Hi! This is my first post on this website so my apologies if this is in the wrong forum.
I’m going into my senior year and am about to start the college application process, but I am having a ton of trouble figuring out which schools should be my target schools. I have quite a few reaches like USC and Yale (of course I’m not quite expecting an acceptance from the latter), but I’m having trouble drawing the line between target and reach.
I am from Louisiana and would like to attend university on the West Coast but I’m open to any suggestions that are out of state. I plan to major somewhere along the lines of biology, environmental science, and/or geology if that information helps any.
Some of my stats are:
ACT- 32
GPA- 4.0 (unweighted)
I’ve taken the 2 AP classes that were available to me last year and am taking the remaining 3 my senior year.
APUSH (3) English (3)
2/~350 rank
Varsity Tennis Team
President of Student Council
Freshman Mentor
Interact Member (rotary volunteer club)
I plan to take the SAT this October in hopes of better scores.
Thank you for all and any help!
I’m in a couple more clubs than that, I can include them if needed! 
Run the Supermatch tool on the left side of this page.
Family EFC? How much can your parents pay? Do you need financial aid: Need-based and/or Merit?
Target and safety schools need to be affordable or you need high enough stats for merit aid if required.
@Gumbymom Hi, Im not sure what my parents will be able to contribute, but I already have a list of safety in-state schools that will offer me most of my tuition because of my stats, plus I have TOPS. Im really just having trouble differentiating between reaches and targets.
Knowing your budget is extremely important to figure out target schools especially if you are looking for financial aid or merit aid. No point in applying if these schools are unaffordable. Each school’s website has a Net price calculator you can use to determine if or how much aid you may receive. Since you are considering OOS schools, some which may be public?, you need to know if these schools are affordable. You have competitive stats but many will expect student and parent contributions. I would avoid the California UC’s since OOS applicants get little to no FA/Merit aid to expect to pay close to full price.
Look at Loyola Marymount, Claremont Colleges (Harvey Mudd/Pomona/Claremont McKenna), Santa Clara, Occidential to name a few private schools in California.
Thank you! I will be sure to check the Net Price before I apply but I wanted to get an idea of schools that would be likely to accept me with my stats so that I could look into the pricing and academics of them. Basically I’m not sure where to start, and I would like to get an idea of what colleges are in my range. @Gumbymom
USC isn’t such a reach for you. Your ACT is above its 50th percentile, your GPA is perfect, you come from a geographically desirable state, and it has a huge enrollment. None of that means you’ll score generous financial aid though with the acceptance.
I agree with @Gumbymom on looking at the other big name Cali privates. Santa Clara, Oxy and LMU should be matches but check that they have strong departments in your major fields of interest. U of San Diego (not UCSD or SDSU which are the publics), Chapman, Biola and Pepperdine have a religious component. You could also look at U of the Pacific in Stockton and U of Redlands for full rides or bigger scholarships (but beware the conditions for renewal!)
Pacific Northwest has great schools too…!
You know this but the 3s on the APs signal that your high school program may not be the strongest at preparing you for college academics. Think hard whether you want to get into the most selective school or one where you’ll be one of the more gifted.
-California Lutheran University
-Whitman College
@Oregon2016 thank you so much! that really helped to put things into perspective for me. I would like to lean towards non-religious colleges, but maybe you’re right about me not being ready for a selective school. Ive always been at the top of my class throughout high school, but then again my school isn’t known for “college prep, cutthroat” academics. I will try my hardest to get into and pay for USC but if that doesn’t work out then I will find less competitive schools.