HELP! ! What do you think about my college list? (9 Schools)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey everyone, so I finally have shortened my college list down to a few schools that I am really interested in. I would be happy to attend either of the following in the list below and get a degree in Civil Engineering. I know that alot of them are probably reaches (my SAT is killing me) but tell me what you think. </p>

<p>My colleges:</p>

<p>3 OUT OF STATE:
University of Notre Dame
Northeastern University
Syracuse University</p>

<p>3 UCs:
UCLA
UC Berkeley
UC Irvine</p>

<p>3CSUs
San Diego State University
Cal Poly SLO
Csu Long Beach</p>

<p>My Profile:
Non weighted GPA (9-12): 4.00
Weighted GPA (9-12): 4.15
ECs: 4 years of FBLA (president), 2 years of CSF, 1 year of Link Crew (vice president), Senior class Vice President. 1 year of varsity track and field, 4 years of varsity football. Multiple hours of community service and tutoring as well.
Awards: Rotary International student of the year award (2011), MVP football award, 4th place regional FBLA in marketing qualified for state competition, Delegate to the American Legion Boys State.
Class rank: 2 of 211 (Should be graduating valedictorian)
AP Course load: AP US History, AP Eng 11, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Eng 12, AP Calculus, AP Computer Science.
SAT: 1710 composite (Retaking next month)
I don't know if this will help with any but I'm also a California Resident, Hispanic, a first generation college student and have had a really really tough past (ex-foster child, divorced parents, jobless mom, parents incarcerated during my highschool years, etc. etc. I'm going to communicate this in my essays).</p>

<p>Thank you so much for any comments! :) if you have any questions, or if I left anything out, please tell me!</p>

2

<p>Your list is fine, but I’d add one more “meet need” school from the “out of state” category. As of now, only Notre Dame meets need and you run a high risk of getting into either Northeastern or Syracuse but find the bill unaffordable.
Are you applying through QuestBridge?
Congratulations on your achievements, especially in the face of such tremendous odds.</p>

3

<p>I suggest dropping ND and NEU. ND is too much of a reach and NEU doesn’t give great aid.</p>

<p>I suggest adding a couple of “test optional” schools that meet need. Maybe someone here can recommend some that offer engineering. </p>

<p>If there are ANY UCs that also offer CivilE, also apply to those. </p>