I would love to go to a California School

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi!
This fall, I will be a junior in high school.
I lived in California for two years when I was 8 and 9 before I had to move to MA because my dad switched jobs.
My goal and college plans are to go to a California School, preferably in southern Cali, as I want to be near L.A. because of job oppurtunities.
I do have a dilemma - my mother will not let me go to a California school unless A. I get into Stanford, or B. I get a scholarship to another Californian College.
My top choices as of now are
Stanford
UCLA
Univ of Southern California
Claremont McKenna
but I am also looking at a few other UC schools
Now, as for my college profile...
I am ranked either 3rd or 4th in a class of about 170.
Freshmen year I took
Honors English - final grade 93
Honors Biology - 95
Fitness/Wellness - 95
Honors French I - 94
CP2 Acting I - 95
Honors Algebra II (I've always been a year ahead in math since 7th grade) - 96
Honors World History - 93</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
Honors Playwriting - 87
Honors Chemistry - 91
AP Statistics - 96, 5 on exam
CP2 Acting II - 95
AP Euro History - 91, 4 on exam
Honors French II - 94
Honors Short Story and Poetry - 92</p>

<p>Jr year, I will be taking
CP2 Advanced Acting
AP Biology
Honors French III
Honors Precalculus
AP US History
Honors American Lit
Honors Critical Writing</p>

<p>I could be taking AP English Language and Composition instead of Amer. Lit AND critial writing, but then I would have to give up Acting, which is my passion and I've done it all through my high school years so far... I'm still debating this option... what do you guys think?</p>

<p>As for extracurriculars and honors and such,
I have been in the theatrical society since freshmen year, 2 musicals and 1 play, and currently hold the officer position of historian</p>

<p>I am in Academic Decathlon and went to states with my team this year</p>

<p>I played tennis for a year last year and was planning to play this year but mom made me quit. I plan to take it up again next year</p>

<p>I do ballet, jazz, and pointe year-long at a dance school, and have been dancing for about 8 years now</p>

<p>I recently also started participating in the newspaper</p>

<p>I plan to be on prom committee this coming year</p>

<p>Community service -
66 hrs last summer at a camp as a CIT
this summer, working at a pediatrics department in a medical center, will probably end up with around 30 hours</p>

<p>I am in Who's Who among American High School Students
National Society of High School Scholars,
hoping to be in NHS this fall
and I always place Nationally in the top 10 in the Grand Concours, a nation-wide French exam competition</p>

<p>Took PSATs last year for practice and got 70 in both math and writing, 59 in critical reading =(
but I am taking it officially this fall
Have not taken SATs yet, but am in the process of prepping right now, finished practice test this morning and got
740 in math
680 crit read
610 writing
71 grammer
and essay has not been graded yet
(not sure if grammer, essay, and writing scores add up to make one)</p>

<p>If anyone has any advice on what schools would be good for me
or what I should do in my remaining high school years to get into the colleges I want
or any general advice on my courses, my chance of getting in, etc.
Please let me know.
Thanks a lot!</p>

2

<p>oh and I forgot to add that I would love to major in theater and/or fashion design, but parents are more practical beings and would only allow one or the other as a double major with something else.
My back-up plan would be entrepreneural studies, business or resort/hotel management</p>

3

<p>this is a little confusing</p>

<p>since you're not a CA resident, UCLA is going to be near impossible. so is stanford. even if you have an incredible junior year and your SAT is about 2100, they will be reaches.</p>

<p>Keep up the good work in junior year and you have good chances at USC and CMC. if you like LA, also consider: Occidental, Loyola Marymount, Pitzer, Pepperdine. all of them you should get into if you continue your trend. perhaps consider pomona, which is in the same league as UCLA out of state and stanford. if you're looking at scholarships only, yu may have to consider schools that aren't as prestigeous.</p>

4

<p>If you're interested in a small school with an arts flavor try Chapman. It is in Orange County, south of L.A. You might actually get that scholarship there.</p>

5

<p>I'm not sure how to approach this. If your mother is serious that it has to be Stanford, drop acting and take the APs. That said, your stats will still make Stanford a huge reach. So should we suggest realistic schools? I'm thinking Scripps and Pepperdine.</p>

6

<p>takeme2cali:</p>

<p>UCLA: Reach (out of state)</p>

7

<p>Be careful what you wish for. There are predictions of a massive string of earthquakes/tsunamis within the next 8 weeks.</p>

8

<p>If I had a good chance of going to Stanford then it would probably be best if I dropped acting and took the AP. But the thing is, at this point it doesn't look too favorably for me. So is it better to go with something I enjoy doing? Cause otherwise, I wouldn't have any other electives.</p>

9

<p>Just as namaste said, UCLA will be a reach because you are out of state. So will any of the UCs. Stanford is possible if you keep your grades and test scores at a really high level. USC is pretty competitive as well. I would also recommend looking into Loyola Marymount.</p>

10

<p>Your mom's crazy if she'll only let you go into Stanford. I'll just say, don't expect to go there.</p>

<p>If you need the scholarship, your realistic options are Pitzer, Occidental, Loyola Marymount, Chapman for the LA area. This is, assuming you do extremely well next year.</p>