Is this a balanced college list? (UCs & CSUs?)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I'll be applying to colleges this upcoming fall and want to make sure my list has a good number of reaches, matches and safeties. Any input will be helpful. :)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.96 UW 4.54 W
UC GPA: 4.43
Rank: 5/260
California Resident
Major: Probably Economics
SAT: 670 CR 670 M 700 W; Composite: 2040 (Only sitting, will be retaking in Sept)
SAT II: Chem - 730; Math II - 680
AP: English Language - 5; Chemistry - 3 (Ouch); Will be taking AP US Government, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C and AP English Literature during my senior year</p>

<p>Major ECs: 4 Year Varsity Cheerleading (2 years captain); Club Cheerleading; Editor in Chief of School Newspaper; Involved in Interact Club; Girl Scout; Life Member of CSF</p>

<p>My School List:</p>

<p>Reach - Georgetown, Duke, USC
Match - Berkeley, UCLA (High matches?), UCSD, UCSB, Cal Poly SLO
Safety - UC Irvine, Chapman, San Diego State, Long Beach State</p>

2

<p>Berkeley and UCLA are probably slightly more selective than USC, though all of these schools have varying selectivity by division or major.</p>

<p>UCR can be a 100% sure thing admissions safety if you sign up for this program in July and include it in your regular UC application: <a href=“New Students | Apply | Undergraduate Admissions | UC Riverside”>http://admissions.ucr.edu/whyucr/ourguarantee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>But you need to check each school’s net price calculator for affordability.</p>

3

<p>Thank you. I have already signed up for that. </p>

<p>The only schools where financials may be a problem are Georgetown, Duke, and USC.</p>

4

<p>Agree with UCBalumnus. Your SAT score is too low for Berkeley and UCLA and probably USC, Georgetown, and Duke.</p>

5

<p>So should I consider all five of those reaches? Should I scrap applying to those altogether?</p>

6

<p>No you have a good list and you can apply to any of those. The UC being single app makes sense to apply widely.</p>

7

<p>“The only schools where financials may be a problem are Georgetown, Duke, and USC.”</p>

<p>–If you’re unsure about that, you need to run the NPCs on them and start asking the folks some hard questions about your max family contribution, income/assets, etc. Schools at the Reachy end are typically the wealthiest ones, so if you’re choosing three private reaches that you might not be able to afford, that’s a potentially weak strategy. </p>

<p>–Cal Poly SLO might not be affordable for you either, then, as they meet only 58% of need.</p>

<p>–You’re willing to travel to the east coast for college so (depending on your financial situation) you might be better served looking at a few Liberal Arts Colleges.</p>

<p>–You have too many Safety-ish schools and too many improbable Reaches. Your list is shaped like a dumbbell when it should be shaped more like a football, or if not a football, then a cheerleading baton without the bulbous ends. </p>

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<p>add university of pittsburgh and butler university as schools you should look at.(IMO)</p>

9

<p>Pitt will have some merit for you if you raise the SAT above 1450+ (based on what I saw this past year); they also consider rank important. They could be as cheap as 38-33K.</p>

10

<p>@Dunboyne‌ Privates are the only schools which may be a problem. But with minimal financial aid we would be able to afford the cost of attendance, my mom is very on top of financial aid. Also, I’m having quite a lot of trouble finding schools that are a match for me, it seems that many schools seem to fall into safety or reach category based on my stats. Any suggestions?</p>

<p>@zobroward‌ I will take a look at those thanks.</p>

<p>@jkeil911‌ I’m hoping for quite a lot of merit aid at Chapman. Their financial aid calculator estimated about 35k in merit aid based on my current stats. So I’ll look into Pitt and see if i could get as much there.</p>

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<p>It’s hard to suggest private schools without knowing what you mean by “minimal financial aid”. Will you qualify for need-based aid or is merit aid a must? </p>

<p>If you qualify for need-based and you won’t require much of it, there are plenty of Matches out there. If you require merit aid to cover your shortfall, Matches and Reaches would give way to Safeties/Likelies and your list would be shaped like a cheer horn.</p>

12

<p>That seems like a pretty decent list. I would move Berkley and UCLA up to the reach categories. I would move USC down to a match. Your SAT scores are about average for USC and your GPA is above average. </p>

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<p>It’s a very good list. Consider applying EA to Georgetown.</p>

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<p>Here is the summary of Berkeley decisions reported on these forums:
<a href=“Berkeley Frosh Class of 2018 decision summary - #10 by ucbalumnus - University of California - Berkeley - College Confidential Forums”>Berkeley Frosh Class of 2018 decision summary - #10 by ucbalumnus - University of California - Berkeley - College Confidential Forums;

<p>Note the variation by major – and for most of the schools on your list, your intended major affects admission selectivity.</p>

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<p>@Dunboyne‌ I will probably qualify for need-based aid at most universities but will require little. Merit aid is a plus, but would prefer going to a school that is better suited to my stats, if that makes sense? Since financials are not a major issue.</p>

<p>@Miw140‌ Thanks for you input. (:</p>

<p>@fogcity‌ I forget to mention that, I am planning on applying EA, Georgetown & Berkeley are my top choices!</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus‌ Thank you that link is very helpful, since I"m not engineering hopefully I’ll be able to make the cut! hahah</p>

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<p>If you can get your SAT score up a little bit more on the retest, I think your chances will be quite good at USC and the schools below it.</p>

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<p>High Reach: Duke
Reach: Georgetown, Berkeley, USC, UCLA
Match: UCSD, Cal Poly SLO, UCSB
Likely: Chapman, UC Irvine
Safety: San Diego State, Long Beach State</p>

<p>–IMO, the balance would improve if you removed 1 Reach and 1 Safety and added 2 Matches.</p>

<p>–Matches: Pitzer, Rochester, Richmond, Occidental, Dickinson, Denison, for example. </p>

<p>–There’s also a handful of women’s college Matches where you might receive enough aid: Scripps, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke.</p>

<p>–If you’ve signed up for the UCR GAP as a Safety, consider having only UCR plus 1 Likely, then adding another Match or even a lower Reach like Oberlin, Davidson, Boston College.</p>

<p>–Run the NPCs on everything in your list, especially on Cal Poly SLO. If the Net Cost/Contribution number for SLO is not acceptable, toss it and add another more affordable Match. </p>

<p>–Fit is a huge part of the equation, of course, so if you’ve come to L-O-V-E your choices then I’m sure you’ll be fine.</p>

18

<p>@Dunboyne‌ Thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunately, I just can’t see myself at any liberal arts colleges.</p>

<p>I have visited every college on my list as well as have been to every UC campus besides Merced and can see myself happy at all of them apart from SDSU and LBSU. SLO is the only CSU at which I can see myself at. So I think I may toss applying to SDSU and LBSU and just apply to UCR as safety and Chapman and UCI as likely.</p>

<p>Additionally, I visited Davis but was unsure about it, should I apply anyways since its all the same application?</p>

<p>So in summary is this updated a much more balances and advantageous list than my original:</p>

<p>High Reach: Duke
Reach: Georgetown, USC, UCB, UCLA
Match: UCSD, Cal Poly, UCSB, UCD
Likely: Chapman, UCI
Safety: UCR</p>

<p>Thanks for all the advice, btw.</p>

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<p>@Dunboyne‌ Also, since I’m in state, the tuition at SLO (even if I end up taking more than four years) is more than manageable for my family without any aid.</p>

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<p>Maybe Rochester and Boston College then (not LACs)? But yes, I think you’ve tweaked it for the better, and you should definitely go with what makes you comfortable. UCR GAP is a guaranteed admit, after all, so you’ll be fine on the bottom end.</p>