My friend needs help with college selection

College Search & Selection
1

<p>one of my friends is trying to pick his colleges that he should apply to and he needs help. he's going to be a senior and is interested in liberal arts colleges and is focusing on colleges in his home state, California. He's Mexican and is also interested in the UC's. </p>

<p>SAT: 1810 (640 Math, 540 Critical Reading, 630 Writing)
GPA: 3.5 unweighted, 4.0 weighted
SAT II's: World History (680), US History (730 predicted), Literature (680 Predicted)
Junior Year Classes: 3 ap's (physics b, english language, us history)
Senior Year Classes: 6 ap's (bio, english literature, art history, stats, macroeconomics, us government)
In addition, he will be taking psychology at the local community college during the fall semester and will take the ap psych test at the end of the year. he took spanish at the local community college last summer
Extra Curriculars: 2 years high school basketball, National Honor Society, California Scholarship Federation, Academic Letter, Chess Club, USCF (US Chess Federation Member), Hapkido Martial Arts</p>

<p>Parents went to UC Santa Cruz (undergrad) , UCLA (grad)</p>

<p>could you guys and girls make some suggestions for him please?? i've helped him some but i would like others' opinions to confirm what i've said and to give him a variety of advice</p>

<p>thanks so much</p>

2

<p>I'd say right now he probably has a good shot at the "lesser" UCs (UCSB, UCR, UCSC)</p>

<p>If he could raise his GPA to the 1900s or even 2000s he would have a great shot at UCD, UCI, UCSD, and even UCLA.</p>

3

<p>thanks and im assuming you mean SAT to 1900s and 2000s right ?? not gpa lol. but ya he is taking the SAT again in October and is aiming for a 1950-2050 (studying over the summer)</p>

4

<p>Oops, yeah I meant SATs lol. Apparently I'm not very good at multitasking...</p>

5

<p>anyone else have anything?? please and thank you</p>

6

<p>He should also take a look at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It is a great bargain (same price as any other CSU), has a prime location (minutes from the beach) and I think that it is academically on par or better than UCD, UCI and maybe even UCSD. If he gets that SAT score up, he should be able to get in pretty easily (although engineering is tough). I would also advise him to take the ACT. I found it MUCH easier than the SAT for some reason. </p>

<p>Santa Clara University is another great school, albeit a bit pricey. I think the Silicon Valley is one of the best places to live in the country, but I'm biased, having lived here all my life.</p>