What are some good reach, target, and safety schools for me?

College Search & Selection
1

I’m looking to major in economics btw…

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1430 (760 Math, 670 English, 18 Essay)
Will take again until I break 1500, my highest score on a practice SAT is 1510

SAT II: 800 Math 2
Will take literature
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology, Chemistry, Calc AB, Statistics (Didn’t take AP exams)
Senior Year Course Load: AP English, AP Calc BC, AP Comp Sci Principles, AP Gov/Econ, Choir, Lacrosse/Soccer
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Disney Dreamers Academy 2017, Presidents Award for 100 hours community service, Certificate of Recognition for helping my community achieve the Helen Putnam Award

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Soccer, Varsity Lacrosse (Captain), Club Lacrosse A-Team, Investors Club (President), FBLA Chapter (Founder and President), Water Conservation Club (Founder and President), NHS, Tri-M Music Community, Chamber Choir (Tenor Section Leader), Male A Capella Group, Church Youth Group, Small Business Owner
Job/Work Experience: Summer Internship with my city treasurer
Volunteer/Community service: AYSO Youth Referee, Special Olympics Soccer Referee, Athlete on Athlete tutoring, Director of Social Media for local non-profit
Summer Activities: Summer School, Travel, Internship
Essays: 8/10
Teacher Recommendation: 7/10 (From my freshman/sophomore english teacher, and my junior english teacher)
Counselor Rec: 6/10 generic
Additional Rec: 9/10 from my school districts superintendent
8/10 from my city treasurer
Interview: probably will be good

Other

State (if domestic applicant):California
Country (if international applicant): USA
Intended major(s): economics
School Type: competitive public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: > $200k
Hook: Legacy at Duke University (my dad went there)

Reflection
Strengths & Weaknesses: My SAT score and GPA are not very good and I’m not sure about my extracurriculars. I would say my application is just average

2

@Dukedreams I think that you haven’t gotten any replies because it’s your job to do the research to find schools that your feel would be a good fit for you. Schools have common data sets so you can compare your stats to the kids that are admitted to specific schools to determine if they are a safety, match, or reach for you. . Also, you can do your own research on which schools have good economics programs. Not many people are going to be inclined to do what you requested because it all depends on what your preferences are, small, big, private, public, rural, urban, liberal, conservative, close to home, as far away from home as possible, greek life, no greek life, etc. Nobody knows that information but you. Now if you got your schools narrowed down to a few in each category based on your preferences, then people might feel more inclined to offer their opinions or alternative choices, but not unless your provide more information about your preferences and do some of the research yourself.

3

If you like math with your economics, consider:

Reach: UCB
Low? reach: UCSD
High? match: UCI
Low? match: UCSC

4

Colgate, Middlebury and Hamilton would be excellent for economics and fall into the match to low reach range:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

5

Your parents income indicates that you would be full pay at any college. Do you have a specific budget/limit per year that your parents are willing to pay?

Since you are a CA resident, the UC’s make the most sense.

What is your UC GPA? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:

UCB: 14%
UCLA: 14%
UCSD: 44%
UCSB: 54%
UCD: 58%
UCI: 65%
UCSC: 85%
UCR: 94%
UCM: 96%

Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 4.20 or above:

UCB: 42%
UCLA: 54%
UCSD: 87%
UCSB: 85%
UCD: 91%
UCI: 94%
UCR/UCM: 98%