Hi,
I’m a sophomore in North Carolina. I want to go to Californian schools, mainly, UCLA. I always wanted to go there ever since I started high school. I was born in Cape Town, South Africa. I came to the United States when I was only 10 years old. If you are a student or former, please tell me my chances of getting in.
My high school stats:
GPA: 3.5 , UC GPA: 3.91
preACT: 24
EC: Volunteered at Cone Stone Health Care, 3x Blood Donor, Varsity Track/Field, BETA club, HOSA club, Computer Technician help, Founder of MCSG network.
Race: Black
If not, which safety school (LA area) would I possibly get accepted in?
I want to major in Business.
No need-based financial aid for out-of-state students at UCs or CSUs, and large merit scholarships are rare and super-competitive. Can you and your parents afford the out-of-state price?
Most UCs do not have business (UCB, UCI, and UCR do). Most CSUs do have business, and some them are not that difficult to get into. But most CSUs are heavily commuter-based schools, so they may not have as good a campus social environment for an out-of-state resident student, unless you intend to seek social life outside of campus.
Agree, too early to tell your chances, but here is the Freshman profile for UCLA. Your GPA is heading in the right direction, think UC GPA of 4.2+ but ACT score will definitely need a huge boost.
No undergrad Business school at UCLA.
https://www.admission.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_fr/Frosh_Prof16.htm
Make sure you meet all the UC a-g course requirements and here is a what UCLA looks for in their application review. Also UCLA is the most applied to UC, so competition is fierce.
- Los Angeles
*
-
Very important: Academic GPA, Application essay, Rigor of secondary school record, Standardized test scores
-
Important: Character/personal qualities, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Volunteer work, Work experience
-
Considered: First generation college student, Geographical residence
-
Note: GPA, test scores, course work, number of and performance in honors and AP courses most important. Essay considered. Strong senior program important. Extracurricular activities, honors and awards also reviewed.
Thank you so much for replying, @Gumbymom! Ok, so I’m not an rising sophomore but a rising Junior. I’m the first generation student who will attend college or even finish high school. My parents both couldn’t receive education due to war torn country; Somalia. I used the preACT because I’m taking my actual ACT in 2nd or 1st semester I’m not sure. I’m definitely gonna work on my ACT!
I’m considering CSULA as my safety school. What do you think about it and do I have a chance?
Thank you so much for replying, @Gumbymom! Ok, so I’m not an rising sophomore but a rising Junior. I’m the first generation student who will attend college or even finish high school. My parents both couldn’t receive education due to war torn country; Somalia. I used the preACT because I’m taking my actual ACT in 2nd or 1st semester I’m not sure. I’m definitely gonna work on my ACT!
I’m considering CSULA as my safety school. What do you think about it and do I have a chance?
Your stats will get you into CSULA, but as an OOS applicant you will get no financial aid from any of the Cal States or UC’s, so you will be expected to pay full price. CSU’s run about $36K+/year and UC’s around $60K/year.
Safety school: Affordable, high chance for an acceptance and you are willing to attend no matter what.
That is pricey but I’m sure we will find a way.
Why is there no financial aid for OOS students? And is it true that OOS students gets a higher chance of getting into UCLA or CSULA?
Thank you so much again. Hopefully next time I talk to you will be on my acceptances.
UC’s and CSU’s are public univerisities paid for by California residents/taxpayers. In-state students get priority and are eligible for financial aid from these schools, but not OOS.
For UCLA, OOS students actually have a higher bar to meet when applying if you look at the Freshman profile.
CSU’s can be more lenient on OOS applicants since they are full pay and bring in good revenue for the school.
https://www.admission.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_fr/Frosh_Prof16.htm
For less impacted or non-impacted CSU campuses and majors, the minimum bar for admission for out-of-state students is higher than for in-state students. The minimum thresholds for in-state and out-of-state frosh applicants are shown at https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/eligibility-index/Documents/eligibility-index.pdf . Of course, a given campus or major may have higher standards due to impaction (more applicants than it can admit due to capacity limitations).
Remember that California public universities require frosh applicants to have a year-long high school art course, among other academic requirements (3 on AP art exam or a college art course may be used instead).
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/csu-uc-a-g-comparison-matrix.pdf
@Gumbymom gave you some good information.
Remember that these schools are public and funded by the State of California. The State is always out of money so funding for its universities and colleges can be very limited. State taxes heavily affect California residents. Since your family hasn’t paid a cent to California in state taxes, you cant expect the state to fund a non-resident.
In addition to that information, affirmative action is not legal in California, so race cannot be used for admission.
The class sizes tend to be a lot larger than what you can imagine, so you need to realize that these schools are public schools and you will be paying a LOT of money. That’s $40K per year or $160K (4 years) minimum for a large public CSU state school. The UC’s will be $60K per year or $240K cash for 4 years.
Not likely if you don’t have the cash.
You may want to rethink your plan to attend school in California unless your have the cash, the grades and the high test scores. It is not what you see on television. It’s not all beaches and scenery.
I’d look at some of the private colleges in So Cal as options. If you are s competitive applicant for UCLA, you are quite likely to be granted scholarships for LMU, USD and Chapman.