Safety schools and general help. Will I get into the schools I want?

I am currently a high school junior who is stressing about choosing colleges to attend to. I am hoping to stay in California and take advantage of the in-state tuition (no private schools), and I would like to major in some sort of sciences (or clinical psychology) as I am on the path to medical school and a career in psychiatry. I would like to go to higher ranked colleges as I have been working my ass off for years, but I don’t feel like I’m good enough. I would like to apply to UCLA, UCSD, and Cal Poly SLO, but I feel like I need more options and a safety school.

About me/My concerns:
I was in Europe at a DODEA (military base) school (starting in 7th grade) until the beginning of this year and did not have enough opportunities to apply myself. Recently, I have been accepted into a summer session at Harvard med, and have taken on numerous health internships (I was starting to feel comfortable about my situation) until majority of them got cancelled due to the recent pandemic. I have always involved myself in school, clubs, organizations, and the arts, however, I was never really a part of something major and did not to a lot of extracurricular activities (I did not want to do sports and frankly wasn’t good enough sometimes). Additionally, I have yet to take my ACT, and seem to be running out of time (another opportunity postponed by the pandemic, but mainly my fault). Furthermore, my community service work has not been terribly consistent, I have plenty of hours but not dedicated to any particular activity (again, limited opportunities)

Essentially, I am worried I don’t have enough consistency, and that I haven’t applied myself enough.

My school life:
My current GPA is a 3.9 (unweighted) and a 4.4 (weighted); I have taken honors courses and did not manage to take an AP class until sophomore year (AP psych which I got a 5 on). I am currently taking AP Lang, APUSH, and AP Calc, with the hopes to take AP Lit, AP Stats, AP Gov, AP Computer sci next year ( I have also taken every available science class at my school, will have completed all available math classes, studied up to French 3, and have continued electives in the arts, additionally, I had the opportunity to take high school courses in middle school (French 1-2, and Algebra 1). (Note: My science classes before my current school had no honors opportunities.)
I am involved in many academic societies, one of which demanded 20 hours of community service per semester, and involved myself in many academic and artistic clubs. I have pursued my art and even attended a program abroad for it. (However, my art elective has changed each year meaning it hasn’t been consistent on paper record; this causes me to worry because I don’t think the schools will see my true passions). Lastly, I joined a health internship, in which I am establishing a new mental health forum for my school campus among other things.

I am passionate about learning and I’m worried that colleges may mistake it for being a workaholic, in truth, I did it all because I wanted to, but that also made my time limited for things colleges may care about.

What I want from my school:
Anywhere in Cali is fine with me, I do really like the North and would like a change in my life. I am trying to stay out of private schools because there is no use racking up debt (at least until med school). I would have to say I am most interested in Cal Poly due to it being a lower level of stress, a more personal approach, a good way to build up a resume for med school, a more home-like environment, and a nice location. However, I know UC schools are better for premed students (or so I’ve heard).

What I want from you:
I just want to know if I stand a chance at getting into these schools, and what you would recommend as safety schools for me. Thoughts on any of it? I would happily take any sort of advice on any part of what I have written, and any additions are happily accepted.

You’re hard working and motivated. That’s good. Keep in mind that very few smart kids that start premed actually go to medical school. Its simply because, as they mature, they find hidden passions. If you do decide medicine, the school brand name isn’t going to matter. They look at grades and MCAT scores. There’s a direct correlation with high grades/scores and performance in medical school. Just go where you’re happy and you can keep the debt down.

Calculate your UC GPAs here: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Are you registered for the June and July ACT? If not, do that today.

What major would you apply to at each UC school?

Cal Poly SLO uses 9-11th grades for their GPA calculation instead of 10-11th like the rest of the Cal states and UC’s. Just plug in your 9th grades into the calculator posted by @Mwfan1921 to get your Cal Poly SLO GPA.

Cal Poly SLO and the rest of the CSU’s admit by test scores, GPA and major. SLO uses MCA points and ranks applicants based on the MCA points and major. Intended major can have an impact on your chances at all the Cal states and UC’s.

MCA calculator: https://mca.netlify.app/

SLO does consider EC’s and leadership but you only list your hours involved. Other Cal States do not consider EC’s in their application review.

SLO Freshman profile Information: https://www.calpoly.edu/admissions/first-year-student/selection-criteria/student-profile

UC admission information below and Not Major specific:

2019 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 12%
UCLA: 7%
UCSD: 33%
UCSB: 32%
UCD: 47%
UCI: 35%
UCSC: 72%
UCR: 87%
UCM: 96%

2019 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 4.20 or above capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 38%
UCLA: 35%
UCSD: 71%
UCSB: 73%
UCD: 84%
UCI: 55%
UCSC: 85%
UCR: 97%
UCM: 98%

2019 UC capped weighted GPA averages along with 25th-75th percentile range:
UCB: 4.23 (4.15-4.30)
UCLA: 4.25 (4.18-4.32)
UCSD: 4.16 (4.03-4.28)
UCSB: 4.16 (4.04-4.28)
UCI: 4.13 (4.00-4.25)
UCD: 4.13 (4.00-4.26)
UCSC: 3.96 (3.76-4.16)
UCR: 3.90 (3.69-4.11)
UCM: 3.73 (3.45-4.00)

2019 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT totals:
UCB: 1340-1540

UCLA: 1330-1550
UCSD: 1300-1520
UCSB: 1280-1520
UCD: 1230-1490
UCI: 1250-1510
UCSC: 1200-1450
UCR: 1130-1400
UCM: 1020-1290

25th - 75th percentiles for ACT composite + language arts
UCB: 28-35
UCLA: 29-35
UCSD: 26-34
UCSB: 26-34
UCD: 24-33
UCI: 24-34
UCSC: 24-32
UCR: 21-30
UCM: 18-26

Make sure you start your college list from the bottom up meaning find 2 safety schools that are affordable and you would love to attend, then find several Match schools and finally you can work on your Reach schools like UCLA.

Once you have your GPA and test scores, then posters can offer some suggestions for Safety and Match schools. The best safety school as a California resident is your local Cal state since you get priority.

https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/freshman/documents/csulocaladmission-serviceareas.pdf

Since the UC and CSU applications can be sent to multiple schools without additional work, I would add UCD, UCSB and UCI to your UC list. I would also add SDSU and your local CSU.

Start working on drafting your UC activities as well as your personal statements. I think a lot of students focus on their personal statements and rush through the activity section. The activity section gives you the opportunity to list up to 20 activities/awards/volunteer/work experience/other coursework and up to 500 characters to describe them.

Your in-person activities might have been cancelled but look for opportunities to get involved virtually.

I regard the phrase “lesser University of California” as a contradiction in terms. All of the Universities of California are very good schools.

I am assuming that you are aware that UC Riverside has a very good medical school. To me this strongly suggests that it is also very good for premed. @Gumbymom knows California a lot better than I do (I live on the opposite side of the US). However, I would include an application to UC Riverside if I were in your situation.

Rankings are useless if you are considering Medical school. What is important is a High GPA, High MCAT scores, medically related EC’s, good Pre-Med advising and the rest is up to you. Medical schools do not care where you attend Undergrad, they are interested in what you have achieved wherever you attend.

As noted by @DadTwoGirls that UC Riverside has a Medical school and a guaranteed assurance program, see link below so something to consider:

http://somsa.ucr.acsitefactory.com/thomas-haider-early-assurance-program

Just some more information regarding CA schools and Medical schools below:

CA is one of the worst states for a pre-med to be a resident of. Large population; not enough med school seats.

CA produced over 6200 med school applicants in the 2019 cycle. Only 16% of the those 6200+ matriculated at a CA med school (public or private). Another 25% matriculated at an OOS med school, but most CA applicants (59% or 3652) were not accepted into ANY med school.

Nationally, less than 40% of med school applicants are accepted into any medical school in any given year. The odds for MD/PhDs are even poorer–238 applied; 88 matriculated.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321466/data/factstablea5.pdf
https://www.aamc.org/download/321542/data/factstableb7.pdf