<p>Hey guys!</p>
<p>I am from California, and I will be a senior this year. I have no idea which schools I can even get into that are right for me, so I need some help! </p>
<p>I am looking to stay in California as everything I know is here, but if I REALLY have to and have a better chance at getting in, then I will go out of state.</p>
<p>I have a 3.54 GPA and my first and only SAT I got a 1660. I plan to retake the SAT and plan to take the ACT. </p>
<p>Price doesn't matter, as long as it's not $60,000!</p>
<p>I have terrible ECs, as I am a shy person
-Vice President of science club
-Youth leadership member of my local town for 1 year
-Member of the black student union
I can't really think of any other things I do that count as ECs, but I will add if I can think of any!</p>
<p>I didn't take many AP or Honors classes (only 2 so far) as my counselor never told me to sign up for any or that they would help me in the long run. </p>
<p>I don't know what I want to major in but I want to eventually go to medical school.</p>
<p>I would like somewhere with a LARGE student population (preferably diverse) and in a city.</p>
<p>My dad will not allow me to go to a community college, and he would rather I not go to a CSU, so unfortunately I'll probably HAVE to go out of state as I doubt any UCs will take me.</p>
<p>Can you guys help me find a university that would be a good fit for me?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>By just going a search on Naviance’s SuperMatch College search, I found a few schools that fit based on your GPA and SAT score.</p>
<p>UC Santa Cruz
UC Riverside
San Diego State U
San Francisco State</p>
<p>I’m not really familiar with the California universities, so don’t take my answer in set stone.</p>
<p>Have you thought about an OOS flagship like Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona, etc? All are large schools with a multitude of opportunities. The only one that might not be a safety is UO. Also is that your UC GPA?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t necessarily discount the UCs. You’re not getting into SB, Davis, or LA, but Riverside, SC, two medium sized schools are matches.</p>
<p>I agree that you should consider Arizona State and the University of Arizona. The estimated cost of attendance for an OOS student is $34,736 at ASU and $41,910 at U of A. Both offer large, diverse student populations and lots of opportunity.</p>
<p>Have you considered any of the HBCUs? For a pre-med, that can be a great option.</p>
<p>Thanks. That is not my UC GPA. That is just the GPA on my transcript. I was looking at the University of Oregon, but I didn’t know if it would be good for a student who wants to go to medial school</p>
<p>@siliconvalleymom, I’m not really interested in an HBCU. It’s not really what I am used to as I live in a town with a small portion of African Americans.</p>
<p>And that sucks, I kinda wanted to go to a school with a football team if I were to go to any school in California or any school in general.</p>
<p>Yes, Oregon is fine. Eugene is one of the largest cities in Oregon, and there are a couple of hospitals there which will allow for shadowing and what not.</p>
<p>Most schools with good football teams don’t have the highest admission standards, and are either matches or safeties for you. </p>
<p>When you say price doesn’t matter, what’s the maximum your family can afford?</p>
<p>Probably $30,000 at the ABSOLUTE most if it’s not going to be a “prestigious” school. It would be different if I were to get into a top school.</p>
<p>And by the way, I don’t want to go to universities where there weather is hot. So I guess that rules out Anywhere in Arizona, and probably much of the south.</p>
<p>I’m from SoCal and lived in Ga and currently live in Oklahoma. Ga is much colder than Southern California, so I wouldn’t necessarily discount all of the South other than perhaps parts of Texas and Florida.</p>
<p>Haha, Texas and Florida were pretty much what I meant in terms of the south. Although I am not sure there are any schools in the south though that I would like.</p>
<p>And beaches!! I can’t forget beaches. I want to be within at most 3-4 hours from a beach. Which pretty much puts me back in California, haha!</p>
<p>Go to any decent state college or university which is within reach. Do 2 years there and focus on nailing a 4.0 with a broad variety of classes to get prerequisites done. It can also be a very affordable school or even online state program too.</p>
<p>Apply for a transfer into Columbia GS Pre Med.</p>
<p>Columbia GS is only for people who’ve taken a break from school. Also it doesn’t have a football team of note.</p>
<p>If I get into a school like UC Santa Cruz, would I be able to transfer to UCLA or Cal, or would that be a bad idea considering I’d basically have to start over with friends and what not?</p>
<p>There aren’t a lot of CA schools with football teams. You have to think of what the priorities are here. If you are serious about getting into medical school, I’d think football would be the least of your criteria. And if you won’t compromise on hot weather and beaches and large cities you are limiting your choices severely. The first thing you need to think about for medical school is a school that will prepare you for the MCAT and a school where you can pull top grades at. $30k isn’t going to go far OOS, in that includes your room and board. Instate CSU honors programs would seem a nice compromise. San Diego State especially, nice weather and usually doesn’t get too hot for a beach town. Also USD is a great school, be sure to look it up, but expensive. UC Riverside and UC Merced are possibles, if you can get into Santa Cruz you’d be crazy not to take it. Your father maybe short sighted not to let you go to a CC under the articulation agreement that lets you transfer and graduate from a UC (though I’d be against it too unless there weren’t other options and )do have them. Santa Barbara City College with transfer to UCSB would be a clear pathway and save him a lot of money, even with paying for your apartment. But I’m not sure that med schools like 2 years at a CC, you might check the med school forum here. Be aware that most of the students who intend to go to medical flush out during the premed classes, especially organic chemistry. And most will not get accepted to medical school. You can go for it, but be realistic about plan B and also about how good of grades you will need to get. Cal Poly SLO is mild weather near the beach, but I don’t know what your chances are. Loyola Marymount to be in LA, you are likely in there.</p>
<p>Getting your test scores up will help you a lot. Go to the SAT-preparation subforum under the SAT/ACT section to read 2 posts in particular where there are some really good study guides by successful student posters here. It is a lot of work but worth it. You can also use the College Board blue book, first ed I think, along with the prep videos on khanacademy</p>
<p>edit to answer your last question: no you cannot transfer between UC’s they don’t allow it, and it isn’t necessary, Santa Cruz is a great school. Your only route to Berkeley or UCLA is CC.</p>
<p>Thanks. Really the only reason why I want a football team is because I want a team with school spirit. It’s not at the very top of my criteria, but I don’t want to go to a school where everything is study study study, and nothing fun at all. My dad doesn’t want me to go to a CC because he feels I’d end up like my brother, and it would be an embarrassment, which is dumb because he doesn’t realize that it’s harder to get into college now than it was back then. He actually went to Cal Poly SLO.</p>
<p>And I guess if I most likely won’t make it, then I guess I’ll just scratch out medical school…
I may as well just pick something else to focus on. I don’t know what though…I wanted to be a forensic pathologist, but change of plans now :-/</p>
<p>If you don’t mind three months of snow, then University of Minnesota is the right school for you!</p>