's Senior year is because I really want to bring my GPA to an "acceptable" point average, and I really really need scholarships and financial aid.
I would like colleges in Washington or Oregon (because I like the rainy weather and I want to stay close to West Coast)
I live in Los Angeles, CA, and I know I don't have much chance at UC's and I don't want to apply to CSU's because I want (if I may even have preferences) a relatively small student:faculty ratio.</p>

<p>I want to major in Chemistry, and I'm trying to look for internships over the summer in labs (Hyperion Treatment Plant) and became a big Environmentalist because of APES.</p>

<p>My College Counselor thinks going to a Commun.College and transferring out would elevate my chances at the "better" colleges and scholarships, but my parents, being the Koreans that they are, are too proud to let their only daughter go to a C.C. I personally have nothing against C.C's, but I feel that I might slack off in college to enjoy "the college life".</p>

<p>Help!!!</p>

2

<p>“thinks going to a Commun.College and transferring out would elevate my chances at the “better” colleges and scholarships”</p>

<p>your GC is wrong. Transfers rarely get good scholarships. And the best schools take few transfers. However, you could transfer from a cc to UCLA or Cal if your college grades were high.</p>

<p>What are your test scores?</p>

<p>How much will your parents pay? Ask your parents and let them know that THAT answer will largely determine here you can go to college…so put it back in THEIR court. ;)</p>

3

<p>mom2collegekids
Aww thank you. I was hoping that she was wrong, because C.C.s are terrifying. Personal issues.
My test scores for SAT come out on the 27th (eek!!) and I’m hoping around 1800-2000s, that was how I placed on my practice tests. My parents pretend they’re really poor, and I’m really hoping they have some kind of college fund saved up for me.
I got a 790 on my Korean SAT2, but I took it in 8th grade.</p>

4

<p>The best use of your time in the 8-10 weeks that remain in this semester is to apply yourself and finish strong.
Are your test scores stronger than the GPA?</p>

5

<p>siliconvalleymom
I…think…so? I mean, it’s up there, 98th percentile… right? Mostlikely high 1800s and mid 1900s, I got a 2020 on one of my practice tests, and I had my AP Lang teacher grade the essay.</p>

6

<p>UCSC, Humboldt State, and Willamette (likely won’t give you a good aid package) could be possibilities. </p>

<p>If you’re willing to go outside of the West, there are a number of strong schools which might admit you with enough financial aid to make it possible to attend. Hendrix College, Oxford College of Emory, and Furman (more conservative than many other CA institutions) immediately come to mind. </p>

<p>ETA: I didn’t see that you needed substantial financial aid, hence the changes to my recommendations. </p>

7

<p>whenhen</p>

<p>Thank you so much!!! I don’t really mind the conservative-liberal scale, but living in Cali for 11 years, I need to be brave to take myself East!</p>

8

<p>Taking a ton of AP’s senior year doesn’t do anything for your unweighted GPA, which is what matters in admissions – and could backfire on you if your GPA slips first semester of senior year. I would recommend you take a couple of APs in your strongest areas, but stick with honors or regular classes for the rest.</p>

<p>I doubt your parents are “pretending they are really poor” and have saved a lot for your college. You need to work with your parents to run net price calculators at some colleges on the west coast to see what kind of financial aid you can expect. Some colleges you might consider in Washington and Oregon that have small class sizes and might be in your grade/test score range are:</p>

<ul>
<li>University of Puget Sound</li>
<li>Lewis & Clark</li>
<li>Willamette</li>
<li>Mills (women’s college)</li>
<li>Pitzer</li>
<li>Occidental (probably a reach)</li>
<li>Whitman (reach)</li>
</ul>

<p>I don’t know about the strength of their chemistry programs, you would have to investigate that. And start with the net price calculators for each.</p>

<p>Someone else could probably comment on the class sizes at CSUs and what might be a fit there. Those would be your most affordable choices, I assume. </p>

<p>I really don’t think someone with a 3.4 GPA needs to start at a CC unless you want to for personal or financial reasons.</p>

9

<p>intparent</p>

<p>I heard U of Puget Sound is really expensive… and my parents divert whenever I ask them about financial support from them. :frowning:
Thank you for your advice, I’ll look into net calculators. Do you know if the calculations deviate or is it accurate?</p>

10

<p>The problem with the NPCs is that they don’t work as well for schools which do not give automatic merit aid. They should be accurate for most of the California public schools, but may not work for a school like Willamette or Furman. </p>

11

<p>Pitzer may be a reach as well. Avg Freshman GPA for class of 2017 was 3.86. How about Chapman? Great school, seems to be building it’s rep as a pretty solid university, and your GPA /anticipated SAT scores are a pretty good fit. Good luck!</p>

12

<p>All those colleges are expensive, but they do offer financial aid. You need to engage your parents on the net price calculator issue sooner rather than later. Every college has this on their website, usually in the financial aid section (I don’t know about the UCs or CSUs, though, as we don’t live in California – but I am sure someone else does – just not sure if they are on each school’s website or somewhere else). Your parents would plug in information from their recent tax returns and balances in different types of accounts, and it will give you a rough idea of what kind of aid you can expect and the cost to your family. </p>

<p>My experience is that the calculators are fairly accurate except in the following situations:

  • Divorced parents. In that case, you probably need to have both parents run it separately and add the family contribution together to give you a rough idea of what might be expected.
  • Small business. If either of your parents owns a small business, that will affect the aid at some colleges. I have a small business, but it doesn’t have much in assets (no building or inventory, just the bank accounts). So I actually plug in the bank accounts amounts as if they are personal assets of mine, and that seems to work pretty well.
  • Trusts. If you or your parents have any trusts, those are not always asked about but can affect financial aid.
  • Rental real estate or second homes - Also can make the final FA result different from the calculators.</p>

<p>This is really one of the very first steps in the college search process. There is no point in visiting or applying to colleges you can’t possibly afford. So identifying some colleges and running the calculators is something you need to ask your parents to do with you. I found it useful to print the results of each calculator, too (I couldn’t remember all the numbers later if I didn’t). Your actual FA will vary a bit, of course. The cost of college goes up every year, and a lot of people have income that varies – so your parents might make more or less in 2014 (which will be the year provided to colleges for your freshman year FA info – and they will probably plug 2013 numbers in to the calculator).</p>

<p>Some parents have a “don’t worry about it, we will figure it out” attitude. But often they have no idea how much college costs… so you really need to engage them now in this so they are thinking about costs realistically. It will make your search a lot less stressful if you take this step now vs. later on.</p>

13

<p>Have you run your UCgpa? Only sophomore and junior year, only a-g courses, add a point for APs and those few honors classes actually certified by the UCs? You may have a shot at some of the UCs, depending on how that comes out, but I can’t tell unless we are discussing UC gpa. Do you have your SAT score/ ACT score yet?</p>

<p><a href=“University of California Counselors”>University of California Counselors;

<p>Here is the fall 2013 admit profile for UC Santa Cruz <a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/files/freshman-profiles-ca/freshman-profile-ca-ucsc.pdf”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/files/freshman-profiles-ca/freshman-profile-ca-ucsc.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>intparent @12:00 is absolutely right.</p>

<p>You may want to let your parents use the net price calculators without your presence - give them the links and ask them to do it. Tell them it only takes a few minutes and they don’t have to reveal names, social security numbers or anything that identifies them to the school or anyone else for that matter.</p>

15

<p>Looking at your schedule, you do have to show rigorous courses Senior year, but I wonder if AP Chem and AP Calculus the same year is a good idea. Maybe honors Chem if you can get it? The UCs don’t typically look at senior year grades, but if you are right on the borderline and they like you they will sometimes send a ‘supplement’ and ask for the first semester grades. One of my sons got one from Davis this year, and was glad he had straight As to put in there (he got admitted.) I don’t know if Chem and Calc are your hardest courses though, the question is whether there is one course you have that might be able to be easier. You would still have a strong schedule. And science honors courses are more likely to be ‘certified’ by the UC, at least in my son’s school, so honors in Chem might be the easiest change, if it is available. You can look up whether an honors course is UC certified or not. </p>

16

<p>But do ask your parents to print the calculator results so they don’t have to re-run again later…</p>

17

<p>Oh, University of Oregon is one you might look into if you really like rainy weather. Also there is a western consortium that will give you 1 and 1/2 times in state tuition at some places. (Not the best, but decent ones.) That is if you really want Washington or Oregon (or Idaho) <a href=“Tips For Students | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)”>http://wiche.edu/wue/students&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

18

<p>This thread has an odd title, asking for a college “my parents won’t be ashamed of.” If the focus really is looking for colleges that your parents won’t be ashamed of, then it would be helpful to know more detail about what kind of colleges make them feel ashamed. For example, you mentioned wanting to avoid CC? Do they also have a problem with state schools? Less selective colleges? Less prestigious colleges? Colleges that are not well known? LACs? Colleges that few people in your area attend?.. If I were in your position, I would instead focus on the colleges that are the best fit for me including major & career goals, academics, campus activities/personality, and cost, among other things.</p>

19

<p>They might like Mills, and so might you. Start planning the financials for all options immediately. </p>

<p>Have they read Paying for College Without Going Broke? </p>

20

<p>A 3.4 GPA with scores in the 1900-2000 range, plus good ECs, makes you competitive for all but about 50-75 colleges (out of several thousand). Just graduating from college, especially if you can do it in 4 years without a mountain of debt, is something to be proud of. </p>

<p>inparent’s list looks good for someone who likes small colleges in California or the Pacific Northwest.
Especially if your M+CR scores exceed 1300 or so, you should have a shot at Occidental (where President Obama started.)</p>