I’m wondering what my chances of getting in are, these are my statistics( I live in PA)
SAT composite: 1140 M: 580 ERW: 560
ACT: 23
Classes I’ve taken are: Honors English 9 10 11, Honors Biology chemistry human anatomy
Honors us history, AP US history, AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP World History
I’ve been in the marching band for 3 years, cross country team for 2, swim team for 2 years, varsity lacrosse team for 3 years, part of the Mini thon committee to support pediatric cancer, and have over 50 hours of community service hours. My GPA is 3.99 weighted out of a 5.0. A little background of me is that I come from a pretty poor family, my mom was the only one that worked and recently passed away from cancer, my dad hasn’t worked for a while. Our house is getting foreclosed so I had to move in with a friend so I can stay at my current high school. Because of everything that happened, my recent school year grades weren’t very up to par. I’ve also been working to make some money for myself.
Sorry to hear about your family issues, but you do realize that as an out of state applicant that you will receive no financial aid for all these schools. SDSU will cost you around $36K+/year and the UC’s around $60K/year.
Regarding your Stats:
ACT very low for all the schools on your list. Think ACT of 27+ for SDSU and around 30-32+ for UCSB/UCLA and UCSD.
The CSU and UC’s have their own GPA calculation using only 10-11th grades for all the a-g course requirements.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
For SDSU, you want around a 3.8+ or higher while for the UC’s around a 4.0+.
Since you are in need of financial aid, you should first look to your in-state schools. These California schools are not affordable.
Affordability aside - you are really unlikely to get into any of the UCs you list as an OOS applicant with those stats. SDSU, maybe… but OOS tuition is absurd. Apply to a couple of CA privates, you may get enough aid to make it make sense. LMU, UOP and USD are good targets. In state is probably the best option. Where do you live?
I’m sorry for your recent problems; it is not easy to deal with some of the things you’ve experienced as a young person. I can relate to some of your issues. It will get tougher.
Now, as far as your choices-thinking that going to California will put you in a better place-tells me you haven’t read the financial aid pages of those schools. You seem to have directly picked all of the Southern California public schools that are all very different, expensive, and will not give you a penny to attend. Those schools are all funded by the State of California which barely has enough money for the California kids. They don’t provide any scholarships to students who do not reside in California.
Additionally, what the posters above are trying to tell you is that those schools want students with high test scores and high grades, first and above all else. Your ECs won’t help you because you don’t have and can show the necessary test scores to do well at those tough schools. The adcoms may think you’ve spent too much time on ECs and not enough time on your studies.
Your home life has been tragic and you should write your essays on it, but it won’t compensate for those test scores. You may want to try applying to California private schools (Chapman, USD, etc) that have a little more money if your heart is set on California. Retake your tests and see if you can get better scores.
Applying to all of those California public universities will be very expensive. Save your application money for your instate schools.
The only reason I’m looking at schools in Cali are because I have close relatives that live here.
In state tuitions in PA are pretty expensive but not so much compared to CA schools.
You won’t get a break in OOS tuition because your relatives live in California. Coming to California for educational purposes still puts you at full OOS tuition.
You test scores are not competitive for any of those schools. Sorry.
I actually got accepted to SDSU so thanks for telling me that I basically wouldn’t get in
Congratulations on your acceptance. If you attend, how do you plan to pay? CSU’s are need blind so they do not take your financial situation into consideration when making decisions. Since they offer no financial aid to OOS students, so they expect you to be full pay. Best of luck.
I plan to apply for many need based scholarships and others too. I want to take the least possible student loans I can.
“I actually got accepted to SDSU so thanks for telling me that I basically wouldn’t get in”
No need to be snarky. You asked for people’s opinions about your chances.
I’m curious to know how you found out that you got accepted, so quickly? I don’t know any other seniors who have been notified of CSU acceptances.
@Mom2BoysCA SDSU started admitting OOS applicants this week.
It brings in the higher tuition $'s and frustrates instate applicants.
Congrats @Minkee2000
Sorry about the snarkiness but yeah they did start accepting only out of state students
No worries. Some instate acceptances just started rolling out today!!
I would like to know how you plan to fund around $40K/year costs with outside scholarships and federal aid without taking out loans. SDSU will give you no need based aid since you are not an in-state applicant. I suggest you run the net price calculator first to see if this is even possible. I do not mean to rain on your parade, but OOS applicants are “cash cows” for the CSU’s and UC’s since they are full pay. Again best of luck and hope you are able to make the finances work.
https://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/financialaid/netpricecalculator.aspx
https://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/financialaid/costofattendance.aspx
You were accepted for full pay because they need the OOS money and cash cows do that.
How will you pay $40K per year?
Federal money: Pell grants are $5900 per year.
That still leaves $34,100.
Work study is probably another $2K.
If your father hasn’t worked, he won’t qualify for parent plus loans.
Congrats! for the record, i said maybe about SDSU.
As others spell out above, it is going to be absurdly expensive. Please don’t bury yourself and your parents with loan. You will all come to regret the burden as you start your career - and they end theirs.
Congrats on your acceptance!
I am confused as to why you would be aiming for California when you would likely get very good scholarships and a very good education in PA.
You said you have close relatives here. You also said your living situation is very temporary. Are you wanting to move to CA because your relatives are more stable and you could live with them? Another option might be to come here, live with the relatives, take time off of school, work to establish residency, then start with our wonderful community colleges, then transfer to a 4 year school. You would need to establish residency prior to starting at the community college. But you would then be eligible for scholarships and a much lower tuition. And it would get you out of your current poor living situation.
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Are you wanting to move to CA because your relatives are more stable and you could live with them?
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@calla1, if a student is trying to establish residency, living with relatives won’t do it.
http://ucop.edu/residency/process.html
The student must be self sufficient for 2 years, present a budget, rent receipts ( at market rates), living expenses and cannot receive any help from anyone. The student’s W2 forms and C.A. 540 must match the budget sheets at the residency determination office. Most students can’t find jobs that will cover market rental rates of $1500 to $2k per month.
Thanks for the correction, @“aunt bea”. Perhaps the OP is better off staying in PA.