Where else should I apply?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi college confidential users,

I'm 18 years old, and I graduated high school in June of 2018. Senior year was the only year I had good grades (4.0). I was a pretty bad student until then, but in the last year of high school I grew tired of bad grades, so I worked hard and got a 4.0. Regardless, my cumulative GPA was still a terrible 2.9. My ACT scores were horrible as well, and in the end, due to my stats, I didn't apply anywhere.

That left me to think about my other options, and my dad suggested that I take a gap year. After a few conversations, that was my next step.

One Primary reason I decided to was that I wanted to work and to use that to build a proper work ethic for my future. I was always interested In design, photography, and marketing decided to start a branding and marketing company. I had also justified the gap year to myself because I started school a year early, and was always a year younger to my peers. Regardless, I knew before I made the decision was that I was going to college by transferring into a University.

I’ve been building that company ever since September, and it’s starting to take shape, but the gap year is coming to an end soon and I’ve been thinking about college again. I’ve been doing research for what I should be studying, and a business degree is my top choice. I chose that instead of art/design because I’ve learned everything I know by myself, and would like to keep doing so, and CS because its too competitive and doesn’t overlap with my career interests (marketing, advertising, design, photography and videography, and business).

The issue is my research proved to be only partially successful, as I only have my top choice decided, that being USC. They have a major called the Iovine and Young Academy, where you study design, get an intermediate understanding of CS and learn basic business skills. Although that is exactly what I want to study in terms of subject matter, what really convinced me is USC’s alumni network, environment, and direct access to some of the top departments at the school (Roski, Vertibi, Annenberg, and Marshall) and the amazing facilities ( 3D printers, amazing computers, laser cutters, think huge and expensive Makerspace ).

What’s left to decide is the other schools, with the main criteria of what schools teach business and have a great entrepreneurship environment.

My choices right now are UC Irvine for Business administration, and UC Davis for managerial economics through TAG.

The schools I’m not sure how to approach are CAL, Harvey Mudd, and UC San Diego. All Schools have great environments for entrepreneurship, but Harvey Mudd seems impossible, I don’t know what major I’d Pick at UC San Diego because they have no business undergrad, and my only thought for Berkeley was to apply as a peace studies major and involve myself in HAAS by auditing classes and building relationships with the professors and students.

So what I’d like to know is Where else should I be looking? Are there any holes in my thought process or mindset around college?

I would appreciate any thoughts about my situation, especially from anyone at these schools.

Ps: I know about Stanford and will apply, but that’s never gonna happen.

2

What is your state of residence? How much money can you spend?
I think, your GPA is way too low for any U of Cal Campus but check the websites for GPA.
Merced takes the lowest GPA as I understand it. Irvine is average 3.92, so you are well below.
If you are out of state, and want to pay cash for U of California campus, then that may help a little
but probably your GPA is still too low.

So, you may need to find schools outside of California or Cal State schools that might
accept your GPA and then prove yourself and transfer to a U of Cal Davis or Irvine
. Since you mention private schools, do you have
the hard cash to spend on your education.? Broaden your search and used the average GPA to pick schools.

I am thinking that you should look at Rochester Institute of Technology. It combines art and CS very very well,
offers an actual photography degree, and its out of the box in a colder suburb of Rochester. The Finger Lakes
Region is very nice with winter sports, and lots of great hikes, and the school may suit you well.

Can you retake the ACT or try the SAT?

https://www.rit.edu

3

Look at St. Mary’s College of California
https://www.stmarys-ca.edu

4

“Are there any holes in my thought process or mindset around college?”
Yes. The reality is that you will should start your college career at a community college, as both your GPA and test scores [ if they are as terrible as your GPA] will result in your rejection at USC and all CAL U campuses , as well as every other selective college, including HM.

PROVE to those colleges that you CAN achieve at the college level, by working as hard as you did your Sr year, and then transfer.
Then look up the Common Data Sets for colleges , which details the GPA’s, test scores, etc, etc of accepted students. But remember, NO selective colleges is going to care how much you want to go there, if you can’t get over the high hurdle of what they ARE looking for- students who show achievement at a high level in class.
USC takes thousands of transfer students each year.
good luck.

5

You say you’re looking at UC’s through TAG - does this mean you have started, or plan to start, community college?

If you go the CC route, then your CC transcript and EC’s will be the basis for your admission, which might be the best route for you, because getting into USC or the UC’s based on your high school record and standardized tests could be iffy. An improving trend helps, of course, but not necessarily enough.

If you want to go straight to a four-year U, look also at options with the WUE reciprocity discount. There are some great design and business and CS programs at WUE schools that aren’t too hard to get into, such as U of Utah and Portland State, and the Nevada flagships. These are all in cities with good potential as incubators for business ventures.

Far from home, in addition to RIT, check out Virginia Commonwealth, Drexel, and College of Charleston.

If you decide to go the CC-to-UC route, look into the honors programs at the CC’s near you.

6

My apologies if I didn’t make this clear enough, I am planning to attend a community college and transfer.

7

I live in the San Francisco Bay area and would like to stay in California. That being said if there is some program that would apply to what I said above I’d love to know about it. Furthermore, money is not an issue, I can afford to pay my tuition at USC if I got in.

And I’m well aware I will have to put everything I have into my community college classes and transfer application and plan to do so. My question is are there any universities that meet that criteria that I’m missing.

8

Loyola Marymount? Pepperdine? Santa Clara? Univ of San Diego? Cal Poly SLO?

9

I would also look at San Diego State. They have their Business Admin major with an emphasis in entrepreneurship.