<p>I'm trying to narrow down my list of colleges. My family's moving to Cali next year, so I'll become a resident soon. I was wondering if applying to some lower UCs/some CSUs as safeties would be a good idea, considering I'm still an out-of-stater right now. </p>
<p>Safeties:
UCI
UCSC
Cal Poly SLO
SDSU maybe? I don't really know any other alright CSUs</p>
<p>Is this a good list? It looks like a lot but if you count the UCs as one school, it's like only 6 different schools.</p>
<p>Well more importantly, are those Cali publics good 'safeties' for me, even if I am out of state. Theres only ~5% out of staters admitted to those publics,they kinda look like reaches from that perspective.</p>
<p>help me i'm stupid with this college business</p>
<p>Seeing as most UC's have ~90%+ in-state students...but I think you have a shot (with MIT being a really big reach, since you have to ace math and science for that).</p>
<p>Research those CSU's...I think there are 23 of them or something.</p>
<p>What are your SAT II writing scores? The UC's rank them very heavily in admissions. I would consider UCSD a reach, not a match and Cal Poly SLO a match, not a safety. </p>
<p>The University of San Francisco should be considered a definite safety - in fact, if you applied EA, you will probably qualify for an automatic merit scholarship there. I'm tempted to call the University of San Diego a safety for you as well - they are really looking for geographic diversity and your stats are high for them. But, they have been getting tougher in recent years so consider it a "pretty safe match"</p>
<p>SDSU is an OK school but does not compare to the UC's. If you are interested in engineering or sciences, SDSU would not be my choice. It would be a definite safety for you, however. </p>
<p>Also, do keep in mind that your parents will have to live in California for a year before you qualify for in-state residency.</p>