I’m a student from California, my school is really rigorous and ranked #5 for academics in California, #109 in the US. My mom graduated from UW
Scores
GPA: 3.41 W
9 AP classes, heavy rigor (I’m aware I have a weak GPA, I had under a 3.0 sophomore year because I transferred to a really rigorous school and it came as a shock to me, but junior year I have a 4.25 weighted)
SAT: 1170
ECs: Mission trips through Church, Varsity Swimmer, started Investment Club at school, hold a job, and volunteer at my Church.
Senior Year Courseload: AP Statistics, AP Literature, AP Government/Economy, AP Art History, and several electives.
I want to apply to colleges such as GWU, University of Washington, Colorado University, Virginia Tech, SCU, and UCSC
I need to know where I should apply.
While your gpa is on the low side, your ECs are very good and will come into play at SCU quite a bit, what major are you considering applying to? Also, think about and discuss if you (your parents) would really pay OOS prices for a big public school like UW or any big public OOS when you could pay the same amount for a private school, where you are more likely to get merit money. If you love Seattle, there is also Seattle University - much smaller of course, but better chance of getting accepted and merit money from there, where you are likely to get nothing from UW - and you will likely not get directly admitted to your major (have to compete/apply for it as soph or junior). I had three admitted to UW, all getting the OOS scholarship (which maxes at $8500 or 9k, can’t remember which), but without direct admit none of them wanted to commit there. Even my sibling, who sent two kids to UW, said the stress fest and 5-6 years it took was terrible (because it took to long to get into major so they were behind and this with a 3.8 college gpa) and they paid in state funds so paying OOS for that aggravation was crazy. May be worth taking the shot, but think about how important flexibility is in your major and the opportunity to change or double. That will determine the kind of schools you should apply to besides the obvious COA. btw, it seems every hs in CA is rigorous, there are a thousand different surveys with dif results, don’t count on that meaning much.
1. That was quite a stream of consciousness directed at a student with a 3.41 W GPA/1170 SAT and limited prospects for admission at either SCU or UW.
I’d like to do Industrial Design, Architecture, or Psychology
Looks like Colorado, Virginia Tech and Washington have all of those majors. Perhaps you should Google schools with those majors to find a range of safety, match and reach schools. Start with architecture and industrial design to help narrow your search results.