Hi everyone! I am a rising high school senior and I need help figuring out which colleges to apply to. I plan on applying to 10-15 school, being on the pre-PA track, majoring in Anthropology or Sociology. I am looking for California or East Coast schools with school spirit, sense of community, diversity, and that offers great financial aid! My stats are on the lower side but I have a lot of extracurriculars.
A little bit about myself:
- California resident
- Public high school (about 550 students in my graduating class)
- Asian, female, straight
- First generation college student
- First generation Asian-American
- Dependent of US Marine Corp Veteran
- Middle class
- I have had numerous medical issues (my doctor thought I had a tumor) which required me to miss schools due to appointments and tests
Stats:
- SAT: 1320 (650 R&W, 670 M; retaking August 2019)
- Overall UW GPA: 3.62; W GPA: 3.93
- 9th Grade GPA: 3.69 W, 10th Grade GPA 3.67 W, 11th Grade GPA: 4.43 W
Course Load:
- 9th Grade: 3 honors
- 10th Grade: 1 honors, 1 AP, and had to drop out of 1 AP mid-year
- 11th Grade: 4 APs (AP scores: 4, 3, 3, 2)
- 12th Grade: 3 APs planned
- Currently taking an Anthropology course at a local community college (Summer before Senior Year)
Extracurriculars (by the end of Senior Year):
- Community service club (4-yr member, President for 2 yrs, VP for 1 yr, Treasurer for 1 yr)
- President/Founder of an art club
- VP of one community service club (2-year member)
- Best Buddies (3-year member)
- CSF (two years)
- Paid job at an art studio (10-20 hours a week)
- Intern at a local hospital (one four hour shift a week; take vitals, help nurses, shadow, etc.)
- Volunteer at a local senior center
- Ambassador for my high school ( one of only 20 students, had to be nominated by a teacher & go through an application/interview process, go to local elementary/middle schools and encourage kids to be alcohol/drug free)
- Tutor at school
Would love input, thank you!!!
How much can you pay out of pocket per year?
Your UC GPA will be around 3.9-ish, which would make you a match for UCSC/UCR/UCM and most of the CSUs.
TBH it would be hard for any East Coast or West Coast proper school to offer you anything that would be better financially than the instate public schools. If you commuted from home, it’s unlikely any school could beat $7K a year as is the case with going to a CSU, for example. Although I’m sure someone would be able to come up with a less-recognizable school that might offer a better deal. If you went away from either coast you would find more schools that might offer something good though.
@Gumbymom @ProfessorPlum168
- Not sure. My parents are not sure yet either, they just said to apply first
- UC/CSU GPA: 4.17; Cal Poly SLO: 4.11
- I’ve visited a few schools, but I have no idea what I want yet
I suggest you run the Net Price calculator on one UC and one CSU so your parents have an idea of costs. Applying without a set budget is a recipe for disaster. No point in applying to school that is unaffordable in the first place.
Which schools have your visited and what did you like or dislike about each?
I think all the CSU’s are well within range with your stats. For the UC’s, below is some 2018 statistical data (2019 not available yet) but would help gauge where your stats to place in terms of competitiveness.
2018 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 10%
UCLA: 9%
UCSD: 34%
UCSB: 38%
UCD: 41%
UCI: 38%
UCSC: 70%
UCR: 84%
UCM: 95%
2018 UC capped weighted GPA averages:
UCB: 4.23
UCLA: 4.23
UCSD: 4.16
UCSB: 4.13
UCI: 4.13
UCD: 4.11
UCSC: 3.96
UCR: 3.81
UCM: 3.71
2018 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT:
UCB: 1360-1540
UCLA: 1340-1540
UCSD: 1300-1520
UCSB: 1270-1500
UCD: 1220-1480
UCI: 1230-1490
UCSC: 1210-1450
UCR: 1130-1380
UCM: 1020-1280
I agree with @ProfessorPlum168 that you cannot go wrong with your in-state options. Both my son’s, one attended a UC and another attended a CSU, got a excellent education and are doing well post graduation.
@Gumbymom So far, I have visited SDSU, SJSU, and SCU. All the schools were nice but the surrounding areas were, in my opinion, boring. SDSU and SJSU seemed a little overcrowded and I felt like I could be run over by a biker at any second. SCU seemed a little isolated, but it had the most sense of community out of the three schools, something I love. Of course, an in-state public school would be the cheapest option, but I am hoping for a memorable college experience in/near a fun city.
The UC GPA that is of importance is the UC capped weighted. Based on your first post, the GPA will be around 3.9. 4.17 would imply that you’ve only had 3 Bs, maybe 4 Bs total in the entire 10-11th grade and I don’t think your uw GPA supports that.
Don’t use weighted GPAs when mentioning your GPA, it winds up confusing everyone.
Take a look at University of Portland, Occidental (Los Angeles), Willamette (Salem, Oregon), Lewis and Clark (Portland, Oregon), Connecticut College, University of Puget Sound. All smaller private colleges with higher initial price points than the instate schools but if your family qualifies for financial aid they might end up being the same or better overall, and they are all in your general target range with your stats.
@washugrad I will! Thank you
Wow, never heard SDSU described as boring. Although a large student body, their Aztec Parents association and their Alumni Mentorship programs make this large campus feel more like a community. The trolley makes Old town, downtown, the Gas lamp quarter very accessible to students along with the beaches within 20 minutes drive. They have a very good Pre-Health (PA) advising center.
Cal Poly SLO might be worth your time visiting since this is a smaller campus, great college town but slightly isolated which might be a con.
UC Davis has the quintessential college town campus with a huge sense of community and you are only 20 minutes from Sacramento and an hour from the Bay Area.
Also look the Claremont Consortium which gives you the opportunities of a large campus (access to 5 colleges) but with a small liberal arts feel.
"but I am hoping for a memorable college experience in/near a fun city. "
Well then you’re throwing us for a loop, as gumbymom mentioned, if you don’t consider San Diego or San Jose fun and think it’s boring, what would be fun cites for you - Las Vegas, Miami, New Orleans, New York, DC? Look, I’m biased on this for sure, I know a few people in San Diego, they absolutely love it there for quality of life, but a high school student of course could have different views on this. Again, if you think SD is boring and you might lean to more happening places like cities I mentioned, then you should consider Tulane or U Miami or Columbia or Georgetown.