Narrowing Down College List, Need Safety Schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Okay, so I'm an upcoming senior who is incredibly obsessed with the idea of college and who has been lurking around on these forums for a while without actually being a member.
(Just saying.)</p>

<p>I've compiled a list of colleges I'm considering (I'm possibly spending WAY too much time on CollegeBoard...) already, but I don't really want to apply to ten different colleges, and I'm also in need of more safety schools.</p>

<p>Here is the list:
Cal Poly
UC Berkeley
UC Davis
UC San Diego
UCLA
Claremont McKenna College
Pitzer College
Santa Clara University
Pepperdine University</p>

<p>Out of all these colleges, I'd say that Santa Clara is my safest bet, and I don't even feel sure about that.</p>

<p>I suppose statistics would help too, for the safety college thing...</p>

<p>I have a pretty good GPA. In freshman year, I got straight A's, all regular classes. In sophomore year, I took Chemistry Honors, but got a B in it second semester. That was my only B the whole year. Junior year, I took 3AP classes, and I got all A's except for B's both semesters in English Language & Composition AP.</p>

<p>As for SATs, I have a composite score of 2170 (M: 770, CR: 670, W: 730 with an 8 on the essay). I have a perfect score for SAT II Math Level 2. I'm still waiting for my Biology-M score and my AP scores.</p>

<p>My biggest worry is my extracurriculars. I took eight years of piano, but stopped taking classes after receiving a high school diploma in social music from the Guild of Piano Teachers. I'm not sure if it counts either way. I've also been in Chinese School since first grade, though I'm not sure if that counts either. I've been in orchestra since middle school as a violist, and I'm planning on continuing even in college. So far, I've been first chair in Strings (freshman year), second chair in Symphony and Chamber (sophomore and junior year), and I hope that I'll be first chair in my senior year.</p>

<p>As for volunteering, I've been volunteering at the library two hours a week throughout junior year, and the summer before, I was a helper in the Summer Reading Program. I also just started volunteering four hours a week at my local Wildlife Animal Center. I'm in KEY Club as well, but I didn't join until sophomore year and I haven't even been active until second semester of junior year.</p>

<p>I'm also currently treasurer of Japanese Club, if that counts for anything...</p>

<p>Sorry for the long post. If anyone can help me narrow down my list or at least even add more colleges to the list by giving me some safety colleges (California colleges only, please!), it will be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance! :) If anymore information is needed, I will try my best to provide it.</p>

<p>[And if you think that I should just chill...please say that as well, if you wish.]</p>

2

<p>Are you a California resident? If you are, how much you can afford will determine whether your safety is your closest CCC, or if it is something in the Cal State system.</p>

<p>Have you discussed this list with your guidance counselor? He/she is probably your best source for information specific to students from your high school.</p>

<p>Sit your parents (or whoever it is who will be helping you pay for your education) down and talk with them about the money. Until you know just exactly how much will be available, you won’t know how deep you have to dig in order to find a financial safety.</p>

3

<p>Do you have money constraints? If so, that will play a big role in your choices and how to approach the whole college thing. </p>

<p>You’ve done the fun part first in terms of college selection. It’s fun to go through all of those name schools and try to pick which ones should go on your list. The real work is the safety school. When financial considerations also have to be met, it’s particularly difficult. Happymom has some good directed advice. As a Cal resident, you have a number of in state publics that are formulaic in acceptance criteria, and you need to go through the painstaking process of finding the best match for YOU in terms of what they offer and how compatible you are with the environment. That’s the tough part. Easy to be happy just to get accepted to UC Berkely or Stanford; kids tend to overlook all of the shortcomings those type of schools have because the shine of the prestige factor blinds most people from them. When it comes to Humboldt or Merced or the Cal States or CCs, it’s a whole other issue. It’s picking though them and finding the best fits that is where the work lies. You have the stats so that you’ll have a lot of choices in that area, It’s a matter of finding what you like that has what you want.</p>

4

<p>What about UC Santa Barbara “home to 5 Nobel Laureates?” Would this be a safety or a match?</p>

5

<p>If your parents will pay for wherever you want to go to school, then your safety schools are any school that you LIKE and you know that you’ll get accepted.</p>

<p>Am I overlooking the mentioning of a likely major? If so, what is it?</p>

<p>With your stats, Santa Clara will accept you…but it’s only a safety if your family will pay for the costs. </p>

<p>If you have some financial issues, then you need to consider some Financial Safety schools…schools that you LIKE that you know for SURE that all costs are covered with ASSURED grants/scholarships, small fed student loans, and/or family funds.</p>

6

<p>@happymomof1: Yes, I am a California resident. I think my parents are willing to pay as much as they can, so cost isn’t much of a problem at the moment. They also seem to be assuming that I’ll be receiving grants (at least from the private colleges) or scholarships to help pay. It is a good idea to talk to them more about the costs though…it’d be nice if they actually listened.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to talk to my counselor yet, but I will be sure to talk to him as soon as school starts again.</p>

<p>@redbluegoldgreen: I’m not sure, but I think it might be a safety in terms of test scores and GPA.</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids: I’m thinking of nutrition, but that’s only available at Cal, UCD, and Pepperdine. My second major choice is Molecular Biology, which I’m pretty sure is available at every college. I’m also considering Philosophy, and I’m still deciding whether or not to pursue medical school. I already know that my family is okay with Santa Clara, so it’s good to know that it would be a safety school.</p>

7

<p>Admissions-wise, you can get a good idea of reach/match/safety for your stats for UC here:</p>

<p>[University</a> of California - Freshman admission profiles](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/freshman/profiles/index.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/freshman/profiles/index.html)
[University</a> of California: StatFinder](<a href=“http://statfinder.ucop.edu%5DUniversity”>http://statfinder.ucop.edu)</p>

<p>And for CSU here:</p>

<p><a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU;
[Impaction</a> | Student Academic Support | CSU](<a href=“http://www.calstate.edu/SAS/impactioninfo.shtml]Impaction”>http://www.calstate.edu/SAS/impactioninfo.shtml)</p>

<p>As others have mentioned, a safety is only a safety if you can afford it.</p>

8

<p>Besides your volunteering, your extracurriculars are lacking, so see if you can do something about those in the summer.</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>Be aware that neither major (nor any biology or chemistry major other than chemical engineering) has particularly good job and career prospects at the bachelor’s level:</p>

<p><a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/MCB.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/MCB.stm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/NutSci.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/NutSci.stm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>I just wanted to point out that you will only have 6 apps. with this list. The UC application covers 4 of these schools --simply an added check box that you want your app. to be sent to their admissions. 6 Applications really is very reasonable in terms of time. But, each UC is $65 app. fee. Think you have a good list and maybe agree with others that adding UCSB might be a good idea and wouldn’t take any extra time on your part. 8-12 apps. is about right really these days.</p>

<p>I like the college data dot com site to predict “chances”. It’s been very accurate for us anyway. good luck!</p>

11

<p>“I think my parents are willing to pay as much as they can, so cost isn’t much of a problem at the moment. They also seem to be assuming that I’ll be receiving grants (at least from the private colleges) or scholarships to help pay.”</p>

<p>You do need to help them to open up about this. One way to start would be by reading through some of the threads in the Financial Aid Forum, and through the information at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) Many parents are surprised by how expensive colleges are now, and by how little financial aid their children do qualify for. At the least, you need to know what your EFC is likely to be. There are calculators at the FinAid website, and also at [EFC</a> Calculator: How Much Money for College Will You Be Expected to Contribute?](<a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_status.jsp]EFC”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_status.jsp) When you know this, you will be able to find out which state grants you might qualify for as well.</p>

<p>If school isn’t out yet, pay a visit to your guidance counselor, and set up an appointment to talk about your college list. If school is out, send your counselor an email or just telephone the school to find out when you can get together. Many guidance counselors hold some office hours during the summer specifically to work with students on their college applications. Find out if yours does that.</p>

12

<p>“I think my parents are willing to pay as much as they can, so cost isn’t much of a problem at the moment. They also seem to be assuming that I’ll be receiving grants (at least from the private colleges) or scholarships to help pay.”</p>

<p>Oh…that’s another story. Many students/families assume that they’re going to get enough grants/scholarships to make the schools affordable…and then they find out that’s not true…and it’s too late. :(</p>

<p>Ask your parents specifically how much they’ll be able to pay each year. Some of your schools costs $55k+ per year. </p>

<p>I do think you may get some merit money from Santa Clara…however, if your parents can’t pay the rest (maybe $40k or so per year), then it’s not a safety.</p>

<p>I doubt you’ll get any “free money” from your UCs or Cal Poly. And, if your family’s income/assets are too high, you won’t get any need-based aid (free money) at the other schools either.</p>

13

<p>To everyone who has replied to this, thank you very much! I really appreciate it.</p>

<p>@happymomof1: You’ve been really helpful, and I’m really grateful that someone like you replied. I haven’t thought about the costs of college as much as I should have, so I’ll take your advice and look at the Financial Aid forums. I’ll probably talk to my parents tonight as well. I never realized that counselors might still be available during the summer, so I’ll try that too.</p>

<p>@collegebound9528: I’m not sure if you will see this, but do you think that getting a part-time job would boost my extracurriculars? Or should I just head over to those forums and try to find something that will help? Do you have any suggestions?</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus: Thanks for those links! But even if both nutrition and molecular cell biology don’t have very good career prospects, I think I’ll try both or either anyway because I really am interested in those majors.</p>

<p>@jkiwmom: The site sounds interesting, I’ll be sure to check that out. Thanks!</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids: As I said before, I’ll be sure to talk to my parents about the costs. Thank you very much for the warning. :)</p>

14

<p>You shouldn’t have any trouble getting into Cal Poly for anything but architecture. You could also consider checking the box for at least one UC further down on the list, like UCSB or UCSC or UC Merced. Just make sure it’s one that you would really attend if you got in.</p>

15

<p>@ricegal: That’s good to know. Cal Poly’s percentage of students is pretty low, so that kind of scares me.</p>

<p>I’ll probably consider UCSB. A lot of people here seem to be recommending UCSB to me.</p>