<p>Isn’t listing religion optional?</p>
<p>@Nekoogami Well, it’s the same application as UCB so I thought I would just apply to both. Santa Cruz is easier to get into. Davis is the closest to me so all the adults I know go there. It’s kind of less appealing to me because of that. I think they both count as safeties. Which one should I get rid of?</p>
<p>The UCs don’t give a lot of merit aid. But you are a match for Davis and Santa Cruz. Berkeley is a reach. Stanford is a huge reach unless your SAT goes up considerably. </p>
<p>According to DS’s Naviance, you’re a match for Reed, so go ahead and apply!</p>
<p>I just noticed the crosspost. Yes, Santa Cruz might be considered a safety for you because of stats, but I never count a UC as a safety just because of the very huge numbers of applicants. If you tend to discount Davis, why not apply to UCSC? It’s a great school for the right people, but you should visit it. My son was very pleased with it when we toured. You can apply to a college that fits your personality.</p>
<p>@Chlogan3921 I have no idea. Attending a religious school would however stop me from leading a secular student alliance in college. 
It would be worth it if the school was cheaper.</p>
<p>@calla1 What factors are determining this? Also, what is holding me back from UCB being a match? Is it my SATs? I thought that Reed’s averages were higher. Or are you factoring in selectivity, too?</p>
<p>sending you a pm.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for helping, I’ve narrowed the list down to fourteen schools now:
UC Davis
UC Berkeley
UC Santa Cruz
Santa Clara University
University of Pacific
Haverford College
Georgetown University
Colby College
Wesleyan University
Macalester College
Reed College
Oberlin College
Layola Marymount University
College of the Holy Cross</p>
<p>Any more advice?</p>
<p>If you need to cut down schools you can always just get rid of the ones far away. You need to delete at least 2 more I think (just my opinion)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In the Brandeis 2012-13 Common Data Set, the school claims to meet ~95% of need on average for students awarded any need-based aid. Out of 489 students determined to have need, they claim to have fully met the need of 470 (96%). These are better than the numbers for University of the Pacific (9.5% of students with need fully met), Santa Clara (~33% of students w/need fully met), UC Santa Cruz (37% of students w/need fully met), UC Davis (17% of students w/need fully met , 82% of need met on average), or UC Berkeley (~19% of students w/need fully met, 83% of need met on average).</p>
<p>Earlham College might be a good alternative to some of those LACs. It has strong life sciences (#10 for life science PhD production adjusted for school size), is much less selective than Haverford/Oberlin/etc., and offers decent n-b aid (96% of need covered on average.)</p>
<p>Re: #29</p>
<p>Don’t rely on those listings of percentage of need met.</p>
<p>Go to each school’s website and put “net price calculator” in the search box, fill it in, and see what it comes up with for a financial aid estimate for your situation. Different schools which “meet need” may define “need” differently, based on how they calculate EFC and what they assume for ESC.</p>
<p>UCs’ net price calculators indicate that they generally meet need for in-state students, with a net price = FAFSA_EFC + ESC, where ESC is an expected student contribution of $8,500 to $10,000 per year (Stafford loan + work or work-study earnings).</p>
<p>Californians tend to not apply to schools in the midwest, midatlantic, and south (to a lesser extent), so you’d bring diversity if you applied to colleges in these regions.
Unless you have a hook, Stanford and UC Berkeley are super-reaches - apply if you want to but don’t count them as being on your list.
Apply to one more UC.
Macalester, Oberlin, and Eckerd are your best bets outside the UCs. Eckerd is not as good as the others for FA though. Schools like Macalester (upper midwest, fairly liberal, good for international study and science) include St Olaf, Earlham, Beloit. Schools like Oberlin include St Lawrence (WI), Grinnell, New College Florida, etc. These would all be matches or safeties for you.
U of Pacific is probably your only safety as of now.
Haverford, Georgetown, , Colby, Boston College , Wesleyan, Brandeis University
= Colby is the only rural one; BC is the only conservative, religious one (GT is religious-liberal). If you like Haverford, why not apply to Bryn Mawr? Yes it’s a women’s college but it’s also part of a consortium (together with Haverford) and financial aid is quite good.</p>
<p>@tk21769 Okay, I’ll keep Brandeis on my list until I run the financial aid calculator. And I’ll add Earlham College, thanks!</p>
<p>@MYOS1634
Is the information on this wrong?
[UC</a> Berkeley Admissions: SAT Scores, Financial Aid & More](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/Berkeley_Profil.htm]UC”>UC Berkeley: Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores, GPA)
Or am I defining a match wrong? I thought a match is when your sat and gpa scores are within the range of those accepted. Also, what are examples of a hook?
I deleted Stanford from the list already but I’m still quite attatched to UC Berkeley. Would I have better chances if I transfered from a community college?
I added Grinnell, New College Flordia, St. Lawrence, and Earlham to the list.
Should I add UCLA or UC San Diego?
Thanks for the suggestions!</p>
<p>Yes UCB also has a roughly 20% admit rate, which makes things iffier because it means 4/5 applicants are turned down, the majority of whom were perfectly qualified. A score of 2000 on the SAT and a recalculated GPA of 3.9 or so place you roughly in the middle of the pack, meaning that odds are 50/50 you won’t get in even with these stats. That’s why UCB should be thought of as a “reach”.
[Campus</a> announces 2013-14 freshman admissions numbers](<a href=“http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/18/campus-announces-2013-14-freshman-admissions-decisions/]Campus”>Campus announces 2013-14 freshman admissions numbers | Berkeley News)
If you really like the school, do apply - especially with the middle class promise “cap” it makes the school really affordable. After all, you <em>may</em> well get in. 
If you apply to UCB, UCSB, UCSC, you should be covered as far as in-state goes.
A hook is when you are something the school wants - an underrepresented minority, a legacy, an Intel winner, a basketball player… It depends on schools. Being among under-represented groups geographically speaking also helps (essentially, applying to states where few of your peers think of applying makes you rarer, hence more interesting. These typically are 500+ miles from home and either in the Midwest or outside big cities.)</p>
<p>That makes sense, thanks for explaining!</p>
<p>I have a new list now but it’s longer:
UCLA
UC San Diego
UC Davis
UC Berkeley
UC Santa Cruz
Santa Clara U
U of Pacific
Haverford College
Georgetown University
Colby College
Wesleyan University
Brandeis University
Macalester College
Reed College
Oberlin College
Layola Marymount U
College of the Holy Cross
Middlebury College
Earlham College
St. Lawrence
Grinnell
New College Flordia
Bryn Mawr</p>