<p>I'm a junior and so far I have only taken the SATs once..
SATs: 1510 (I plan on retaking them and doing better)
GPA: 3.1 (I did poorly freshmen year, now I have straight As. Hopefully this will go up)</p>
<p>I really want to go to a school in California. I don't live there but I will be applying in state (long story, but I am).
What schools are in my range?
Is it easier to get in if I'm applying in-state?
Im looking for a big school with tons of spirit, good academics, a greek life (hopefully, and a good social scene!!!
Im hoping I'll go to a CalState School but is it even possible for me to get into any of them?
Is San Diego State completely out of my reach?
Thanks for the help!! :)</p>
<p>Stanford, Cal, UCLA, CalTech, USC are all options in California. Unfortunately you don’t have a good shot at any of them. Just kidding, ok I’ll be serious now. </p>
<p>What schools are in my range?
Cal States are definitely in your range. There are 23 CSU campuses. You’ll get into at least one. </p>
<p>Is it easier to get in if I’m applying in-state?
Perhaps. Depends on your state. </p>
<p>Im looking for a big school with tons of spirit, good academics, a greek life (hopefully, and a good social scene!!!
CSUs have pretty bad academics unfortunately because they attract egg students. And because of this and the lack of popular sports programs, they don’t have a ton of school spirit either. A good social scene can be found anywhere. You just have to make an effort. </p>
<p>Im hoping I’ll go to a CalState School but is it even possible for me to get into any of them?
Again, absolutely. </p>
<p>Is San Diego State completely out of my reach?
It’s going to be a reach, along with Cal Poly SLO.</p>
<p>You will need to calculate your GPA using Cal State or UC’s a-g requirements. This is slightly different than your overall high school GPA–might be better, might be worse. In-state applicants to UC need a minimum UC GPA of 3.0; OOS applicants need 3.3. </p>
<p>San Diego State is the Cal State that best fits your description, but it’s difficult to get in if you live outside of the immediate San Diego area. There are certainly other CSUs that would welcome an out of state student, but they’re not going to be the campuses with lots of school spirit. Many Cal States are commuter schools; others are in more isolated locations. </p>
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<p>California has very specific requirements for applying as an in-state student. Have you researched these?</p>
<p>CSU high school GPA calculation:
[CSUMentor</a> - Plan for College - High School Students - GPA Calculator<a href=“UC%20is%20similar,%20but%20does%20not%20include%2012th%20grade%20course%20grades%20that%20may%20be%20available.”>/url</a></p>
<p>Please don’t dismiss ucbalumnus threads, especially concerning residency. </p>
<p>You seem to want a lot of things that CA schools in your range don’t have. Let me ask you, is this need to go to a school in CA just because you want to live in CA? If that is the case, work hard in the state that you are in, don’t take on debt to go to school and then move out to CA when you graduate. Almost everyone I met when I lived in CA came from somewhere else. It didn’t hurt any of us in the long run. </p>
<p>Greek life, school spirit, good academics makes me think about ASU. You still have great weather and you will meet plenty of Californians.</p>
<p>I did a search for you and came up with an interesting alternative. It is a bit smaller than you wish with about 10,000 students. Greek life, GPA and test scores that fit your profile, sports (decent football team - one of my client’s sons is a kicker there), amazing location in a natural setting, etc. One of the key draws to the school is the incredible student to faculty ratio. It is like a private school in terms of class size. It is a CSU campus. </p>
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