I want to be a biology/zoology major, and get my PHD in marine biology. Should i apply undeclared?
I would be an out of state student from Alabama. How do they feel about OOS students?
I did badly my freshman year of high school (mostly C’s, a few B’s, and one D). How is freshman year weighted?
I slacked my freshman year because the curriculum and people in my public school were terrible. I would skip all the time because I could not stand it. I messed up. Because private school was too expensive, I now attend a fully accredited online high school (American High School). I’ve had all A’s my sophomore and junior year, and I will continue to have through my senior year. Do colleges look down on online high school, or home school in general? I know they like to see progress.
I made a 30 on the ACT. Should I take two of the SAT II’s? Can I get a good scholarship with a 30?
I will have over 800 hours of volunteer work. I volunteer at the Zoo, the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the Alabama Shakespeare festival, and the humane society.
>Humane Society: Required 6 hours a month (feeding, cleaning, programs)
>ADAH: I work every Tuesday and Thursday (receptionists, gift shop)
>Zoo: Every Friday (giraffe post cashier)
>Shakespeare: Whenever they called me (usher, folding papers, special events)
I am on the zoo teen program as well. It is a volunteer program where you come in and feed and clean the animals, go on programs and present the animals, work on special events, and help with summer camp (2 weeks required). You’re basically a docent. I made my way up to being a zoo teen leader. This is my only leadership role.
I will have taken 6 AP classes by the end of my senior year.
I took a scuba diving course and got my license over the summer.
I’ve had a job at Chappy’s Deli for a little over a year.
I will start practicing writing my essays now. Hopefully I can have a good one.
SOOOO, do I stand a chance (good, fair, poor?) I really don’t have much help with the college process at all.
Are there any other things I can do to boost my resume?
I would love it if you could give me as much detailed description and feedback as possible.
Freshman year doesn’t count in UC admissions so you’re fine.
For OOS be prepared to pay the full tuition of roughly 55k~ per year. You will probably not get a substantial scholarship with a 30 ACT as UCSB is getting very competitive these past couple of years.
You don’t need SAT II’s as I think you only need them for engineering, but getting an 800 in Bio E wouldn’t hurt.
You stand a very good chance with a 4.0 UW and 6 AP’s, with good EC’s.
Keep in mind UC’s are receiving a record number of applicants so the competition is super fierce.
The UC’s are public universities funded by the taxpayers of California. State funding is reserved for California state residents and, since the state of California is out of money, the priority for funding is for the children of California taxpayers. Right now, we have legislation pending to increase funding and openings for California students.
As an OOS student, you would not receive much in the way of scholarships especially since your ACT score of 30 is not competitive. OOS students pay full price. You would pay $55K per year. (That’s 220K for 4 years and is not worth it for an undergrad education). Moving to California to attempt to become an in-state resident would not work, as it is VERY difficult to gain in-state residency.
UW: 4.0
Weighted: I believe its around something like a 4.5
I’m hoping to raise my ACT score to around a 32. What kind of a scholarship do you think i could get? I’m not too familiar with scholarships yet.
If you plan to apply to a UC, you should read all the pages online about UC admission. You will need to meet a to g course requirements (often oos students are missing some, and the arts.) You will calculate your UC weighted gpa to meet the 3.4 gpa minimum requirement, although oos students will have to be much higher–it used sophomore and jr year only. For oos student AP in sophomore or jr year are weighted, honors aren’t. They will look at freshman course and grades but it is not part of the gpa calculation. Same with Sr, they will look at and hold you to the schedule you report on your application but they will admit you before year end grades are available.
Read about UC financial aid. UC is primarily need based aid focused on instate student. They do like full pay OOS students, but they will give some aid to accepted OOS students. They do not, however, give aid to cover the OOS tuition add on of 23k per year. As an estimate your minimum cost will be 23k + your EFC +student loans and work of about 8k.
I’ll answer this one by one to make things easier:
No, you should apply to biology/zoology.
UC's are considerably more difficult for OOS students to get in, but you still have a shot.
UC's don't look at freshman year GPA.
Colleges don't look down on homeschooling or online high school but it does depend on the school. As long as your curriculum follows the A-G Course list/requirements, you're good to go.
Take the ACT again. Try to get a 32+ composite score. Normally, I would only say take the SATII's if it is required, however it's completely up to you. Because you are homeschooled/are enrolled in an online school, colleges will want something standardized to see that you have proficiency. If you want to take two SATII tests, I recommend Bio and another one of your choice.
All of your EC's sound great and I wouldn't worry about them in any way. Maintain them for as long as possible, most preferably until high school is over.
Rigor seems good to me.
You stand a decent chance but it’s always a toss in the air with college admissions. You never really know what someone will think once your application and essay are in front of the adcoms. Besides maintaining high grades, continuing EC’s, and writing good essays, I see nothing more you need to do.
UC GPA Calculator: http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
As stated above, pay attention to the a-g course requirements needed to apply. Also the extra honors points in the calculator are capped at 8 semesters of AP/IB courses taken 10-11th grade for OOS. You look like a competitive applicant, if finances are an issue, UCSB should not be on your list. Also as stated above, UC’s really do not give merit aid with exception of Regents.
With your Stats you would be eligible for multiple scholarships at the University of Alabama. I would look closer to home first.
Note this got moved to chances where you would likely only have got percentiles and not really any help with questions that you have. So in future, don’t put ‘Chances’ in the title unless you are asking to play guessing games. If you have real questions about admissions, frame your title that way.
If you don’t know how financial aid and scholarships work, read the FAQ in the financial aid forum. Mainly if you want to get scholarships you have to apply to schools that give them. UCs hardly gives any. Most public universities don’t have much for out of state students, if any, but some do. There are many links in the top of the financial aid forum to read.
The data show otherwise. We don’t know the stats of the OOS vs. in-state applicants, but the acceptance rate is higher for OOS at every campus except Merced. This is the latest info available, which is for 2014.