Chance me on schools in Cali

SeattleSol · 09-19-2012, 08:57 PM

Hey CC board,
Last time I posted here I was asking if people would chance me for University of the Pacific in Cali. It's been a while since then, and my potential college list has drastically changed. My plan is to major in Computer Engineering. Here goes nothing...

3.90 GPA (Currently starting Junior Year, so this is for Freshman and Sophomore years)
1520 PSAT (Plan on studying for my next PSAT in Oct. and SAT. Didn't study one bit for sophomore one.)
Asian-Indian
Will be doing AP Calc Senior year (currently Pre-Calc as junior)
Dual Enrollment at Local CC for English 101 and US Hist. 146
Volunteer at local library
Volunteer at local senior assisted living center
National Honors Society Member
Live Video Production Club
Black Student Union Club

The universities I am planning on applying to:
San Diego State University
California State Polytechnic University: Pomona
California State University: Los Angeles
San Jose State University
University Of California: San Diego

My further reaching schools are USC and UCLA

Thanks for your time.

Catria · 09-19-2012, 09:12 PM

Note: Matches can become safeties if you can get better than 1520 when you take SAT for real...

SDSU: Match
Cal Poly Pomona: Safety
CSU-LA: Safety
SJSU: Low match
UCSD/LA/: Reach
USC: Reach

SeattleSol · 09-19-2012, 09:22 PM

@Catria
Thanks for the response. One questions though, what does low match exactly mean?

Catria · 09-19-2012, 09:25 PM

A "low match" is a match that is close to be a safety but not quite yet there.

SeattleSol · 09-19-2012, 09:28 PM

@Catria
Thanks again. SDSU seems to be the only real "match" you gave me. I'm very open to what schools I want to go to, and I would love to go to SDSU, but do you happen to have any suggestions as to what other schools in California I could be looking at? Furthermore, does being out of state (currently Washington Resident) impact any of my chances?

Catria · 09-19-2012, 09:43 PM

What's your budget for college?

OOS chances usually gets closer to in-state chances if you can afford "full freight" (for anything "California State" full freight is $3,793 + $372 per unit, and that's for one semester not counting room and board)

SeattleSol · 09-19-2012, 09:53 PM

@Catria

Budget is my only issue. I plan on applying for federal grants, scholarships, and whatever else that needs to be done so I can go to school here. My parents income is less than $45,000 a year, so I feel I have a good chance on getting a decent portion of my tuition paid. What's your input on this?

By the way, I'm looking for other peoples opinions too. Please, anything helps!

SeattleSol · 09-19-2012, 11:54 PM

Bumping this. Again, any answers are appreciated.

OCELITE · 09-20-2012, 04:27 AM

If you can bring up your SAT scores to the range of 1800-2000 or higher, you can add UCI, UCD, and Cal Poly SLO to your list of public schools. You'll be able to look into a lot of the private schools as well. Many will offer good merit-aid. Would you be interested in computer science also? Chapman is a private school and has a strong computer science program. If you get a decent score along with your decent GPA, you may qualify for their merit-aid and grant programs. Have you tried taking the ACT? Some people do better on the ACT than the SAT, so you might want to give it a try.

SeattleSol · 09-20-2012, 06:11 PM

@OCELITE

Thanks for the response. Just as a question, Cal Poly SLO's avg. SAT is 1110-1300, so lets say if I scored around 1600-1700, would I have a good chance of getting in? I'm really interested in that school. In terms of aid, could I get need-based and merit based? You only mentioned merit based in your post. Thanks again.

Still looking for responses from others as well. I need as many opinions as I can get!

SeattleSol · 09-21-2012, 06:32 PM

Bump...really could use some more opinions to read. Thanks

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Shrinkrap · 09-22-2012, 01:40 AM

Your gpa looks great, but was it a challenging curriculum? you need a challanging coursload for UC's, and they will run you $55k/year, with little hope of ais out of state. You might want to try the ACT. Where you live carries a lot of weight with some csu's, like sdsu. For privates, might want to check out Whittier and St. Mary's, and LMU and Santa Clara if you SAT improves a lot. Also Occidental, if the SAT improves a lot, and you want to try an LAC. But I wouldn't be counting on much money t the last three.

SeattleSol · 09-22-2012, 03:39 PM

@Shrinkrap
Thanks for the response. My course load wasn't very rigorous my freshmen and sophomore year. My only harder class was being ahead in math by a year. How much aid can I be expecting from State schools, granted that I keep my GPA up and score decently on my SATs and ACTs?

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SpeakMemory · 09-22-2012, 03:45 PM

University of San Diego makes it rain for low-income students. You could also consider enrolling in one of the community colleges down there for a year or two, wait for the thousands of State or UC freshman to drop out, then move on in.

LaChicaBuena · 09-22-2012, 04:09 PM

Quote:

How much aid can I be expecting from State schools, granted that I keep my GPA up and score decently on my SATs and ACTs?

Based on the fact that 1. you aren't a California resident, 2. your stats are low and 3. your course load wasn't rigorous (according to you), you're not going to get anything from the UCs, which will cost an OOS student about $55k a year as Shrinkrap noted. CSUs will cost you between about $25k and $31k a year, and you won't get anything from them either.
Have you considered some California privates such as Chapman, University of San Diego, Loyola Marymount, St. Mary's College of California, or University of Redlands?