Hi all,
I was wondering what would be some good safety schools for me.
My GPA is about 3.5 UW 3.6 W
SAT - 1770 first time
I am from California and have mostly only sports as EC’s.
I know I’m not a great student but I do want to go forward with my academic career and do not want to go to a CC.
I also am not considering UC’s because they are so expensive. Although private schools are more expensive, they tend to offer more merit which is why I prefer them.
Schools that I think would be matches - LMU, Willamette, USD, University of Portland, TCU
I am also applying to UW, Cal Poly SLO, SDSU
What are some other schools I should add to my list? I feel like I have a decent chance of getting into any of these. What is a good safety school? I would like to stay relatively near the west coast. I really like Washington and Oregon. Anyway, this post may be a little vague but I hope it gives a good idea of the schools I like and the type of student I am. Any help is appreciated, I’m really stumped. Thanks!
Do you not qualify for any need based aid?
If you are concerned about the cost at UCs what about the OOS cost of UW? Some of those privates are 60k so how much merit do you think you were going to get from them? I suggest you run the Net Price Calculator for each.
What is the M + CR breakdown of your test score? I think you should add some more CSU for safeties. Chico is more residential. as is Humbolt and you might like them location-wise… I think Cal Poly avg ACT is 29 which is roughly like a 1300 M+CR or 1940 overall. What major where you going to select for Cal Poly slo?
I think you are going the right direction for those privates mostly but you do need safeties.
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I also am not considering UC’s because they are so expensive. Although private schools are more expensive, they tend to offer more merit which is why I prefer them.
Schools that I think would be matches - LMU, Willamette, USD, University of Portland, TCU
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I think you’ve misunderstood how merit scholarships work. The schools that are known to give merit, don’t give it to every student. They give it to the applicants with high stats…those within the top quartile of the school. Your stats are not high for those schools. I doubt that you’d get much or any merit from those schools.
What is your M+CR score from a single sitting?
How much will your parents pay each year? Ask them.
Would you qualify for a Cal Grant?
Would you qualify for Blue and Gold at a UC?
Do you know what your family’s income is?
<<<I am also applying to UW, Cal Poly SLO, SDSU<<<<
UW? Is that UWash? If so, will your parents pay the $45k per year to go there? If not, why apply?
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What are some other schools I should add to my list? I feel like I have a decent chance of getting into any of these. What is a good safety school?
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Since safeties HAVE to be affordable, and you have to KNOW FOR SURE that you have all costs covered, then until you tell us how much your family will pay, no one can tell you safeties.
You’ve already said that UC’s are expensive…does that mean that you don’t live in Calif? What is your home state?
If you live in Calif, and the $30k for a UC is “too expensive,” then certainly LMU, USD and similar will be WAY TOO expensive since you don’t have the stats to get enough merit to get their costs down below a UC.
USD tends to give someone with a 2100 SAT about $25k in merit. That gets costs down to about $40k. You don’t have a 2100 and a net cost of $40k is a lot higher than a UC.
Do you have any colleges near your home?
As others note above, if you can’t afford a UC, privates and OOS schools like UW are probably alos not feasible.
Take a look at CSULB and Fullerton on SoCal and Chico and Sonoma up North.
My son was waitlisted at UW with higher stats than yours, two years ago. I understand they get more selective every year, and so I think it’s probably a big reach for you.
Hi. Thank you both for your quick responses and I apologize for the vagueness of my original post.
I live in the Bay Area, California.
My parents are divorced and are very private about their finances. Whenever I try and discuss it with them, they tell me not to worry about payments. They both make a decent income of 110k or so a year (estimate) but as my sister says, “they’re both in denial and credit card debt.”
When I said I knew private schools gave fgood merit, what I meant to say was financial aid. I am aware that my SAT scores and grades are not high enough for most merit scholarships.
My combined CR+M in one sitting is 1100 (540 CR, 560 M). I retook the SAT this Saturday and am waiting on scores to submit applications.
I have colleges near my home like SJ state, SF state, and SCU. I have not really considered these options because I really want to get out of at least the Bay Area.
Thank you for all of your advice.