Please help with my college list!

Hey guys, I have a list of some colleges I want to apply to but I want advice on other schools I can apply to. I don’t know exactly what I want to major in but was thinking computer science. The only problem with this is my low math ACT score and low subject test scores. I would be willing to go undecided or choose another major if I need to if anyone has any ideas. I’m also willing to look into liberal arts schools. Thanks for the help!

List as of now:

Reach: UC Berkeley, UCLA, Pomona( possibly), Cal Poly SLO
Match: UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Irvine
Safety: San Jose State,

-California resident
-Race: Black

  • ACT: Composite - 33, English - 35, Math - 27, Reading - 34, Science - 34 (I retook the ACT and hope to improve my math score)
    -SAT Subject Tests: Chemistry - 640, Math II - 580 (I was really disappointed with these and don’t know if I should submit them but, oh well)
    -Unweighted UC GPA: 3.97
    -Weighted UC GPA: 4.17
    Class Rank: 4/395

Freshman:
English Language Arts 9 Honors
World Geography/Healthy Living
Geometry
Biology
French 1

Sophomore:
English Language Arts 10 Honors
AP European History (3)
Algebra 2/Trig Honors
Chem Honors
French 2

Junior:
AP Language/Comp (4)
AP US History (4)
AP Art History
Pre-Calc
AP Chemistry (4)
French 3 Honors

Senior:
AP Biology
AP Psychology
AP Literature/Comp
AP Government
AP Calc AB
Physics
Economics

Work Experience: Referee for the youth soccer league, Tutor for elementary school students

Volunteering: Volunteer for Public Library - 400 hours from 8th to 12th grade, Key Club - 25 hours

Extracurriculars:
-Treasurer of French Club (10-12)
-Key Club
-Traveling soccer team (8-12)
-Varsity tennis team (11-12)
-National Science Bowl (12)

Honors/Awards:
-Member of the Honorary Society of French
-AP Scholar with Honor
-Principal’s Scholar Honor Roll

Hi,

You look like a strong student, and if you could get that math score up you’d be golden, although it may only really hurt you for CS/Engineering… If you are confident in your math skills and think it was just a bad day, yeah take the ACT again and maybe a 3rd time. Or try the SATs as the math there may better suit you (people often do better on one test or the other).

All of your listed schools are in CA, would you consider anything out of state? Is financial aid a factor? I think you have a shot at an Ivy as a reach if the east coast is a consideration, Cornell? Also, Tulane is a great school, and you would likely get scholarship there but I don’t think they have a CS major - check out their Altman program and see if that interests you.

Also, Northeastern? William & Mary?

Ken

I would definitely consider out of states but I’m just not really sure what major I would apply under. Thanks for the suggestions and I’ll definitely be looking into those schools. I would likely need a good amount of financial aid for privates. I get my October ACT back in a week so hopefully I improve my math. Do you have any other major ideas that are good for getting jobs and are sort of interesting?

I would also advise that you sort of get a sense of what kind of school you are looking for as far as its characteristics go (size, location, etc.) UC Davis is quite different from UC Berkeley

Budget is also important when considering out of state options.

You should work with your parents to run the net price calculators on the websites of any schools you are considering. It will give you an idea of what you might expect to pay. Lots of out of state publics won’t give you any need based aid, although a few have merit aid.

Your grades are good, but your math scores are a concern for someone who wants to major in CS. You should not send your subject tests, they are pretty low.

May want to add SDSU as a match for CS.