Safety school suggestions?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi, I’m new here to CC and I’ve recently re-examined my college list and realized that I don’t really have any safety schools. This semester I really screwed up and my cumulative GPA will probably drop significantly due to a C in physics. I’d really appreciate any suggestions for schools that I’d have a good shot at. Here are my stats:

UW GPA: 3.77 (will definitely drop once first semester grades come out and I see what I got on my finals)
W GPA: 4.03
Race: Asian American (Filipino)
Gender: Female
ECs: Ballet since I was 6, JV tennis junior year, Varsity tennis senior year, CSF, Piano from ages 5-15 (I quit my sophomore year, so idk if I should even include that in my apps), was on student council freshmen year
Volunteer/work experience: volunteered at Kaiser every summer since freshmen year helping financially disadvantaged senior citizens, worked as a paid intern at my local hospital the summer going into junior year, worked at my parents’ business since 7th grade managing and keeping track of financial records
ACT: 25 (English: 29, Math:19, Reading: 32, Science: 20)
SAT: didn’t take
Intended major: Accounting
APs: AP Gov (currently taking), AP Spanish (currently taking), AP Photography/Digital Art (got a 4), AP Language and Composition (got a 4)

Obviously I know my ACT scores aren’t the greatest. The ACT score I listed above was from the October test. The first time I took it though my math was a 23 and science was a 22 but my english and reading were lower. I couldn’t retake the ACT this month because I didn’t have enough time to study for it due to a number of personal issues at home so I had to submit those scores to the schools I already applied to. I applied to :

  • San Diego State University
  • Cal State Long Beach
  • UC Merced
  • UC Santa Barbara
  • Cal Poly SLO

If you read all of this, then thank you so much for your hep and any suggestions :slight_smile:
Edit: Oh and I forgot to mention, I’m from California if you have any suggestions for schools here.

2

Did you apply to any other CSUs?

3

No, my parents only let me apply to 3 because of the cost. I really should have picked easier CSUs to get into because the CSUs I applied to are all reaches for me.

4

Whittier should be an academic match for you, but it is private and will be more expensive than the public colleges.

5

I think you are a Match for CSULB and UC Merced but I can only think of some privates that may be good safeties: University of Redlands, University of La Verne and Azusa Pacific. I would be concerned with your choice a major due to your low math score. Are you sure accounting is something you want to pursue?

6

@Gumbymom CSULB’s one of my top choices so I really hope I get in! I should have mentioned in my post, but I’m submitting my apps for U of Oregon, U of Portland, Purdue, and Washington State next week. Do you think those are good match schools/safeties (besides Purdue) ? And my cousin was the one who got me interested in accounting and pursuing it as a potential career. But I’m also thinking of communications :-/

7

With your higher English and Reading scores, Communications looks like a much better fit.

Not really too knowledgeable about any other schools outside of California other than ASU and UofA. The best way to determine your chances is to look at the common dataset sets for each school, Section C11, where the 25th and 75th percentile for test scores are posted along with UW GPA. If you are at or above the average, you have a good chance for an acceptance and if above the 75th percentile, it is probably a good safety.

8

Is money not a constraint? You will be full pay for those out of state public Us.

9

Accounting is algebra, nothing more complicated than that from the math perspective.

10

If your parents are so concerned about money that they only let you apply to a small number of Calif publics, then VERY LIKELY schools like Oregon, Portland, Purdue, and WashSt will NOT be affordable.

How much will your parents PAY each year? The above schools will cost your parents $40k+ per year. Will they PAY that much? If not, don’t bother to apply.

What is your UC GPA?

Merced is likely your safety as long as your family can afford it.

11

@mom2collegekids My counselor calculated my CSU/UC GPA with me and it’s a 3.92. We don’t qualify for financial aid either. My parents said that they can only pay up to $25,000, so I’d have to find some other way to get the money if I attended one of those schools. However, my counselor told me about the WUE program and that I qualified for Washington State University, so I applied there last night.

12

M2CK beat me to it: if your parents only let you apply to 3 CSUs, then costs are a big factor, and thus don’t apply to Purdue, and I’d think the other OOS publics be too expensive too.
Have you run the Net Price Calculators on all these universites?

Accounting requires to be precise and logical. It doesn’t require one to be strong at math although it can help.

Some universities are “free to apply”, very good, and have accounting. For example, Hendrix, Gustavus Adolphus, Butler, Loyola-Chicago, Marquette, Marist, Ohio Wesleyan, UScranton, Valparaiso.

I’m not sure these are free to apply, but you can email and say your family lower-income, you’d like to apply, can you have a fee waiver?
Chapman, Drake, Creighton, Elon, Loyola-Maryland (test optional), Muhlenberg (test optional), Siena, Saint Louis University, RIT, U Dayton, TCU, Washington&Jefferson.

Others would likely give you substantial merit scholarships.
Albion, Augustana (IL), Bradley, Duquesne, Concordia-Moorhead, Gonzaga.

Those public universities offer merit aid to students, however they’re not free to apply:
CNU, Appalachian State, UNC-A, UWyoming (in the Western Exchange, too - check it out).

13

Room and board will take up a decent portion of $25,000.

Many OOS publics - as pointed out by others will not fall within your budget.

I imagine there are details to the WUE program, which may or may not have a public in your WUE area fit your budget.

14

[QUOTE=""]
s My counselor calculated my CSU/UC GPA with me and it's a 3.92. We don't qualify for financial aid either. My parents said that they can only pay up to $25,000, so I'd have to find some other way to get the money if I attended one of those schools.

[/QUOTE]

However, my counselor told me about the WUE program and that I qualified for Washington State University, so I applied there last night.
<<<

with WUE, the COA will be about $32k per year. A CSU will be cheaper, and a UC will likely be cheaper in the end as well, particularly when taking travel costs into account.

It seems odd that your parents limited your Calif apps, and then let you apply to WSU last night. Weird.

15

Here are some potential options within your budget: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1651944-very-low-cost-oos-coa-universities-less-than-25k-coa-for-everything.html#latest

16

As long as you got at least a 22 English/Writing score on that ACT 25 test date, you are guaranteed admission to UC Merced, so it’s literally a safety school. CSU LB and SDSU are also safety schools for you.

17

@goldenbear2020: With an ACT of 25 and CSU GPA 3.92, OP is a competitive applicant for the schools listed but UCM is not a safety unless OP is ELC eligible and the competitiveness of SDSU’s Business majors does not make it a safety either (35% acceptance rate last year).

18

@Gumbymom: Fair point about SDSU’s Business major being more competitive. However, UCM is a safety because the combination of a 3.92 GPA, 25 ACT, and a 21+ ACT English/Writing score gives an admissions index that qualifies for the “top 9%” guarantee through the statewide path (ELC is the other way to qualify through the local path).

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/index.html

19

Note that CPA licensing has a prerequisite of 150 units (5 years’ worth), at least a bachelors degree, and specified course work in various areas.

20

Here are the educational requirements for CPA licensing in California:
http://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/applicants/tip_sheet.pdf

Note that AP credit can be used toward the 150 units, according to:
http://www.econ.ucsb.edu/undergraduate/career_connection/CPA_Licensure_FAQ
(However, it does not say how the AP scores are converted to credit units, so you would need to ask around if you want to use AP credit toward the 150 units.)