Not sure why folks are suggesting out-of-state publics to someone in California. California publics are all incredible and will be far more affordable than an out-of-state public with limited financial aid… don’t get me wrong, I think Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois are fantastic schools. But bang-for-the-buck, I don’t see why a student in CA would pay a premium for another public school.
Private schools out of state are more likely to offer financial aid and even merit aid.
Thank you, that is what I was getting at when I asked the question. Sorry I should have been more clear in my question. We do feel very fortunate to have so many wonderful public universities in California. What most students in California schools are noticing lately is that many of their older classmates and apply to only 4-5 UC’s because they have great stats, but are not getting in. So in order to have more opportunities it is important to add to that list UC Merced (the highest UC acceptance rate), or Cal State Schools, or maybe adjacent states that have good schools that offer in state tuition to California students, or choose private schools that might be a good match. All of these are wonderful choices I will add. I have a good handle on the California and adjacent state option but there are so many private schools outside of the west that I know nothing about. I thought I would help my daughter by getting a short list of options she could research and we could possibly visit this summer.
Rice, Northwestern, University of Rochester. For Greek life and a vibrant social scene plus great academics then maybe Tulane and Vanderbuilt. I hear Vanderbilt loves high stats.
Following with interest as have many friends who ask advice for similar situations. I would caution that most of the schools being suggested are not “matches” for anyone, as they are highly selective. OP is right that no one in CA can consider the top 5 or 6 UCs and the top 3-4 Cal States as safeties anymore, no matter what their GPA and test scores. (And right now, CA community colleges only manage to have about 20% of students successfully transfer and graduate with a BA in 8 years, so while that is an option, it is not a statistically desirable one. Trust me, I spend lots of time in meetings with these statistics. Some kids do great at CC, but it doesn’t work out as well as many think it does.) If you’re willing to consider religiously-affiliated privates in CA, you have more options, but those who want a secular environment and don’t luck out with the state schools have a foggy road ahead, particularly if they really want a residential college experience.
Totally correct ccprofandmomof2. I have many friends who are very blinded to reality and think their bright 4.0 California kid will have their pick of colleges upon graduation. I just retired from one of those selective UC’s and know how crazy this has gotten. The schools want more applications to increase their selectivity and there are more kids wanting to get into their schools. I have an independent child and I really would prefer to step back and let my daughter work her way through this but it is just so competitive that if I can help by just presenting and supporting a wide range of options, that might also include a gap year, might help her be flexible and increase her chances of getting into a school she will love. Community college transfer is an excellent choice but my daughter has rejected it. She definitely wants the traditional 4 year freshman-senior college undergraduate experience.
@harvardandberkeley I mentioned Wisconsin for a couple of reasons. One, the cost differential between IS CA and OOS UW is about $15K not $40K for some privates (none of us knows what merit/financial aid will be available). Two, the OP said his daughter was focused on 5 UC’s, which are not small, so I wanted to offer something comparable in case she didn’t get into her #1 or #2 UC’s. Honestly, I am not sure why some are suggesting small NE schools. The travel alone will be expensive.
Thanks lastone03. I must admit I didn’t think that the cost difference between publics OOS would be that different from state to state. I will check out Wisconsin.
For someone interested in Math, UC Santa Barbara’s College for Creative Studies would provide a very unique opportunity. It has been described as a “graduate school for undergraduates” and requires a separate application.
I’ll join the chorus of those scratching their heads as to why look at OOS publics when D is instate for the UCs and CSUs, but since OP has asked, some OOS publics worth considering might include Michigan, Univ. of Washington, UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech, and UT Austin.
Privates to look at include: CMU, Hopkins, Mudd (the consortium makes a small school bigger), Wake Forest, Case Western, Wash U, Rice, and Vanderbilt. For the right kid, Reed is a great choice. Of course, most of these are reaches for everyone, so OP needs to have some good matches and safeties…
Perfect timing! She has a college tour of UCSB next Friday. I will see if I can get connected with someone in that college. It sounds interesting. I do appreciate your comments on out of state publics, but I know my daughter is pretty familiar with many of the local Cal State Universities and is not interested in them. She wants to be at a very competitive math/science school that has an active campus life. I think OOS publics that can come close to the cost and have that can come close to the finance and have a more favorable admission percentage might be good to add to our list.
@LoveTheBard - again, I offered UW-Madison as a comparable back up if the UC’s don’t come through. Not sure why that is headscratching. From what the OP mentioned, I am not sure why someone would think Wake would be a match. It has less than 5000 students which is nothing like UCSB which has 25K students, and isn’t the easiest place to get to from CA (Charlotte or Raleigh would be the best bets).
@19parent one other you might consider is the University of South Carolina’s Honors College. They give fantastic merit aid for OOS students (essentially allowing high qualified applicants to pay in state tuition which is less than $25K). Just a thought.
@19parent Do you know your EFC and what you can really afford per year?
25k a year, 30 k, 40k
Given her ambitious and hard-working personality + interest in both Finance and STEM, you should consider big research schools that are excellent across the board, that send lots of kids to business school and Wall Street and that also have a thriving social scene.
The short list here (also considering your travel-related constraint) would include:
Others worth considering: U Chicago, Johns Hopkins, NYU
Yikes! I have my work cut out for me. I have a list of 9 public and 34 privates to research. I really do appreciate everyone who responded. and gearmom to answer your question, I have done the FAFSA and a few EFC and money might be something we will consider when comparing institutions that are equal, especially if she gets admitted to one of the top universities in California, but I don’t want to take any school off the table until I have a chance to research it further. I only have one child and I decided to adopt late in life and she has been an amazing daughter. I have no doubt that she will make the most of anywhere she chooses and it will be money well spent and I will make it work, even if I have to come out of retirement for a few years.
In terms of your general criteria, your daughter may like the well-rounded aspects of a NESCAC school. Especially since her preferences may not be entirely clear at this time, these colleges should not be overlooked. As academic fits, in particular, several from the group could be excellent for her.
OP, we were in a similar situation last year with our high stats CA son (although he was not interested in math/science majors). He got very good merit offers and admission to the Honors programs at a number of OOS publics, including Pitt, UMD, and UMN. He ended up being admitted to all of the UCs he applied to and will attend UCLA, but that was not guaranteed, as you are wise to realize. Good luck!
Pitt gives very good merit for high stats, especially for students who apply early (they’re rolling), and would be a low match / safety for your daughter. Kids seem generally quite happy there. Case Western is very STEM-focused and gives merit, and would be a match (not easy to get into, certainly, but not as highly selective as some of the others that have been suggested). It’s quite a bit smaller than the UCs, but not a small school, and it’s urban (Cleveland) with a lot of arts. They care about demonstrated interested. My kid loved it when he was looking at schools and he said he could easily see himself ending up there.
@pickledginger thanks for refreshing my thread. This week I am sitting her down and having her narrow her choices. Since I posted this thread my D19 was accepted and is attending (picking her up tomorrow) the MIT Womens Technology Program. Very selective engineering program. She is loving it. They had a college night with all the top schools there. She now wants to add Chicago and Rice to her list along a few others. I am going to have to bring her back to earth and try to get a reasonable mix. I am trying to add Arizona, Washington and Oregon Publics to her Cal schools - UC’s, USC and Stanford and out of state high reaches. She is very resistant. It will be an interesting year…
Rice would be a good fit for her academically, but it does not have Greek life. However, It has Division 1 sports and a good cheer squad. http://cheer.rice.edu
Rice gives out some merit. If she likes MIT and Rice, she probably would also like U Chicago, but it is very expensive.
In terms of OOS publics I would add Utah. Great math department, excellent merit aid and wonderful Honors College dorms. Much better than Oregon for all those things, but tends to be ignored by Californians.