Jr. w/ A- stats + high rigor seeking non-elite options for growth/challenge

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Who will love her best and help her grow most?

Parent of hard working D24 kid who always reaches for challenges, but whose non-perfect unweighted grades are affecting some choices and leading to discouragement. Would like suggestions for schools that appreciate weighted grades/have holistic review/have good honors colleges, etc. Mid-to-large schools w/ honors colleges or small-mid with strong student life (sports teams and clubs more + than Greek life) are best options. Scholarships a plus. Prestige w/ good ROI and networking considered, but not the top priority.

US citizen , Arizona

Large public HS known for rigor (US News ranked in District, State, US)
Female
2E, adds context to a few Bs and relates to psych interest, but will not need extra assistance or accommodations

Undecided major. Interests in film/tv/communications; interdisciplinary with history or psychology & STEM

UW GPA: 3.7
AZ Academic UW GPA: 3.75
Weighted G.PA: 4.45
UC capped weighted GPA: 4.19
Note: Bs in classes 1-2 years ahead of average
Class rank : projected Magna Cum Laude or Summa Cum Laude (no numeric rank, cut at 4.5)
ACT 30; SAT 1400

22/29 courses at IB/AP/DE or honors level
IB full diploma candidate (completed standard HS curriculum in 3 years, will finish w/IB program plus higher level coursework senior year); “Most rigorous curriculum” designation
Spanish 4/5 (despite eligibility to skip FL due to LD)
Calculus 3 (<1% reach this level in our district)
TV Live News (Anchor 3 years)

Possible National Merit commended TBD (97th percentile PSAT)

CTE certificate (Fim/TV)
Biliteracy seal (Spanish)

Girl Scout Bronze/Silver/Gold

300+ service hours, 3 independent research/ passion projects, work w/college prof, multiple counselor/leader certifications w/GS, assistant theater director work, theater/show choir/dance since age 2 (25+ performances), gifted 2E/advocate, founder of elementary TV journalism program, Theater summer intensives performer and counselor, part-time job

Essays/LORs/Other
TBD/strong writer
/ close relationships with teachers and counselor due to research projects

Cost Constraints / Budget
Up to 60k for perfect program/location, but outside CA, preference given to schools with Honors programs and potential merit aid packages

Schools
ASU, U of Arizona, Northern Arizona (automatic safeties); Honors programs at these schools likely/match; USD likely

Match/reach ( After 2023 admissions cycle, we feel all matches may be reaches)
SDSU, Cal Poly SLO, UC Boulder, U of Miami (family connection, demonstrated interest); UCSB, UCLA, USC

Looking for places we may not know about— especially CA schools (private ok) where Aid is possible.

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She has a tremendous “brag sheet” so I don’t think she is going to have any trouble. Is the $60k annual? Is she open to the East Coast?

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Yes, 60K annual (USC being our top stretch limit). She prefers warm and “beachy” ( within a couple hours of the coast) so SE and Florida are maybes. Southern California is “the dream” location, but she hasn’t found the dream school. Thank you!

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Chapman? LMU?

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We really liked Elon in NC. They have a great communications major and give some merit. Loved the campus and community there.

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Thank you! We don’t hear as much about SE schools in our local community, but NC is beautiful. We will check out Elon’s page.

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Thank you! We will check these out.

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The UC’s will be running about $72K/year next year as an OOS applicant with little to no FA so they will probably be out of budget?

Cal Poly SLO and SDSU would be in Budget but neither is a solid Match.

Have you considered some of the WUE schools such in Oregon or Hawaii?

https://www.wiche.edu/tuition-savings/wue/wue-savings-finder/

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You can calculate if she is National Merit Commended. The cut off has been announced as a selection index of 207.

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Thank you!

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Loyola Marymount?

DePaul in Chicago has a great TV program and fantastic facilities.

FSU has a top rated film school but very tough admit. S21 didn’t get in but did get digital media, honors and OOS tuition waiver. DMP is probably a better fit.

Beautiful campus and happy kids. Lots of clubs. He’s always working on films.

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American in DC also came to mind. Expensive so probably would need merit.

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Thank you. I have heard the publics in CA do not award much in the way of aid— does that include need based aid as well? I think SDSU is a top contender at the moment, although maybe a reach?

We will have an outside scholarship portfolio & college fund, but will recalculate using your numbers to determine financial reaches, as ours from our counselor were lower. We are also looking at possible credits for IB and AP depending on scores, so we may have some saving on room/board there if she graduates sooner. The big financial reaches are also academic reaches, so these will now go in the high reach category.

Would any of the WUE CA schools be considered “quietly” rigorous— in fact more than reputation— to a kid who seeks out opportunities? So far, none on the list have grabbed her interest.

Thanks again!

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Thanks for the FSU alt. major suggestion— that may change the odds and may be a better fit actually.

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I think the stats this year for the FSU OOS waiver was 32 ACT/1410? SAT, high gpa and no C’s on transcript.

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I came to suggest Oregon State University. It’s not sunny, but only an hour or so from the beach (but not a warm one).
University of Utah is also part of WUE and worth considering.

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UC’s and CSU’s offer no need-based aid for OOS applicants other than eligible need-based Federal aid and their merit aid is very limited to the top 1-2% applicants for UC Regents and some OOS merit scholarships. You should expect to pay full fees at the UC’s and CSU’s.

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Thanks! I guess I need to look more closely at FSU. We have family in Florida, so that’s always a plus. She may retake the ACT— it was a chaotic administration at our school the first time. 10 SAT points may be worth a retake there as well.

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Below is a list of several schools that your family may want to look into. They all have some strengths in the film/tv/comms areas, though for film in particular, UNC-Wilmington and Atlanta are probably among those that don’t get as much attention on the west coast, but have strong ties to the film industry. Additionally, although warm and beachy may describe both California and Florida, there can be a very different culture/vibe between the two states.

I am not an admissions professional, so the categories here are just my (very fallible) guesses as to what your daughter’s chances for admission might be. I generally veer away from chancing on California publics, but perhaps @Gumbymom will weigh in on Cal State: Monterey Bay as she already has on San Diego State. And these are my sense of the general chance of admission, but if a particularly popular major requires admission at entry (Florida State, UNC-Wilmington for the film-related ones) then they can easily drop into lower or low probability chances.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • California Lutheran: About 2600 undergrads

  • Georgia State: About 29k undergrads; moving away from a commuter reputation…57% of first year students live in the dorms, which is still at least 3500 kids.

Likely (60-79%)

  • Chapman (CA): About 7700 undergrads

  • Eckerd (FL): About 2k undergrads

  • Florida Southern: About 2800 undergrads

  • Pepperdine (CA): About 3700 undergrads

  • U. of North Carolina – Wilmington: About 14k undergrads

  • U. of South Carolina: About 27k undergrads. Not exactly “beachy” but strong comms programs and has one of the best-reputed honors colleges in the country, though I don’t know if she would get into it.

  • U. of Tampa (FL): About 10k undergrads

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Florida State: About 34k undergrads

  • Loyola Marymount (CA): About 7100 undergrads

  • Occidental (CA): About 2k undergrads

  • U. of San Diego (CA): About 5700 undergrads

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • U. of Miami (FL) About 12k undergrads

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Emory (GA): About 7100 undergrads

California Publics – someone else will need to chance you

  • Cal State: Monterey Bay: 6700 undergrads. Not necessarily the warmest year-round, but Monterey is beautiful and this is one of the few Cal States that is classified as being a residential campus

  • San Diego State (CA): About 31k undergrads

ETA:

Are any of the family members grandparents? If so, Florida does have a program where grandchildren of Florida residents can get in-state tuition.

Also, the Atlanta schools are part of a consortium, so your D could take classes at the other schools (i.e. Emory, Spelman, Agnes Scott, Georgia Tech, SCAD, Georgia State, etc).

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Cal Poly Pomona checks many of the boxes you linked. The school spirit might be a bit harder to find, but it does have many academic areas that punch above it’s weight. It’s also part of the WUE system.

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