<p>Arizona State University
U of Arizona
UC Berkeley
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Los Angeles
UC Merced
UC Riverside
UC San Diego
UC Santa Barbara
UC Santa Cruz
St. Mary's College of CA
USC</p>
<p>Which colleges do you recommend for a major in the sciences (still trying to decide which field of science I am trying to major in). And which colleges have the best location in terms of effect on future, networking, work, academic program, financial aid offers, etc..</p>
<p>I'm an first gen (in both school and the country) Asian American, with decent GPA and SAT scores. Along with plenty of ec activities and volunteer hours.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, it shouldn’t be too difficult to apply to all of those, since the UCs are all one app. Can you give UC GPA, SAT scores, and what kind of campus life you are looking for? That could help you narrow down which UCs to apply to.</p>
<p>All are good in sciences, so you should be good there. </p>
<p>I live right next to St Mary’s if you have questions about the area.</p>
<p>For financial aid estimates, run the net price calculator at each school’s web site. In-state public universities may be reasonably generous, while out-of-state public universities usually are not (although some have relatively low list prices like Minnesota or New Mexico Tech, and some have large merit scholarships for stats like the Alabama schools).</p>
<p>Expected UC GPA should be in the 3.6 to 3.7 range (2nd semester of sophomore year was difficult … ) But I do illustrate improvement of my grades from freshmen year to junior year. </p>
<p>SAT score: 1810 (taking the June SAT and October SAT) Hoping to get above the 2000+ mark. </p>
<p>Campus life: I’m interested in getting involved with some ec activity in college. I would really like to contribute to the community and livelihood of the campus. Campus diversity of the school is key as I am a diverse and open person. To be quite honest, I prefer to be in an urban environment and a decent sized university.</p>
<p>Honestly, I am really frightened about the college process. Being a low-income, first generation asian american with no family to help with such process doesn’t help either.</p>
<p>I know it’s scary, but try not to worry too much. We’ll answer any questions you have. </p>
<p>Based on your GPA, I think you should apply to Davis, Irvine and SB as slight reaches, SC as a match, and Riverside and Merced as safeties. If you can’t afford to pay for all of these applications, then pick your favorites from each group. David is a bit rural, but near Sacramento. SB and Irvine are both near beaches, though they have different vibes. Merced is very rural, I’m not sure about Riverside. </p>
<p>UCLA and UCB have very high average GPAs (4.3+) and SATs (well over 2000). SD is also very tough. </p>
<p>Also consider some of the Cal States: Cal Poly at both SLO and Pomona have excellent sciences, as does San Jose. I would also recommend your nearest CSU because you will have preferential acceptance there. CSUs offer smaller classes and are cheaper than UCs, which may be helpful while deciding when you get your acceptances. </p>
<p>Sorry, I had finals week so I couldn’t respond as quickly as I would liked. Furthermore, I have decided to eliminate UCSD from my list of schools I plan to apply to!</p>
<p>@alwaysleah Yes, I am considering grad school. @ucbalumnus California</p>
<p>To be honest, all the UC’s that you’ve listed have respectable science programs. In Biology, Riverside is particularly good… They have David Reznick ([The</a> Guppy Project: David Reznick](<a href=“http://cnas.ucr.edu/guppy/scientists/reznick.html]The”>The Guppy Project - Home)) and he’s really awesome (I’ve met the guy, super cool).</p>
<p>Im a California resident, and I’ve visited tons of schools in the area while I start my search for the schools I want to apply to. In my opinion UC riverside/irvine/merced aren’t in the best locations. I’ve seen much nicer campuses, they really weren’t anything special to me but I think they are a tiny bit easier to get into. If you think that you can get into UCSB, UCSD, UCB its not even worth your time looking at the UC schools I mentioned earlier. There’s just a lot more going on at those schools. UCLA too.
My mom also went to UCSB and absolutely loved it, but it is very competitive and hard to get into.
Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m not super familiar with all the UC schools (I live in Washington, so many students from my school do go down to California). I would recommend visiting all the schools if possible and that could help you narrow it down. Hope that helps a little!</p>
<p>UCB and UCLA will almost positively be rejections. UC’s are highly GPA focused, and your grades won’t cut it. The average at UCB and UCLA are like 4.2-4.3 The average SAT’s are also above 2000. The UC Davis average is above 4.0 as well with SAT’s probably around 2000 so you may have a chance but a very small one.</p>
<p>Those profiles aren’t updated for the most recent year. Berkeley and LA’s admit rates overall are at 21.3 and 21.2%. For Californians it is 17.7% for LA and 22.7% for Berkeley.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how your financial situation is, but you might want to look at University of San Francisco. Your gpa and sat are right in the range and i saw you said you wanted a campus with a focus on divrersity and one that is urban. I know they have a $19,000 scholarship(or something huge like that) for having a 3.8 gpa and a high sat, i cant rememeber exatly what sat, but you would probably be in the range. Just a sugesstion, im not sure how you feel about a private school but i’m looking at the school right now.</p>