BaddyCaddy09

Stats:
- Cumulative GPA: 3.4 (RL issues freshman and sophomore year; I'll elaborate on my applications. Everyone says I have "a story to tell." Junior year GPA: 3.64) Senior year GPA will hopefully be a 3.8-4.2.
- ACT: 30
- 4 honors courses and 1 AP course - all math classes; taking Honors Precalculus and AP Statistics for senior year. I've taken Public Speaking and Spanish III at my local Community College and earned A's in both; taking Introduction to Business this summer.
- Founder of a non-profit organization for lung cancer patients who don't receive the right treatment due to not having medical insurance (in memory of my aunt).
- I've been a professional actor with an agent since I was 5 1/2 months old. Since then I've established a pretty long resume and been in numerous TV shows, commercials, billboards, print ads, etc.
- I'm in NHS and CSF.
- Will have great essays and recommendations (I hope).
- If it helps to create any sort of diversity, I will major in Finance and minor in Acting.

I'm from a private Catholic school in the Los Angeles area. The counselors are mediocre and only really send students to different California public universities.

hmom5

How many APs does your school offer? Does your school rank?

BaddyCaddy09

None freshman year, English and History sophomore year (english is my weakest subject; just felt like history would be too much with ECs), English and History again junior year, and everything senior year.

BrownParent

All schools are party schools if you party. My sister when to school at Chico State (CS degree) when it was making headlines at big party school and playboy did a photo shoot there. She worked in Silicon Valley making the big bucks ever since.

Your safeties would be the UC system schools (well not all of them.) You can apply to all of them with one application. I think you'd be crazy not to. The cost of schooling will be lower too. You can get anywhere you want with a UC education and they are just as good or better than some of the OOS you mention that will cost you more. You might want to include one or two Cal States. They have budget crunch now and it might be hard to graduate in 4 years.

I know a girl graduating this weekend from UCSC with a double major in Economics and pre-law, and she's already had an lobbyist internship in Washington DC where she attended senate confirmation hearings to take notes for the organization. Nice! (That girl's other wanted her to go to Stanford)

Have you gone the the UC Pathways site to double check that you are UC eligible as far as class requirements and gpa/sat combo?

Make your list of reach safeties and match schools. List the admit rates for each and the midrange of gpa and SAT's (get from :: College Planning Made Easy | Inside Source for College Admissions Requirements) Make an appointment with your mother to sit and look at it. When you make the appointment for another time, tell he you'd like her to listen to your ideas and give you constructive feedback.

Then when you sit down. Ask her to study the data. Tell her applying does no harm, it just gives you options down the road. If you get into much better schools, then great. If not, then you have some choices. Include some of her picks too on the list, of course.. Ask her to imagine worst case scenario where you get shut out of everything (we see it reported here often enough.) Wouldn't something be better than nothing?

Look at the main page and see if there are articles to print out about the process. Maybe she should read The Gatekeepers: A Year in the Admission Process at a Highly Selective College. That's a good read. See if there are any admissions articles on the main pages here that are relevant. Maybe she should spring for an evaluation from College Confidential. I don't think it costs that much, check the main site.

BrownParent

Just saw your stats post. What is an 'RL problem'? Sounds good. I don't think you will impress anyone with a cc 'intro to business' course, though. you'd do better taking more core classes or focusing on your grades in the core classes you are talking. That will make you more competitive in the admit process no matter your eventual major (you know 4 years math, 4 years science, 4 years language, 4 years end, 3-1/2 years History, a full or more year of fine arts.) That really is a sort of low end junk class, many top 4 years wouldn't even offer such a class.

Good Luck.

endlessrecession

whoa.....much much more on this story than I imagined.

First, you need safeties. Safeties are SUBJECTIVE TO YOU, not the world. Get Petersen's Directory or Barron's Directory at Barnes and Nobles. NOW! (I prefer Barrons.)

Second, start INSTATE California and pick 20 schools as a research start, not an application list. Pick CATHOLIC schools as well as publics. Pick the UC schools you like the best, plus USanDiego and Santa Clara University. Your safety and match schools with THROW money at you. I think UCLA will be all over you.

Third, look OOS, including CATHOLIC schools. And yes, include Notre Dame. There are 28 Jesuit colleges in the United States and most of them are outstanding in Finance/Accounting. One is also a FAMOUS theatre school. (As in Denzel Washington, Alan Alda and many, many Broadway stars). That school is Fordham University in New York. With your ACT and gpa, you are a SLAM to get in. And money will come your way. Trust me. Add BC and Georgetown if you like.

For OOS public schools, pick places that have BOTH a strong theatre program and a strong finance/business/acct. program.

Ivy League Schools may or may not be your "thing". It depends. But I suspect that Dartmouth is closer to who you are than the others. Dartmouth is very strong in theatre as well as finance (Tuck School).

Safeties: I am a fan of rational safeties, meaning really good schools that suit your particular interests, personality, programs, finances etc. They are the ones who will give you the best package overall. Select them wisely. UofA is a fine school. UT is hard to get into OOS. There are others out there which might be of interest to you: UOkla, Mich, MichState.

I do agree with your mother that "Party Schools" are to be avoided. But that also means YOU must have the maturity to say "no" when people ask you to party. The creme always rises to the top. The kids who party are NEVER at the top of their college classes.

Follow your heart. But be rational, if that makes sense.

Good luck.

katytibbs

This past year was a weird year, and this coming year looks to be weird also. My son did not get accepted to any schools that were not safeties - waitlisted at 2 matches and rejected at 5 reaches. Granted, he isn't an actor nor is he a URM... but you can't tell this year because the graduating classes are so big. Apply to at least one safety.

BaddyCaddy09

"I think UCLA will be all over you."

Really?
I wasn't even going to apply because I didn't feel I'd get in. Guess I'll apply. Thanks.

Georgetown and BC? Never would've even looked at them in fear of not having the grades or the average test scores they admit. They're definitely reaches though, right?

**EDIT**
Would I have a better shot at UCLA or UC Berkeley?

endlessrecession

If your first semester SENIOR year grades are as you project, and your overall gpa is over 3.5, and your ACT score is 30, you have a really good chance of getting into UCLA, BC and Georgetown, particularly being a URM.

I dont want to blow up your head with hot air, but they are certainly worth a shot, and I would call them highmatch/low reaches. UCLA is a problem because of the sheer numbers of applications they get instate, something incredulous like 40,000. But dont hesitate to try. Start the applications (make folders NOW) this summer. So you arent crunched for time. And make sure you give your teachers and guidance counselors a LOT of lead time to fill out the recommendations.

Again, Fordham is where I would suggest you look very seriously. Fordham College at Lincoln Center is a superb theatre.acting school. The undergraduate program is broad based, Jesuit, and they are also strong in finance. Or, you could apply to Fordham College of Business Administration (at the main Rose Hill-Bronx) campus and hook up into their superb business school with amazing internships. And then engage in the school plays, or pick up a few classes at Lincoln Center as you can for a minor in acting. (There is a van that runs between the two campuses, for students. Its almost 24.7)

Being URM is not a guarantee of anything. But it is helpful. And your grades and ACT scores also stand on their own.

Catholic Schools offer a superb education, strong values, and often a boatload of scholarships or financial aid.

For the UC's I would pick what you like the best, but UC-Davis, UC-Irvine, UC-SanDiego are all wonderful schools.

BaddyCaddy09

I wouldn't say my overall is OVER a 3.5... it'll probably end up being right around a 3.5 =/
As far as UCs, I think the only ones that really receive any recognition in the business world are UCLA's graduate program (what would I do for undergrad?) and UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

I'll get rid of some of the OOS publics and replace them with privates I guess =/

aberdeen15

Someone in my high school applied all Ivy league, and didn't get into a single one. He's now applying to schools in England.

EDIT: He was one of the top students in my magnet school. Excellent grades, near-perfect SAT scores, pianist, Asian.

BaddyCaddy09

Yikes.
Are there any good OOS private safeties that are good in business?

StPaulHockey

If you want a school with a solid business program, and you like Michigan and Berkeley, definitely look into Wisconsin Madison. It is very similar to Michigan, except a little easier to get into. It should be a decent match for you. Although it is not as prestigous as the other schools you listed, you should be able to convince your mom to let you apply - it is #35 in USNWR. Definitely look into it.

Also Villanova is in Philly, is Catholic, and has solid business school (#12 undergrad b-school in Businessweek-mind you that ranking doesn't mean crap but your mom doesn't know that.)

BaddyCaddy09

Tried mentioning UW-Madison to her. She claims "there's nothing to do in Wisconsin."

hmom5

Note, the UC's, by law, can not consider race. If the 3.5 is a weighted GPA, you were correct, you don't have much of a chance there. Dartmouth's Tuck school is only a graduate school.

Please do your own research, there is a great deal of misinformation presented as fact on these boards.