What are my chances at all of my colleges?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am looking for a final opinion on my chances for the colleges on my list as well as whether they are safeties, matches, or reaches. I need to know if I have to add more safeties to my list.

Applying to (with my estimation of the difficulty)
-Brown (Reach, Economics)
-Cornell (Reach, Computer Science BA)
-UCLA (Reach, not sure of major)
-Berkeley (Reach, CS BA)
-Carleton (High match & there’s no application fee so I’m just applying anyways)
-Kenyon College (Match)
-UC San Diego (High match, CS)
-Cal Poly SLO (High match, CS)
-UC Davis (Match, most likely CS)
-UC Irvine (Match, most likely CS)
-SJ State (Safety)

Please tell me if any of these are harder to get in than I thought, also I know CS is hard to get into which is why I’m not applying to the schools of engineering at any place I can.

-California resident
-Race: Black (dad is from Senegal)

  • ACT: Composite (I took this twice) - Composite - 33, English - 35, Math - 27, Reading - 34, Science - 34
    Composite - 33, English- 32, Math- 32, Reading - 31, Science - 35
    Which one should I submit?
    -My SAT Subject test scores sucked so I won’t be submitting them
    -Unweighted UC GPA: 3.95
    -Weighted UC GPA: 4.25
    -Weighted CSU GPA: 4.591
    Class Rank: 4/395

Freshman:
English Language Arts 9 Honors
World Geography/Healthy Living
Geometry
Biology
French 1

Sophomore:
English Language Arts 10 Honors
AP European History (3)
Algebra 2/Trig Honors
Chem Honors
French 2

Junior:
AP Language/Comp (4)
AP US History (4)
AP Art History
Pre-Calc
AP Chemistry (4)
French 3 Honors

Senior:
AP Biology
AP Psychology
AP Literature/Comp
AP Government
AP Calc AB
Physics
Economics

Work Experience: Referee for the youth soccer league, Tutor for elementary school students

Volunteering: Volunteer for Public Library - 400 hours from 8th to 12th grade, Key Club - 25 hours

Extracurriculars:
-Treasurer of French Club (10-12)
-Mock Trial Club
-Philosophy Club
-Key Club
-Traveling soccer team (8-12)
-Varsity tennis team (11-12)
-National Science Bowl (12)

Honors/Awards:
-Member of the Honorary Society of French
-AP Scholar with Honor
-Principal’s Scholar Honor Roll

Essays: My essays should be pretty decent
Letters of Rec: My AP Bio teacher would be a decent rec and my French teacher even better because she is the advisor of French club and knows me pretty well.

Thanks so much for the insight!

2

Your GPA and ACT scores make you competitive for all of these schools. In terms of which ACT to send: what is your planned major? If it’s in the humanities I would submit the first as your English and Reading scores are higher, but if it’s in STEM, the second has better Math and Science scores. Your status as a URM definitely should help at least a little as well (again, depending on your major). I don’t think you need another safety because of the strength of your grades and scores and the fact that you already have 2 matches and a safety. As for the reaches: I would demonstrate as much interest as possible (if the school cares about demonstrated interest) and try to schedule interviews if they’re available. You seem like a strong, competitive candidate for all of these universities. Best of luck!!

3

in Your other threads, you mention the need for merit aid…and you make it sound like the costs to attend college are a significant consideration.

So my question to you…are any of these schools, including SJSU affordable?

@ucbalumnus could you comment on whether CS is an impacted major at the CA schools on this kiddo’s list?