SAT: 1580 M:540 CR:480 W:580
Planning to take math level 2
APUSH: 3
Going to take AP Calc test
12th Grade Courses:
Psychology
AP Calculus AB
Gov/ Econ
Health (haha)
Physics
English
Extracurricular:
1Did a couple of hours at soccer camp with mentally challenged kids
2Played on Var soccer since Freshman, was a captain since then
3Worked with my dad on construction
Part of the soccer club, i am VP this year
For my personal statement:
Prompt for freshman: talk about how my parents were always working and i had to take care of sisters most of HS, and how my work experience with my dad helped me choose my path to my major.
Prompt 2: Talk about how i almost died in car accident and how my moms injury forced me to work and provide money to help with house expenses.
Well, i plan UCB, UCD, maybe UCSB. For CSU’s i want Cal Poly.
The schools you’ve listed are all reaches. Your gpa is too low and your say doesn’t make up. Merced, riverside, and the mid to low csu’s are your best bet. Santa Cruz is a high match/low reach. Also do you have a class rank?
The schools on your original list are high reaches. Definitely consider the recommended schools posted by @aunt bea or come Spring you could be shut out. Still apply to a few of your Reach schools but you want some solid match and safeties on your list.
Good luck.
Getting a good Math 2 score will help but it is not just your test scores which are low, it is your GPA. For all but 3 of the UC campuses, the average GPA is 4.0+ and being an Engineering applicant you want to be above the average. Cal Poly SLO’s average GPA is 4.13 for Engineering along with an SAT (Math+CR) at 1419. Engineering is a very competitive major, so even at Cal Poly Pomona, you need a minimum SAT math score of 550 to even be considered for these impacted majors.
If you are set on attending a UC, then UC Riverside and Merced are your best chances. For the Cal States, look at Cal State Fullerton, Sac State, SJSU, SFSU, Chico State to name a few.
My younger son (CS major) applied to several UC’s 2 years ago with a 3.73 GPA and ACT of 31. UC Riverside was the only UC that accepted him and SLO was his top choice. Remember this was 2 years ago and the number of applicants and competitiveness continues to rise.
You have 2 options: Lower your expectations and apply to the low tier UC’s and some of the Cal States mentioned or consider community college, do TAG for the UC’s and transfer.
Engineering is super impacted, and all of these would be reaches considering your stats are below average for these schools. Agreed with above responses on what schools to look for for your matches/reaches. Assuming you live in California, check out some out-of-state schools that will offer in-state tuition.