Help a senior out with a college list

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a senior looking for suggestions of schools to apply to. </p>

<p>Stats:
Hispanic female living in California
Attending a Public HS
Rank: unknown
GPA: 3.4 W, 3.3 UW
ACT: 28 composite score
SAT: 1830; 680 R, 610 M, 540 W - reatking and hopefully getting a 1900
SAT II: Spanish 780, U.S. History 620
I've taken AP European History & AP Art History, currently taking AP Gov and AP Stats</p>

<p>ECs
AVID
Tennis 3 years
100+ Community Service</p>

<p>I would like to have 2 safeties, 3 matches and 2 reaches. I'm interested in International Relations, History, Classical Civilization and Art History. I'm not quite sure which I'm going to pick as my major. </p>

<p>Looking for in a school:
- a campus that is not in the middle of a city, at the same time I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere
- I don't want a commuter school
- great study abroad program
- nice library
- some parties, but not a party school
- school spirit is a big thing</p>

<p>Some choices are:
CSU Long Beach
CSU Chico
San Francisco State
UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine
Union College - New York</p>

<p>Any help is appreciated since my parents never went to college and can't really help me. Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>Word of caution...don't major in art history unless you have plans to pursue a phd and run a museum/be an academic.</p>

3

<p>University of Puget Sound might be of interest, if you're willing to go to Northwest. Strong programs in some of your interest areas, good study abroad program, nice campus feel, close to Tacoma/Seattle, but not in the city.</p>

4

<p>since youre hispanic and you got almost a perfect score on the Spanish SAT, i am assuming you speak fluent spanish.
it would probably better if you take another one, so colleges dont think youre just trying to cut corners (i cant think of the right saying).</p>

5

<p>Ok, so that's a no on art history.
Thank you for suggesting Puget Sound collegiate08, I'll look into it.
And abc123, I also took Math II and got a 570, would it be better to send that score?
Thank you for your responses :]</p>

6

<p>Look at UOP, St. Mary's and USF</p>

7

<p>Why don't you try an online college search and see what happens. You can search by state at CC or you can try myUsearch.com, petersons.com or collegeboard.com. I personally think myUsearch and petersons are the best because they allow you to search on a lot of different criteria and seem to be pretty objective.</p>

8

<p>Wow I didn't mean to come off as so dismissive of art history. It certainly is a valuable degree if you would want to do art restoration, conservation, curation or academia. Furthermore, it lends itself to graduate degrees in library sciences or history. It can also be combined with other fields for interesting career paths. For example, my wife, in pursuit of a career in art restoration, double majored in chemistry and art history with a minor in studio art. I could also see it being a valuable addition to a business degree if you were interested in antiques, collectors, auction houses etc. However, an art history bachelors without anything is not very useful.</p>

9

<p>Thank you for all your suggestions. :]
collegiate08, thanks for suggesting UPS, it seems like a match so I'm really excited to have been pointed in that direction.
dadofsam, I've begun to research Univeristy of the Pacific, which is what I think you meant, and that seems like a good fit too. As for the St. Mary's in California & USF, I think they're both catholic schools, which isn't for me but thank you.
I'll be sure to do a search using myUsearch since I haven't already. Thanks letmeinnow for telling me about it since I think I've exhausted the collegeboard college match.
Belevitt, I know you weren't being dismissive of art history so there's no problem. I agree it would be valuable if I were to combine it with something like your wife did (which by the way I totally respect your wife for since chemistry makes me want to cry), though I don't think I would. Art history stills fascinates me though, I think my heaven would consist of all the great museums like the Louvre, the Uffizzi Gallery, the Museum in Cairo & etc. I would like to learn more about it though so I'll just take a course or two in college instead.</p>

<p>Keep the suggestions coming...</p>

10

<p>Both CSU Long Beach and San Francisco State will feel like commuter schools and will not have the school spirit you are seeking.
UC Davis does seem like a great match for you...have you visited yet?</p>

11

<p>More possibilities:
University of San Diego
Santa Clara University
Loyola</p>

<p>Why isn't UC San Diego on your list?</p>

12

<p>UCDhopeful, I know you mentioned that you were not interested in Catholic Schools, but I agree with siliconvalleymom - you should check some of them out. At most of them, only about 50% of students are Catholic, and non-Catholics are not disadvantaged in any way. The ones mentioned on this thread: USF, St. Mary's, University of San Diego, Santa Clara, Loyola... look like they might be a good match for you.</p>

13

<p>alamemom, thanks for adding to what I wrote...I agree with you that a non-Catholic can still find a great fit at a Catholic school.
All three have significant numbers of Hispanic students, which could be a helpful source of support for a first-generation college student.
Santa Clara University: 13% Hispanic
Loyola Marymount: 19% Hispanic
University of San Diego: 14% Hispanic
That said, you will also find great diversity and support at the other schools on your list...it's just something to consider.</p>

14

<p>siliconvalleymom, I haven't visited UC Davis but from what I've seen from their board and their website it seems like a great school. I'll look into the possibilities you listed. The reason I'm not applying to UC San Diego is that I consider it a far reach and it's in San Diego, my hometown, and I want to go to school away from home. </p>

<p>alamemom, I'll give the catholic schools a shot and research them. As long as there aren't mandatory prayer sesssions I'm good. </p>

<p>Thank you for the advice :]</p>

15

<p>hopeful, I'd have to offer a dissenting view on art history. There's plenty that you can do with an art history degree even if you don't wish to use it for an art or museum specific career. Like many of the general humanities based liberal arts -- for example English, philosophy, history -- art history can provide a solid foundation for intellectual thought, analysis and evaluation, both written and oral.</p>

<p>Art history combines several disciplines art and history, obviously, plus an ample dose of religion, anthropology, psychology, philosophy. You can't understand any culture without understanding that culture's art which is what makes the study of art history so fascinating.</p>

<p>As you probably guessed I was an art history major myself. I never did fulfill my intention of pursuing a museum career path but in the decades since my graduation I've certainly used the skills I learned in looking, evaluating and describing -- both personally and professionally. I've been involved in international business my whole career and I can say emphatically that my art history training has really contributed to the way I look at foreign cultures and understand their nuances.</p>

<p>Many of the directors of the top museums these days are not PhDs (though curators are). The directors tend to be art lovers with backgrounds in complementary disciplines like studio art, architecture, business, law. The position involves a lot of fund raising and administrative skills as well as an understanding of art.</p>

<p>Most large universities -- including the UCs -- have excellent art history departments. You seem to be doing okay in that area so I'll just give you some suggestions in the small liberal arts college category: Wesleyan, Oberlin, Hamilton, Kenyon, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Skidmore, Conn College. </p>

<p>One of the best in the country is Williams which may be too selective for you. I do tend to think that they would be interested in a tennis playing, achievement oriented, first generation Hispanic art history lover, but it would depend a lot on your essays and recommendations.</p>

16

<p>Have you calculated your UC GPA yet? You may find that it's higher than just your school's weighted GPA.
I'm glad to hear that you've at least thought about UC San Diego. Because of your screen name and your list, I mistakenly assumed that you were from Northern California and didn't want to go far from home!</p>

17

<p>momrath, thank you for sharing your thoughts on art history. I'm interested in the subject but I think that at this point i'm leaning more to history and international relations. I'll look into the small liberal arts colleges you listed but if I remember correctly, I researched them a while ago and where too selective. Anyways, thanks for your reply.</p>

18

<p>siliconvalleymom, unfortunately the 3.3 is my UC gpa. It's low because I had a horrible sophmore year, which ended up in me having to retake chemistry and a semester of precalc. Anyways I have 3 C's in my transcript, unless they count Honors on a 5 scale. On the whole going away from home, I really do want to go to school far from San Diego, but had I thought UC San Diego would be my best bet I would have stayed. I just don't like the vibe at either UC San Diego or SDSU.</p>