<p>Your safety school would likely be some Cal States or a low ranking UC.</p>
<p>A low-ranking UC would probably be the best safety for a low income student since the UCs offer Blue and Gold and you’d also get Cal Grants and Pell Grants towards your costs.</p>
<p>The UCs are pretty good about meeting need for low income students (not for middle income students) because of Blue and Gold, Cal Grants, etc. </p>
<p>Which UCs are you applying to? Are you guaranteed admittance into some UCs? If not, then you need to include UCR, UCMerced, and UC Santa Cruz as your safeties.</p>