I am having a really hard time trying to find the right university that fits me and the people that answer my questions on here are by far the most informational, thank you!
Here are the facts:
-California resident
-Female, white
-Income: <70,000
-Working student (20hrs per week)
-3.7 GPA (uncapped)
-3.9 GPA (capped)
SAT #1: 1160
Note: I will take the SAT again this October as well as the ACT and biology subject tests
-over +200 hours volunteering at the Boys and Girls club
-President of Key club, treasure of Interact club
-Volunteered 15+ hours teaching kids how to garden
-I have my own blog on child psychological disorders
-Took a summer course on Biological anthropology
-Currently volunteering at a homeless shelter and tutoring kids
-Attended a competitive leadership camp called RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards)
-at least 6 clubs joined, and 3 continued throughout high school
-AP biology (2), AP United States History (3), AP lang, AP psychology, AP Literature, AP Government
-Pre med student
-Major: Literature
-Minor: Psychology or Neuroscience
Schools I am thinking about applying to:
UCSD, UCR, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Washington University in Seattle, George Washington University, NC Chapel Hill University, SDSU…
I would like to go to an urban college in or out of California.
Out of my colleges, which schools can be considered my “safety-schools”? What other schools can I also apply to and have a very good chance of getting in?
You have no safety schools on your list. For the CSU’s, they use an eligibility index (CSU capped weighted GPA x 800) + (SAT Math + EBRW). Your EI is 4280. SDSU would be a safety with an EI of 4400+. Average EI for last year was 4408.
Also Safety schools need to be affordable, so with your families income will any of the OOS schools be affordable?
Have you run the Net Price Calculator’s for all schools and know your college budget?
What is your local Cal State? Your local CSU would make a good Safety school and should be affordable if you are eligible for Cal Grants and Federal aid.
Other than Cal Poly SLO, SDSU and CSU Long Beach, the rest of the CSU’s would make good safety schools.
Some other comments regarding your interest in Pre-Med and Medical school. You want to attend a school where costs are low and you have little Undergrad debt, so unless you receive a large amount of aid from the OOS schools, you should focus on your California schools since as a CA resident you should receive good financial aid. Always run the Net Price calculators and know how much your family can contribute each year to your Undergrad education.
@Gumbymom your advice is absolutely solid! If I do decide to go to a CSU, can I still have get into medical school? I have heard that students that typically go to CSU’s have a lower chance of getting accepted into medical school.
I do know of a few students that attended a CSU and were accepted to Medical school so that should not be a major factor in your decision but in general you would see more UC Undergrads vs CSU undergrads getting Medical school acceptances. Being a high performing student at a CSU still should get you noticed especially if you target schools with good Honors colleges which could open more opportunities. GPA, MCAT scores and Medically related EC’s will determine your chances for Medical school admissions more than the school you attend.
This is probably because of selection effects – CSUs typically get fewer top-end students to begin with, so fewer are able to hit high GPA and MCAT levels to be admissible to medical schools.
