Title is fairly self explanatory. I have a solid list of about 20 odd schools. most ppl are telling me to only apply to half of them but I honestly dont know how to cut. I have a fair few safeties, and a fair few reaches, but its only the matter of ticking a box for some of them so it not really a hassle to apply to them. As of right now, done with common app personal essay, uc essays, and loyola marymount essay
Some stats Weighted gpa: 4.0
unweighted 3.6
took 7 ap classes in HS
5 honors classes
varsity soccer player
act 28
sat 1820
UCs:
UC Berkeley
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Los Angeles
UC Merced
UC Riverside
UC San Diego
UC Santa Barbara
UC Santa Cruz
CSUs:
CA State Poly Univ Pomona
CA Poly State Univ San Luis Obispo
CSU Long Beach
CSU Los Angeles
San Diego State Univ
San Jose State Univ
Intended major?
Pick 2 safeties, 3-5 Match schools and 3 Reach schools from your list which is give you plenty of options.
How much can your parents afford? Affordability could eliminate some of the privates on your list.
Have you visited all these schools? You must have some preference?
I’d go ahead and apply to all, the UC’s and Cal States are one application each so that means you only have 8 apps, if several of your privates are on Common App, which I think they all are, then it’s ever fewer apps to manage.
With your strong grades, you do not need as many safety schools as you currently have on your list. Does it really make sense to apply to all 9 UC schools? That is $630 in application fees for just the UCs!
Have you run the Net Price Calculator with your family for all of the schools on your list? That is another quick way to eliminate some.
What are your academic interests? Would you prefer to be close to home?
Why do you have SDSU listed twice, including once as a private college?
I would say eliminate UCLA (they are very test-score focused and are known for rejecting even those with ACTs 34+), Merced, and choose between UCSD, UCSB, Davis, and Irvine. Each of the last 4 has almost identical stats and acceptance rates. I think SD and SB have nicer campuses and atmospheres.
If you’re certain you’ll get into Riverside, I would eliminate most or all of the CSUs as well. Out of your private schools, I only know about Loyola Marymount and Occidental, so I can’t really say much about that.
Would you really be happy to attend any of these and can you afford all of them? Start with that first and some may drop off right there.
I agree that paying for all 9 UC’s in app fees alone is a bit silly, and that’s not including the fees to send test scores.
UCB and UCLA are pretty reachy, I’d get rid of at least one. SLO may be as well depending on your intended major. For SLO you want to be pretty sure of that major going in, change is not easy and can add time.
I also agree with considering Chapman and cutting several of the CSU’s, pick 1-2 you like best.
@eandesmom has a lot of good points. The reason I recommend cutting UCLA and not Berkeley is that Berkeley is known for taking risks and accepting students who do not have the standardized tests scores/GPA. UCLA is much more like an Ivy League as far as admissions go.
Also, UCLA gets 100,000 applicants every year so differentiating yourself is almost impossible.
Cut UCLA (impossible) and UCM (your fallback); CSU LA, UCR, Westmont (un-necessary, you’ll get into a better CSU/UC). And now you’ve got a very manageable list.
There is a certain point where you are applying just for the sake of applying. Even if it is all one application you are just throwing your data out there and asking the UC/CSU systems to make a decision for you instead of making it yourself. If you got in everywhere, where would you go? Where would you not go?
Have you visited any of these schools? You have big, small, public, private, rural, urban and religious schools. It is kind of like applying for jobs in teaching, social work, human resources, accounting and health care just because you want a job. Figure out what type of school is right for you, where you would like to go and what you can afford. Rank your list accordingly and then make sure you have safeties, matches and reaches in your top 10-12 schools.
I can’t seem to find the UC ELC page where you can calculate if you are in the top 9%. With a 3.9 UC GPA and your test scores, it sounds like you are. If so, I wouldn’t pay for Merced as I believe your application will be sent there anyway.
If you/ or your parents are willing to spend 1,500 + on application fees go for it as you really won’t have that many single applications to fill out. If money is a factor I would go through and pick half of the UCs half of the CSUs and half of the privates. I have almost the same stats and if I was in your position I would apply to:
UCSB
UC Davis
Berkeley
UCSD
SDSU
CA Poly
LMU
Westmont
USD
Santa Clara
obviously I’m not you, but in summary cut it down to about half unless your willing to spend the $
thank you all for all the replies. Very helpful information. And I always try to have the financial talk with my folks but they keep saying not to worry about it. But I do know some of these privates are very expensive so I will check with them to see if we can afford it. Again thanks for the tips very helpful.
Have you run the NPC on all of these?
I’d definitely cut Westmont (you don’t need it as a academic safety and it’s not a financial safety), CSU LA (do you really want to attend a school with an 8% graduation rate?), and UCM (if you apply to UC’s, and don’t get into any, you should automatically qualify for UCM as ELC).
If money is not an obstacle in applying, I would recommend applying to 3-5 Reach schools, 4-5 Match schools and 2-3 Safety schools.
I would go to a website like https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search?navid=gh-cs first to evaluate each school carefully in terms of the parameters that are legitimately important to you… especially aspects related to cost, percentage of demonstrated financial need met by the school, etc. There is little point in applying to schools that may be difficult to attend financially if granted admission.
I also suggest proofreading your applications very carefully before submitting them… more so than this thread’s Title, for example… lol Make each application count.
Make each application count.