<p>School just got out for me so I've been intensely focusing on college admissions partially because of boredom but also because right now is obviously a pretty relevant time to begin. Still, I think the wealth of information readily available (especially through this site) has gotten kind of overwhelming, so I decided to pseudo finalize my list in hopes that you guys could give me some pointers regarding the reaches/matches/safeties, etc.</p>
<p>My data is pretty sparse: 3.0 UMich GPA (eg. unweighted), 3.4 UC GPA (3.0 soph year to 3.8 UC-weighted junior year)</p>
<p>Hardest courseload, Asian male from top 250 HS in CA</p>
<p>SAT 1- 2200/ CR 800, M 680, W 720
SAT 2- 760 Bio, 750 Lit, projected 700+ on Math 2C and USH</p>
<p>ECs- debate captain, 300+ hours science camp counselor
My recs should be average to ****ty, and my essays should be pretty decent.</p>
<p>Personality sorts of things- I'm generally pretty political, I've been a vegan for a year or two now, and I like to loaf around playing guitar and reading books. I'm also a huge basketball addict.</p>
<p>I would probably major in Philosophy.</p>
<p>Reaches:
UMich OOS- this is my dream school because of its intellectual atmosphere, social realm, and school unity. Basically, it feels like home except better.
USC- I'm generally pretty into large schools that are simultaneously fanatical about sports teams but still maintain strong academic standards (obviously not to degrade other schools that aren't on my list) and my campus visit to USC felt great.
Oberlin- I really like the feeling over Oberlin as well... the music scene is pretty amazing and I have a feeling that Obies won't berate me endlessly about being a vegan.</p>
<p>Matches:
UCSB- I'm a big fan of a happy social atmosphere and SB would definitely satisfy those issues... Further, I'm not too worried about the degree of philosophical interest at a lot of these schools because I've been pretty self motivated in terms of just reading on my own (not to imply that SB sucks academically- the people I know who are going to SB this year are intelligent).
UCI- I've heard some pretty bad stories about the prevalence of the OC culture in Irvine... It's definitely a good school that I wouldn't mind gritting my teeth through but I'd rather replace it with a more political campus.
University of the Pacific- The pluses for UoP are money, expediency, and proximity to home. The minuses are that it's kind of in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>Safeties:
UC Merced
UC Riverside
CSU Long Beach</p>
<p>I know it seems kind of illogical to have three matches, two of which I wouldn't really enjoy the atmosphere of, but truthfully these are all campuses I would feel fine in (safeties included). Anyway, I could definitely take advice both on expanding my list and on cutting it down.</p>