<p>I'm not a softy - I'm not worried about getting rejected. I'm solely interested in saving myself the time and money by applying only to schools that will actually consider accepting me.</p>
<p>Washington state CC
currently taking 25 credits (5 classes)
currently GPA 3.42 (ouch, down from a 3.67. The B- in my summer Cell Bio lab killed me!) but will be at LEAST a 3.7 by the end of the current quarter. After that it will stay at or above that level.
EC's - not a whole lot. I have a lot of volunteer experience. A LOT. I actually worked with my mom and painted a HUGE mural on the wall of a local junior high. We just did it to make the school look a bit nicer (she worked there as a TA) but there was an article about it in the paper.....should I mention that/send a copy of the article?</p>
<p>My dad's a retired Marine. I have extensive travel experience (I've moved over two dozen times) and have had a lot of other experiences one would expect a military kid to have.</p>
<p>I have a few breaks in my education - I spent about 9 months working on/with/around a local fine arts scene (hugely successful). This actually overlapped into my freshman year, so it basically encouraged me to go to school. The other gap was about 2 years ago. I withdrew from school and spent about a year as a nanny to my sister's kids while my sister worked on her bachelors (she had just gotten divorced). During that time I also did a renovation project on a house (I'm now fully qualified to market my construction skills), and set up filing systems for a contractor (both a physical system and a computer system).</p>
<p>I have solid writing skills. I got A's in both of my English classes and maintain close relationships with both professors. I'm not worried about my ability to write a good essay, so if there are schools out there that put a lot of emphasis on the essay portion, let me know.</p>
<p>I'd like to apply to UCI, Fullerton, Northeastern, and Boston University. I'd like to add 3 or 4 more schools to that list. Again, I'm not worried about my chances. I'm just wondering how high to aim.</p>
<p>So.....my only real parameters are: California, Boston-area, and a History major. Should I apply to other UC's? What about USC (my dad has a masters from there). </p>
<p>If you're not a CA resident, I would advise against the UCs, since they have a strong preference for in-state, and as you've stated, you're not interested in throwing away money. Northeastern and BU are certainly possibilities. Some other schools you might consider include Pepperdine, LMU, and BC, although the latter has a fairly low transfer rate.</p>
<p>I'm not qualified to comment on the strength of their history programs, but I'm sure they all have one.</p>
<p>I'm not sure about residency - I grew up military, so although I'm definitely not a California resident, I barely qualify as a resident of any state. I am not expecting that to help my chances of admission, but I assume it'll at least be taken into consideration!</p>
<p>First and foremost, I have to say I like everything about you from your post. And I'm thinking lots of Admissions Committees will, as well.</p>
<p>I do have to agree with Twenty8 that, if you are not a Calif. resident, your chances are much diminished at a UC. I'd suggest you look carefully into that before applying to any of the UC's (btw, I believer their transfer app deadline is late November).</p>
<p>I think your list looks realistic based on your profile. If you want California, I'd suggest you think about Santa Clara University, USan Diego... as privates to consider that are not too reach-y. Reachier Calif. privates could include Pomona, Pitzer, other Claremonts. If you are a male, that would help you (I think) at Santa Clara and maybe some others. If you are a female, add Scripps to the mix.</p>
<p>In the Boston area, consider Brandeis, Tufts (fairly reach-y).Simmons or Wellesley (if you are female), Wheaton, Stonehill
And, if you would consider further afield but somewhat near Boston: Holy Cross (reach-y), Clark
Finally: critical question - How do finances figure in your equation? Do you need financial aid? What is the EFC?</p>
<p>Check with your college counselling office as there is a program involving 9 western states[ I believe] where it enables you to transfer to colleges OOS and not have to pay OOS fees. I DON'T think it applies to the UC's, but it does apply to many other colleges. I will try to find a link and post it here.</p>
<p>This is tremendously helpful! I'm so grateful to all of you for the posts!</p>
<p>I'm female.<br>
Money is a pseudo-factor. I will definitely need to apply for financial aid, but I'm not at all afraid of loans. I have exceptionally good credit, I work hard, and I've already received job interview offers for post-law school. Networking has become my best asset.
The Out of State agreement to which menloparkmom refers is called the Western Undergraduate Exchange aka WUE (woo-ee). It doesn't apply to any of the schools I'd like to go to, unfortunately. </p>
<p>As for residency - I am military, so the whole residency thing has never applied to me the way it has for other people. Is it reasonable to assume the UCs will acknowledge that, or are they very strict? I can certainly understand if they are - California is HUGE and there are so many smart and talented students down there!!</p>
<p>Thanks again, this is indescribably comforting and useful. I'm quite close with one of my professors (who has so graciously agreed to guide me throughout the next few months) and this will go great lengths in helping us out! If there are any more factors that might help you with more suggestions please let me know!</p>
<p>The UC's (and other state schools) aren't concerned with your residency for its legal/voting aspects. It's all about the money - they (rightfully) are geared to favoring the families that are taxpayers in their state. I'm guessing that the only way you will get info on your situation as a military family is to speak with someone at UC admissions. You could also try a PM to "UCD Admissions", a rep who posts on this forum, or start a thread on the UC Transfer subforum with a title that indicates you want info on residency considerations for a military person. But, if you have never been Calif. residents, it is my guess (and that is just a guess) that you'd be treated like a non-resident, meaning much slimmer chances.</p>
<p>Thanks for clearing that up Andale - I figured as much, but I still wanted to ask! "Super Moderator" is right!</p>
<p>menloparkmom/anyone in-the-know - how would you categorize a USC application for me? Reach/far-reach? </p>
<p>From what I've looked at on this entire site, grade cutoffs only REALLY seem to matter at the top 10 on USNews. I've seen several (legitimate) posts from students who have gotten into Johns Hopkins and Brown with only a 3.7 (or even one with a 3.6) GPA, reasonably good test scores and some solid EC's (but no "I spent six months in Somalia de-worming orphans" type things). Seems to me schools are pretty sick and tired of perfect students and just want hard-working learners. These students seem to be mostly exceptions, but there's certainly quite a few students who manage to get accepted to top Us without killing themselves to get in. I'm obviously not planning on applying to either school, but those stats (and many, many others) certainly make me feel better about my chances of not wasting $70 on applications!</p>
<p>It really depends on your major, but if you aren't applying to the USC business school I would say that you have a pretty good chance at it. 3.4 really isn't that bad and you have 2 semesters to bring it up, USC's deadline isn't until feb i want to say.. so you will have your fall grades and they might accept u or request winter grades. Apply to USC it isnt a waste of money.</p>
<p>I'm an official history major who is unofficially minoring in business. I LOVE history but sometimes I need to take a break and do graphs and spreadsheets to give myself a breather. My accounting class is part of the GPA problem. I got a B-this summer and I'm finishing the series this term. Maybe that's a bad thing, but I WANT to take it and I'm going to finish the series. I suppose most people would try to take classes that they could do better in, but I'm more interested in getting an education than getting into top schools.</p>
<p>Though, obviously, I would LOVE to get accepted to really good schools. :D</p>
<p>Again, I'm really, really grateful for all the posts. It has completely changed my outlook on things and I'm feeling much more welcome as an academic (something I definitely am not) than I was last week.</p>
<p>One of my English professors went there. I certainly don't want to insult the school or anyone that goes there, but let's face it: Matt Groening is a weirdo! Just about the most talented weirdo in existence, but a weirdo nonetheless. My English prof wasn't very impressed with the liberal take on education. He certainly wasn't against the school (nor am I) but even he joked about the "weirdos" that go there. </p>
<p>More to the point (since again, I'm not at all against the school), the geographic location is not very stimulating to me. Keep in mind that not only have I lived and traveled ALL over the country and world, but I'm used to moving every two to three years. I need a place that is stimulating enough to keep me occupied for at least another year or two.</p>
<p>Really good suggestions though - I looked into it just a few months ago!</p>
<p>Haha! Actually they were for me! I was reading about Matt Groening earlier this summer and wanted to investigate Evergreen......since he's no longer there, I saw little that appealed to me!!</p>
<p>I was actively involved for 8 months in a youth-targeted fine arts scene created by my cousin (who has a degree in psychology and who, at the time, ran a youth treatment facility) and his roommate (the assistant high school track/cross country coach). I spent upwards of 30 hours a week entertaining, feeding, and giving tour guides to the traveling musicians/artists, distributing fliers, and recruiting youths to join in the scene. Called the "overground", this scene brought in bands and artists from all over the country (and even one band from Italy). The venue was free and local talent (particularly the youth) were encouraged to attend, perform and enjoy. Meeting about once a week, shows could be anything from full sets by signed bands to monologues by high school students to finger painting/dancing to watching independent films. Parents occasionally attended as well. </p>
<p>I was very much involved in this program. It was very casual but also very efficient. All contact information was provided for those interested in performing. There was a comprehensive website which promoted future shows, archived past events and had a forum to get everyone connected. It was very influential in my decision to go to college. </p>
<p>Should I write about this? I was going to mention it on my activity summary, but I'm not sure how much detail I should give.</p>
<p>Also, how important are essays and letters of recommendation? My writing skills are solid and my letters from my professors will probably be very impressive. One in particular is going to great lengths to help me with my applications, a commitment which will, as you know, span over the course of the next 6 months. </p>
<p>Lastly - I found out that Wellesley doesn't charge an application fee if you apply online. I'll obviously apply, since I've got nothing to lose but a bit of time (but the common app saves most of it), and as I've freed up $50 should I apply to a reachier school? Or should I put USC and Wellesley in that "dreamy reach" category?</p>
<p>thats a definite plus! tip: be sure to focus on leadership qualities. i wouldnt necessarily say "distributed flyers" instead "improved community awareness" or something to that effect, for example. dont be so detailed that your level of responsibility seems diminished.</p>
<p>haha, good tip! I was just trying to throw that out to get a feel for it's relevance. You're definitely right - distributing fliers isn't the most poetic or profound job description I've ever heard!</p>
<p>Okay, the whole 4.0 thing is a non-issue (except among some posters here on cc ;)). You do NOT need a 4.0 to transfer into a very very top school. You can simply check the threads (maybe not so easy to find) where members post their transfer admissions results and see that many, many have great transfer results without 4.0 GPAs. (My own son transferred to JHU with what you called "only" a 3.7). A 3.7(or a 3.5 or a 3.4) is NOT an easy GPA to achieve at some schools with some courseloads (including but not limited to heavy science courseloads). </p>
<p>That is an entirely different matter from whether schools have grade "cut-offs" for transfer. At least in some majors at some schools, they do. Often it is 3.5 at good schools (even if not at HYPS caliber). Sometimes 3.0. (We won't even discuss the less selective schools, where this is not really an issue). This will usually be on their websites under transfer admissions if it exists. Often there is an informal cutoff. Can it be overcome by other factors (recs, essays....)? Yes. But you want to be aiming for that 3.5.</p>