Coursework AP European History – 5
AP Calculus BC
AP Computer Science A
AP US History
AP Physics 1
Beginning Programming Methods in C++
Intermediate Programming Methods in C++
Awards
2022 National History Bee National Championships, 3rd Place
2022 US History Bee National Championships, 2nd Place
2021 US History Bee National Championships, 4th Place
Extracurriculars
Text classification intern for Cognixion, assistive technology startup in Santa Barbara, CA (part of an internship program – PilotCity)
Representative and Data Scientist as part of PilotCity
Participated in Inspirit AI program and collaborated on a NLP project meant to understand Siri
President and co-founder of the school History Club (won 5th place at 2022 National History Bowl National Championships)
Officer in school quiz bowl club as one of the top 10 players in the Northern California region; qualified for California state team for international tournament National All-Stars Academic Tournament and placed 9th.
Founded middle school quiz bowl club at local middle school and coached team throughout the school year, allowing them to go toe-to-toe with top national teams in the Bay Area
Essays/LORs/Other
I’m a junior – haven’t started this yet, but will most likely be good recommendations and essays
Cost Constraints / Budget
Financial aid will be required.
Schools
Safety – UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, UC Merced
Likely – I’m not sure
Match – UCSD, UCLA, UT Dallas (EA)
Reach – UC Berkeley (MET), UT Austin (Turing Scholars-EA), MIT (EA), CMU (EA), UPenn (EA), CalTech (EA)
What’s your 10th/11th capped/weighted UC/CSU GPA? 9th/10th/11th if considering Cal Poly, which you should based on reputation, placement, etc., but cost if that’s going to be a constraint?
I am a permanent resident of the US. I don’t think that impacts anything, but please do enlighten me if I have misunderstood that I can get financial aid as a permanent resident.
As for my UC/CSU gpa at this moment, that would be 3.83 UW/4.25 W.
I don’t see why a permanent resident could not be eligible for CA in-state tuition, and state and federal financial aid? Am I missing something here?
CA residency for in-state tuition: Residency requirements | Understanding residency for purposes of UC tuition
Last paragraph: “You must have the legal ability to establish a permanent domicile in the United States, meaning that you must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or hold a valid, qualifying nonimmigrant visa.”
UC page on who is eligible for financial aid: Who can get financial aid | UC Admissions
“California residents are generally eligible for the full spectrum of state, federal and UC aid.”
For sure it depends on status, and for dependent minors the status of their parents. I believe permanent green card holders in place longer than 366 days would qualify for instate, but it isn’t clear to me what the OP’s status is. Your links and my links will clarify.
For the purposes of CA residency for tuition and financial aid, it appears to me from looking at the links that citizens and permanent residents are equivalent. The OP’s post states “permanent resident.” What additional status are you talking about?
It might be as simple as having permanent residence, but I believe there’s more to it. CA has rules on intent, permanence, parent status, etc. that @Gumbymom would know much more about.
What is your budget? How much have your parents told you they can comfortably afford to pay? If they haven’t given you a specific number, please ask them and post the number here. It will help us suggest affordable schools.
Congratulations on your competitive profile but you have overestimated your chances with the UC’s on your list. If you plan to pursue a double major EECS/CS + Econ, you need to select EECS/CS as your first choice major due to impaction and then add Econ if possible later once you have matriculated to a specific school. If you plan to apply as an Econ major, your chances can change slightly but still some of your Safeties are Matches and some of your Matches are Reaches since Econ is also an impacted/capped/high demand major at several campuses.
Below are the EECS or CS admit rates for the UC’s:
UCLA 2021 (most recent data): 5.4%. Reach school
UCB 2022 EECS: 4.5%. CS in L&S: 2.9%. MET is probably 3% or below: Reach school
UCSD: No major specific data but below 10% admit rate. Reach school
UCI 2022: CS 5.8% and Econ 10.8%. Reach school
UCSB: No major specific data but historically between 6-8% for CS.
UCD: No major specific data but maybe a High Match school.
UCSC CS BA: 51% and BS 60%. Match school
UCR: 36%. High Match
UCM: 90% Likely School
Not sure why there is discussion on California residency. If you are permanent resident and graduate from a California HS, then you are eligible for California state financial aid along with Federal aid. It would be helpful to know your college budget so posters can give you more school options.
Below are the overall UC admit rates for 2021. 2022 data should be available in February and the chart will be updated. The UC’s consider all 3 UC GPA’s: Unweighted, Capped Weighted and Fully weighted. The chart is based on the Capped weighted UC GPA and does not take into account majors so EECS/CS and Econ will have lower rates than posted.
Campus
4.20+
3.80-4.19
3.40-3.79
3.00-3.39
Berkeley
30%
11%
2%
1%
Davis
85%
55%
23%
10%
Irvine
60%
31%
14%
1%
Los Angeles
29%
6%
1%
0%
Merced
97%
98%
96%
89%
Riverside
97%
92%
62%
23%
San Diego
72%
25%
2%
0%
Santa Barbara
73%
28%
4%
1%
Santa Cruz
91%
81%
46%
9%
I am sure you are also aware that the UC’s are test blind so your competitive SAT score will not be considered for admissions or scholarships.
You definitely need more Match schools. If you are NMF, then that opens up very good schools with additional merit such as Arizona State and University of Arizona. Here is the link to the 2023 NM discussion which might give you some ideas for other schools: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/t/class-of-2023-national-merit-discussion/
I suggest University of Maryland, College Park as well as University of Wisconsin, Madison in the non-reach bracket.
Edit to add: Sorry, I did not see your stipulation on needing financial aid, then these might be too expensive. However, try UMD College Park (EA), you might get substantial merit from them.
I agree UMD should be on OP’s list.
But unless OP gets their B/K scholarship (which is increasingly harder to get each year) the maximum possible OOS merit scholarship is $12.5k, bringing the yearly cost to about $46k. Is that affordable? OP hasn’t clarified their budget yet.
UPenn and Carnegie Mellon offer binding ED, not EA. Caltech offers REA, which limits your application options in the early round, though it is non-binding.
Be sure to check the policies and restrictions and understand the impact to your overall application strategy.