<p>i need some serious help.....i have no college help really and apps are coming up soon.
im applying as a double major in political science and women's studies. i have average statistics, 3.7 un 3.8 w gpa with a 1650 sat score but im looking to boost that in september or october hopefully 2000+ or the act. i have a lot of volunteering with my church under my belt, as well as nhs, csf, mock trial and mentorship through my school,. im also reapplying for an internship with a local congresswomen in the fall and apply for volunteering at a local hospital. i also have a summer job and have ap and honor's classes, with a 4 in apush and 3 in ap lang.
im liberal, and am obviously very into the humanities and want opportunities to study abroad and work with government and such.
right now i have all the uc's except for merced, ucla, and berkeley, cal state fullerton and long beach as safeties, chapman, loyola marymount, whittier college as another safety, and usd as others. im not sure. i like my list, but feel like i could do better in a private environment. eh :| my parents are pretty discouraging and want me to stay home and go to fullerton but its not what i want and feel like i would be unhappy doing that. that's not to say im not gonna be closed to that option. im just really stuck. i can provide more info on whatever you want, i just need feedback, advice, straight up, honest advice and yeah. thank you! </p>
<p>The first thing you need to be aware of is money. With a 1650 SAT you will not be competitive for any kind of merit scholarships.<br>
How much can your parents afford? Fullerton is a Cal state and is actually financially doable for many instate students.<br>
Your parents’ finances will basically control where you will go to school.<br>
Your GPA is not competitive for in state students who apply to UCSD, Davis, and possibly Santa Barbara. </p>
<p>You cannot consider the UC’s as safeties. They are tough to get into. We had a number of high-achieving students who applied this year to Ivy’s and they applied minimally to the UC’s. (Arrogant kids) When the decisions came out, there was a line of students, with their entitled parents, yelling at the guidance counselors that their kids didn’t get into the ivies AND, they didn’t get into the UC’s. They were furious because they had all received the ELC letters so they mistakenly thought that the UC’s were a shoe-in. When they were asked why they didn’t apply to safeties, they said that they had-to UCs. They were livid when the local community college was suggested. (Some of the “culturally pushy” parents threatened to sue!). Really quite the spectacle.
So,
Riverside may be doable.<br>
Unfortunately, your SAT score is not competitive for SDSU, Long Beach, or the CAL Poly’s, but if you increase that SAT score, because you are not a STEM major, you might get in. FYI-UC’s are ~$32k, CAL states are approximately $22k per year living on campus.
Once you find out how much you can afford, you could start looking at schools that have your degree.</p>
<p>Plug your STATS into the SuperMatch feature on this website, pick California as your interested area and see which schools pop up. There may be many schools within a certain mile radius that may be acceptable to your parents. Like @aunt bea stated above, the only UC’s which could be matches based on your SAT/GPA are UCM/UCR. Whittier college would be a safety. You would need to retake the SAT or try the ACT to be competitive for any of the other UC’s on your list. You need to calculate your CSU/UC GPA using this link: <a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU;
Majority of the UC’s favor GPA over test scores so if your UC GPA is 4.0 or higher, you have a better chance.
Also, since your parents want you to stay close to home, are they willing to pay for the privates or even the CSU’s/UC’s where you would be living on-campus??? You can only borrow $5500 your first year and the rest would be up to your parents. You need to sit down with your parents and have a frank discussion on what you want versus what they want. Good Luck.</p>
<p>@auntbea my parents at this point can only really afford cal state fullerton. they’re encouraging me to apply to the rest of the schools regardless though. my gpa is sadly low for those. not sure on bothering to even apply to ucsd.
whoops my mistake, i misworded that. i meant to say that i’m applying to most of the uc’s except for merced, berkeley, and ucla. and then whittier college was a safety for me. not to mean that the uc’s are a safety since i’m well aware of my low stats. i’m working to raise my sat scores significantly though. i like riverside’s environment though, also looking at santa cruz and chapman. right now everything is up in the air, thank you so much though.</p>
<p>@gumbymom i definitely am planning on retaking the sat, possibly doing the act. right now they’re kind of weird about it, they often change their minds but fluctuate between seeing if i can get more money to live on campus or being hell-bent on a local cal state. not sure yet. i’ve had the discussion multiple times. i’m definitely being more realistic now, thank you. </p>
<p>Chapman gives some private scholarships so you should try to raise that SAT score and apply there. You never know. The privates may give you more money but you have to look at the overall costs. Just get that SAT score up.</p>
<p>@auntbea yes, i’m really focused on those scholarships. thank you! i’m determined to get my sat score up.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot, try Loyola and USD. those schools have money as well but start studying now for your SATs!</p>
<p>@auntbea yes i will! those two i’m strongly interested in. thank you. (=</p>