<p>I'm helping my nephew in the eleventh hour of his college apps.
He wants to be a poli sci major and get involved in politics in some sort.</p>
<p>Brief stats:
Lower income public school in CA, with poor college counseling, few go to 4 year college, maybe 1/3 go to community college.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.78 UW, 4.17 W
SAT1: 1440 / 2400
SAT2, ACT: none
Class rank 28/573 = 5%
5 H classes, 5 AP classes, which probably is a VERY rigorous schedule at this type of HS
AP scores: 2,3 :(
ECs: interns for a US congressman, student rep on the School board, very close with the city major, highly Christian family with lots of volunteering work, working with troubled youth/drop outs etc, and band.</p>
<p>Needs merit aid and financial aid. Parent contribution will be 0 so needs to cover all costs. Not sure what parents EFC is but pretty sure that would be pretty low or close to 0. Thinking that CA schools would be good to reduce travel expenses, but also thought about Washington DC schools due to the poli sci interests. Not sure if he plans on going to law school. His brother with worse stats from same HS gained admission to UCSD, UCSC, UCSB, rejected from UCB.</p>
<p>Current list:
UC Davis
UC Berkeley (though his stats are lower, UCs will look at class rank as well)
Sacramento State
Cal Poly Pomona
Pitzer
Claremont McKenna
American University
any other DC schools that might offer this kid good fin aid and merit aid?
Is Pomona too much of a reach?</p>
<p>The GPA is good, but SATs are going to be a problem. Georgetown is great, but It may be out of reach. GW may also be out of reach, but worth a try. </p>
<p>Any possibility of a retry on the SAT and taking the ACT, since 1440 CR+M+W is relatively low? Although UCs do not emphasize SAT or ACT scores as much as grades, 1440 CR+M+W is low enough that it will be disadvantageous at most of them. He may want to widen his selection of UCs and CSUs.</p>
<p>He’s planning on retaking SATs in Dec. Was 500/520/420 because ran out time on essay. Older bro got around 1500-1600/2400 and got into UCSD, UCSB, UCSC (he probably got accepted thru alt pathway of being top 5% of his class). I’ve discussed taking ACT over past 2 years with him, but frankly, he won’t take because of fees and has to sign up at a different HS and no one at his HS takes ACT. (and he has a fee waiver at College Board). The resources at this lower income school is poor. </p>
<p>Interestingly, I now see that GCs would encourage students to not apply to private colleges because it reduces their work load. A GC does not have to send any additional info for CSU and UC applications; no transcripts, no GC LOR, no teacher LORs. My nephew is motivated to apply to a few private colleges, so I want to help him.</p>
<p>UCs do not consider class rank as defined by the high school. However, if his GPA is in the top 9% of historic UC admissions GPAs at his high school, he is Eligible in Local Context, which means that if he is not admitted to a UC he applies to, he will be admitted to a UC that has space available, which has meant Merced in recent years. If there are other UCs that he prefers over Merced, he may want to add them to his UC application.</p>
<p>However, overcoming adverse situations (poverty, poor high school counseling, etc.) does tend to be a positive point in UC admissions. The way that UC and CSU applications do not require any support from the high school is probably intentional, in order to avoid low income or first generation applicants from being blocked from applying due to poor support from the high school, or not knowing until too late that additional things like recommendations are needed, as well as to avoid putting more load on high school counselors and teachers, who may be more overworked at high schools in low income areas.</p>
<p>There are political internships everywhere. I think transportation costs and incidentals might make the DC idea unfeasible- he can move there after he graduates, or do a summer internship in DC which includes a housing stipend.</p>
<p>I am less concerned about his “admitability” at a reach than I am about his ability to handle more rigorous work, unless you think the low AP scores were a fluke. So I’d encourage him to push hard this year (he can’t afford senioritis, wherever he gets admitted) to make sure he’s entering college with a sufficient foundation in reading, writing, composition, etc. A poli sci major will be doing a LOT of writing.</p>
<p>Ooops somehow I thought that 1400 was out of 1600. No merit money without higher scores, but if his EFC is zero that may not matter. If he attends school in DC he should look seriously at travel costs - will they be covered by the college or will he have to cough up money? I think Blossom is right, staying closer to home with more supports might be a better plan.</p>
<p>The easiest way to do well on the CR SATs is to be able to read fast. If he’s not an avid reader there may be a limit to how much he can bring up his scores.</p>
<p>Pitzer has test-optional admissions, but it is highly selective. I think Claremont-McKenna is out of reach for someone with test scores that low. What about Whittier? </p>
<p>@kiddie,
Thanks for letting me know that American U is test optional. I’ll have him apply without his SAT scores.</p>
<p>@ mathmom,
Unfortunately, I am not super familiar with merit and financial aid. I thought that they calculate flight costs in the COA? If not, then yes, the flights would be unaffordable for him. Was just going to see what type of merit + fin aid is available.</p>
<p>@woog.
Thanks for info on Pitzer. I looked up the majors, and unfortunately, they don’t have poli sci so I have to cross it off my list. I’ll look into Whittier, and maybe Redlands. I added Cal Lutheran. Probably need to add UC Riverside.</p>
<p>As for the private colleges, I’m not sure how many of them will have heard of my nephew’s poor HS.
With AP scores of Environ Sci 2 and APUSH 3, I presume that it is best to leave it off of his common app? He is a hard worker. But he is in a crummy HS so his foundation is poor. He probably has the brain power to fly if given the proper teaching and mentorship. </p>
<p>Even if he doesn’t end up going to college in DC, the UCs have the UC DC program. I believe he can use his financial aid to cover the program costs.</p>
<p>Costs of attendance tend to include the school’s assumption of personal, misc., and transportation costs. But the amounts vary by more than the cost of living at the different schools, so the schools are using different assumptions. Of course, plane tickets home are best checked by checking prices on fare comparison web sites – be sure to check holiday times, since those tend to be the most popular and expensive times to fly.</p>
<p>Sorry to say this, but that’s silly. “Political Studies” is political science. (So is “Government”, which is what the same department is called at Harvard.) Political science at Pitzer is probably great, because it can share courses with Pomona and Claremont-McKenna, both of which ought to have great political science offerings.</p>
<p>Start from this premise: Every college has a political science major. It’s one of the most popular majors there is. Maybe some tech schools don’t offer it, but MIT does, and so does Caltech. If you aren’t seeing it, then either you are looking at a very specialized college, or you are making a mistake.</p>
<p>Whew!! Thank goodness for the folks here at cc. I must have read thru the majors list too quickly at pitzer. Happy to add it back on the list. Pitzer will probably be his first choice college given his stats etc. yay!!!</p>
<p>Yep, absolutely!
Another question for the gang: he could possibly live at his grandma’s house to save on room and board costs. For a college like pitzer that meets full need, is it better to live in dorms or off campus at grandmas? </p>