What are my chances of getting into my list of schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello. I’m really stressed out about the college admission. process and was looking for help in my situation. The application process is approaching so rapidly and I just would appreciate some guidance.

I am a student at a private catholic high school in Southern California. I really want to go into pharmacy and I’m trying to find colleges that best help me follow this path. Ideally, I’m trying to stay in California. My credentials are:

4.0 weighted GPA, 3.76 unweighted, 4.14 UC GPA

31 ACT Composite

1950 SAT

AP Chem - 4

APUSH - 4

AP English Language - 4

My senior course load will include AP Physics 1, AP English Literature, AP Psych, AP Social Studies (In which AP Gov is first semester and AP Macro is second semester).

I didn’t take high school very seriously my freshman and sophomore years, and thus my GPA was pulled down considerably. My junior year I really got my crap together and pulled near straight As, with only a B+ in AP Chem second semester.

In terms of extra curriculars, I have been in my school’s theatre department all 4 years, and will be taking a leadership position in that department next year. I have been apart of NHS beginning first semester junior year, as well as CSF since first semester sophomore year. I was apart of ASB during my junior year. I managed the basketball team my freshman year. I participated in an immersion program my junior year in which I lived at my school and spent the entire day out in places like Skid Row helping the homeless or acting as a “big brother” for Shane’s inspiration for kids with autism. My big EC is that I have been a professional actor since I was 5 and have been apart of the workforce as well as a member of SAG/AFTRA ever since.

Money is a bit of an issue. I would consider myself lower-midle class. This is my big reason for wanting to stay in Cali, and my interest in the UC system as shown below. Generally, I would prefer not to exceed 25k in terms of base tuition.

I plan on applying to (in no order):
UCLA
UC Berkeley
UCSD
UCSB
UC Davis
UCSC
UC Irvine
Cal Poly Slo
University of Michigan (I have family here, given their emphasis on having locals this may help)
Purdue
USC (Only if I can get a good amount of financial aid)

I would be happy with any of these schools, top choice probably being split between UCSD, UC Berkeley, and Michigan. Any advice on where to apply or where to not apply as well as any help in pursuing pharmacy would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

2

How actively do you plan on participating in your school’s theatre program? It probably won’t be a major or minor for Pharmacy but do you think you can safely say it will be part of your college career?

3

Also, my ACT is a 32 super scored.

4

UC’s do not super score.
You look competitive for UCSB/UCD/UCI/UCSC/USC/SLO and UCSD based on GPA and ACT. UCLA/UCB are a High Match/Low reach. What is your intended major? Your acting background will make your essays a little more unique which could boost your chances.

Good Luck.

5

So you have legacy at UMich? Otherwise, I don’t see how having family there helps.
Your GPA is below there admission average and your ACT is right above the 25th percentile (at 25th percentile for CoE). It would be a reach for you from OOS. They don’t superscore ACT there.
Purdue should be a high match to match.

6

I’m planning to major in Biochemistry and maybe double majoring with business administration or economics.

7

One thing that stands out to me, I’m being nit picky here so bear with me, learn the meaning of thee word “apart”. It means to separate or divide. So when you say that you are “apart of ASB” and “apart of the workforce” you are saying that you didnt participate. The usage of that term could be detrimental to your application.

I know this sounds petty, but you never know with admissions committees with thousands of applicants, who they will select and how they will base and read those applications.

As a California resident (please don’t call it “Cali”, we natives hate that), you do have an advantage.

I agree with @Gumbymom on schools with the exception of San Diego. The GPA with incoming UCSD students has increased, so that will be a tough call, unless you reside in San Diego county.

8

As a Cali native, I’m from Cali, and that’s pretty much all I call it, I think that you might want to consider more schools outside of the state. I’m a believer that college is a good chance to explore and live in a new place.

As for money, I’ve been doing school tours, and a lot of schools stress their ability to fully cover any financial need. Not that it may particularly be a choice for you, but Princeton swears that it will cover literally everything you need, and barely anyone graduates with debt. If you aren’t committed to Cali schools, try to research schools across the nation that could possibly support you financially.

I trust you won’t make grammatical mistakes in a college application or essay.

9

Unless you plan on going to the south or midwest, I would nix the idea of going OOS. Based on your stats, it would cost some decent change to go OOS. We have great schools in California!

(FWIW, longtime locals, true multi-generational native-borns, OTL’s and surfing population of California- in other words us “old folks”-don’t use the term “Cali” since the term evolved from other states.)

10

If you didn’t mind the humidity I’ve known Tulane to give very large financial aid packages to students with stats around yours, so that could be viable. OOS will mostly just come into play if you plan on going public outside of Cali.

(The vibe for more SoCal youth, multi-generational or not, tends to be very loose and relaxed, and so I’d say that it’s more Californian to not care what it’s called.)

11

I also must say that while the popularity and in turn difficulty of admission are rising for UCSD, he still stands to be competitive, especially with the possibility of unique essays through his history in acting. I’d say it would still fall as a match to maybe high match, but definitely wouldn’t be a reach. It still hasn’t achieved the caliber of UCLA or Cal.