My Chances for Yale, UCLA, Cal State San Marcos, Brown, Princeton, UCB, and UCSC

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi a little background on me, I am Hispanic(Latino) and I do not have a lot of financial benefits, so I am unsure if the colleges will look down on that. But regardless, I have tried my best to become a first generation college student on my father’s side. And also, for my personal statement I am writing about how my mother’s hospitalization (my father was absent for a majority of my life and I was under the care of my grandparents) has impacted me, and how despite my unstable life, I made my education a priority (the only stable thing in my life) I am sorry for talking way too much, I’ll just show you my stats ::smiley:

Education:
SAT: 2160 AP’s: Taken 9 (Passed 8 exams) GPA: 3.7988 (unweighted)
Taken Courses at a Community College.
Class Rank: Top 5 Percent

Clubs:
HS Insider Chapter President. (11th Grade -Current)
Founder and President of Charity Water Club (10th Grade - Current)

Work Experiences:
Senior Recreational Center Intern (Summer as a rising Junior )
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank Intern (Summer as a Rising Junior)

Athletic Programs/ Activities:
Students Run Los Angeles (7th Grade- Current)
Varsity Cross Country (9th Grade)

Photography/ Hobby:
APLA Art Donation
Arts Revival Exhibition (Photography)
Instagram Weekend Hashtag Project Winner

Community Service:
Has completed over 300 hours of community service
Community and Coastal Clean Ups Volunteer (9-11th Grade)
Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles Volunteer (2015)

Special Olympics SoCal Fall Games Volunteer (Junior)

Enrichment Programs/ Activities :
Chicano Leadership Program (Summer as a rising senior)
Host Family for Chinese Students ( 10th Grade)

Academic Programs/Activities
High School Tutor for Chemistry Students (11th Grade - 12th Grade)
College Match (11th - 12th )

School Leadership Positions:
Council Leader (9-10)
School Site Council Member (11-12)
Leadership Class Member (11th Grade)

Awards:

Honor Roll (9th-12th)
Bio Award (9th)
English Award (9th, 10th)
Leadership Award (10th)
Presidential Athletic Champion (11th)

I have also done these things but I think I already have to many EC’s

Raised money and have done 3 Charity Walks in 9th Grade
Raised money for the people affected by the Tsunami in the Philippians (2013)
Helped organize and completed 4 times ( GLSEN Day of Silence)
Participated in Denim Day

I am sorry, I am really nervous… I feel like no one will accept me because of my fiances.

I am hoping for you to chance me for Yale, Brown, Princeton, UCLA, UC Berkely, UC Santa Cruz, and Cal State Marcos

Also. I passed all the College Classes (5 of them with an A) and my parents make like 45,000 (excluding my mother’s disability income)

2

Any advice is welcomed! :smiley:

3

…

4

I don’t think that colleges will look down for your low financial abilities. There are always financial aid and other programs to help in paying for college expenses. See if you could merit aid. I think you are way above average for cal state san marcos and a good applicant for ucsc. Ucla and Ucb might be tough just because they are reaches for anyone. Yale, Brown and Princeton all ivy leagues which are incredibly difficult. You might need to increase your Sat a little bit. Otherwise you look good on ecs and majority of application.

5

First, each of these colleges is “need blind”. This means that they don’t use your finances as a consideration whether to admit you. It is simply not an issue. They do not ‘look down’ on that any little bit at all. This is just something you are making up that is not true.

Now further, if you are admitted to any of these, except San Marcos, you will get a very large financial package that will cover almost all of your costs. Instate, you are eligible for a Cal Grant which will pretty much cover your costs of tuition for a UC or CSU. The UC will further give you aid for room and board and other costs. The CSU doesn’t. Are you commuting distance to San Marcos?

So you need a bit better of a strategy. First, since you are in CA you should apply to more UCs. You will get a fee waiver for 4 at the time of application. Same with CSU, you should apply to any within commuting distance and you will get 4 free applications.

Now, you may not get accepted because these are very hard schools to get admissions. Except San Marcos which you are in and also very likely UCSC. So when a school is only 5 or 10 pct admissions you just can’t rely on it. So you may want to add some private schools that are not as difficult but will still give you a good package.

As far as first generation, that counts for mother and father. Did your mother graduate college? And is the disability from social security?

Also were your grandparents in a legal court guardianship or you just live when them?

Finally what is the EC ‘college match’ are you referring to Questbridge?

6

You may want to add more colleges. What about LAC’s? The Ivy’s are always tough. You don’t know unless you apply. And I don’t know enough of the UC system to really comment.

Again, look into some LAC’s that can offer good merit aid for your stats/demographics or those that meet full need.

Above poster is right. You have to be first generation for college on both sides. Please don’t say you are first generation for college unless neither parent has a degree.

I would do a trial run for FAFSA. I’m thinking your mother’s disability may count as income so it may not just be $45,000.

Good luck!!

7

There are a number of LAC’s that really need male applicant- you’d have advantage or bump there. Plus, if they are also interested in diversity, the URM status would be another bump.

8

San Marcos and UCSC,
The other schools are reaches because of SAT and GPA
Income, whether or not it’s for disability, can be considered income.
When the apps ask about first to attend college, it has to do with the fact that the previous generation could not access post secondary education. It doesn’t mean you get to pick and choose.

9

CSU/UC GPA: http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

10

Thank you gumby mom!

11

Ps: you guys didn’t really chance me

12

:frowning:

But from reading the comments I assume that my chances for the ivies are low.

13

My Evaluation Form for Student’s on College Confidential:

GPA: 8.5/10 (Good)

SAT/ACT Scores: 9/10 (Great)

SAT II Scores: N/A

Rigorous Courses?: 10/10 (Yup)

AP’s: 9/10 (AP scores have little effect on admissions and failing one exam will not affect a college’s decision)

EC’s: You’re leadership positions are good. However, they are average to Ivy’s as many of their applicants have similar leadership positions

Volunteer/Work: 10/10 You raising money while also tutoring individuals (in addition to all your other volunteer work) really demonstrates your passion for helping and supporting others.

Recommendations: N/A

Awards: Above average (I do not usually expect students to have any unique awards and awards tend not to have a large effect on admissions)

Essays: N/A

Colleges You Requested: You have a good chance at being accepted to UC’s. However, they are expensive and do not give much good aid. In terms of the Ivy Leagues, everything is good but you lack something that makes your application “pop.”

Advice: Find something that will make you appear unique to colleges. I cannot tell you what that is. Just follow your heart and dedicate yourself to something you really care about.

Other Comments:

Colleges will NOT discriminate against you due to financial reasons.

I apologize for your circumstances. Remember to tell your story and put yourself in your application. However, try not to appear “needy” or “desperate” to colleges in your personal statements.

You seem to have a great spirit and positive attitude! Colleges like to see that (as well as people)! Good luck!

I evaluate people brutally, mostly from an Ivy League perspective. However, I also try to be accurate and answer your questions as best as I can! Feel free to ask me anything! Questions and comments are always welcome! Good luck and have a great day! :smiley:

14

Everyone’s chances are low for Ivies due to selectivity. CSUSM is a safety. UCSC is probably a Match and the rest are Reaches. You need less Reaches and more Matches. UCR/UCM and some Cal states such as SDSU/CSULB/SJSU etc. would be good target/match schools.

15

Accomplishing what you have given your family background and the fact that you are hispanic is helpful in college admissions. An Ivy League admissions officer looking at two students with the same EC’s, test scores and course rigor and one student’s family earns $500k and another student’s family earns $30k - this is taken into account. They won’t expect you to have gone to fancy summer programs at Harvard or to have trekked in Nepal. What you do need to do in your application and in your essays is articulate what makes you unique and worthy of being admitted to these schools. Your financial situation if anything is an advantage when applying to an Ivy League or top LAC. Some schools would take into consideration your ability to pay but UC’s probably aren’t going to give you that much aid to begin with - pretty much based on merit. Mid level private universities are going to look at your ability to pay as one consideration

16

@whiteghost26 please be careful not to mislead low Income instate students, As the UCs really do provide them excellent aid.

@wje9164be as a matter of fact the UCs do concentrate on giving need aid to instate students rather than merit aid. The exact opposite of what you state. Please don’t mislead low income instate students away from applying to the generous instate options that UCs can be. Now if you have middle income it can be hard to afford , if you are
OOS it is expensive but that is not this case.

17

@BrownParent I am aware of the aid that UC’s provide in-state and out-of-state students. Upon first reading his stats, I did not see anything to indicate that he was in-state. I should have been more clear in response. My apologies.

18

Your list is all reaches and one safety. It’s very lopsided. Your chances are very low at your reaches, as they are for most, and CSUSM is a total safety. You need to work on your list. Since you’re lower income, what about Occidental or one of the Claremonts? They meet 100% need. Same thing on the East Coast - any of the top 20 LACs would offer you a superior education and meet 100% need.

19

I agree, you have a very asymmetrical list–it needs to be more balanced. The differences between San Marcos and Yale, are not merely the thousands of miles geographically, but fundamentally both their approach and what type of student bodies they attempt to compose. Much more homework is needed on your part…The good news is that you will probably have same very solid options…