If commuting to a Cal state then costs could be under $10K. It really depends upon what other financial aid you qualify for at the CSU’s and UC’s.
I would run the net price calculator for each school to determine if these will meet the budget. Cal grant alone will not meet the budget especially if living on-campus.
For admission, many CSUs are not impacted, so the state of California is considered their local area. (But those listed in the initial post are impacted, so their CSU-defined local area matters for admission there.)
However, for cost purposes, local would be whatever is within reasonable commuting range.
I hate to be a UC party pooper, but I’m not sure their holistic admissions are going to work in your favor. Being first gen should help - so that’s a plus. But your ECs look a little weak. Of course, we just have the list here - it is possible you have done things of substance within those ECs, but based on the list, it looks thin for the UCs, especially the more competitive ones. For your best shot, I strongly recommend you put A LOT of thought into your PIQs. Based on your profile, those could really be make or break for some UCs. On the upside, I bet some CSUs will love you - and those will be more affordable, too. Perhaps take a look at more CSUs and see if anything catches your eye.
Also note that Cal Poly SLO’s GPA calculation includes 9th a-g course grades with the same 8 semester Honors point cal for eligible Weighted courses taken 10-11th grades.
If OP is not south of the 52 freeway, SDSU may not be as much of a match as he thought, along with UCD and SLO.
But, that paid internship with City can be helpful, depending on what the OP did on the job and if that can be expanded more.
Non leadership stuff won’t be helpful, but it isn’t hard to start a club in HS either. If OP is going to talk volunteer hours, 30 is not what I would put down. I focus more on “impact” those hours may have had, or work on getting more hours. OTOH, a paid job trumps free work in my book, any day.
There is no essay for CSUs, but if you can write 4 convincing essays on your UC app, I do think you have a chance to all the schools you listed.
SJSU’s Geography department offers a BA in Geography, a BS in GIS, and a minor in urban studies. The Geography major doesn’t appear to be very impacted, so you may be right that SJSU would be a safety, or at least a match. It seems as if you could cover your interests well there. Have you run the Net Price Calculator to see how the affordability looks?
Also in the CSU system, as already suggested, Cal Poly Pomona could be a good option. Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning Does the NPC show any difference in affordability between CPP and SJSU? It could be worth comparing the SJSU and CPP degree programs to see whether one seems like a better fit than the other. The SJSU major doesn’t promise as much focus on actual urban planning as the CPP program - look at the actual coursework to see how much the content overlaps and whether both have the kind of electives you want.
Fresno State may not be on radar as a “destination” campus, but they’re unusual in that they offer both a BS in City & Regional Planning, and a BS in Geomatics Engineering, which equips its grads with a very strong technical skill-set that could really stand out in the job market.
What would you major in at Riverside? They supposedly have an Urban Studies minor, but I can’t even find the course requirements on the website, and I’m not sure what major you would pair it with. If you’re really committed to the urban planning field, CPP or SJSU might serve you better. Although, I do understand that for lower-income students, a UC can end up being more affordable than a CSU, unless the CSU is commutable.
Have you run the NPCs for any private schools to see whether you’d get enough aid? Sometimes students just assume that a private college wouldn’t be affordable, but that isn’t always the case. Try running the Net Price Calculators for these programs, to see how the costs would compare with the CA publics:
LMU has an Urban Studies major that might interest you Urban Studies - Loyola Marymount University Your GPA is in range. Their NPC is here They don’t guarantee that they’ll meet full need, but a merit award to fill the gap is possible.
If there seems to be the possibility of affordability at private U’s, giving the SAT or ACT a try may be worthwhile, although you can apply test-optional too.
Have you been doing other paid work, besides the city internship? If so, that counts as an EC also.
You are a solid student and 1st gen will be a big advantage with the UC’s - agree that your PIQ’s will really have to be stellar for a top UC so put the work in on those - hopefully the price is affordable for you with aid.
I think your matches are all actually reaches given the current admissions environment, and depending on your coursework, CPSLO is probably a high reach.
You might want to consider a course over the summer in urban planning or gis if you can find any offered either at the community college level or through a UC summer program, as well as a non-internship job (as mentioned above) - that would help your UC application.
SJSU calculates an index from weighted-capped GPA multiplied by 800. The most recent thresholds for frosh admission indicate that the geography major needed an index of 2000 (equivalent to a 2.5 weighted-capped HS GPA) for admission. For some reason, the GIS major is not listed there, but is listed in the transfer threshold page with the same 2.10 college GPA as the geography major. So, even though thresholds are competitively determined every admission cycle, it seems highly unlikely to be rejected for the GIS or geography major at SJSU with an unweighted HS GPA of 3.68.
Agree with this.
Note that Impacted Undergraduate Majors and Universities, 2024-25 | CSU lists both SFSU and CSU Fresno as non-impacted, and the majors mentioned are non-impacted, so they will be admission safeties for CSU eligible applicants (2.5 weighted-capped HS GPA with a-g course requirements completed). But check on the costs.
Thirding the idea of running the NPC on meet-need colleges. Some of these offer full rides based on need, ie., would be cheaper than UCs.
(Your major would often be under Digital&Computational studies, with a concentration in Urban Studies).
Examples of NPCs to run would include Bates, Trinity CT, Emory Oxford, Macalester.
I got a GPA of 4 for both UC and CSU, and the honors course is UC approved. I don’t plan really to get an IB diploma, but if it would increase my chances significantly I might do it, considering how I would have most of the fulfillments done. Also I saw that the average GPA for applicants was 3.87 and the average GPA for people admitted was 3.95.
I did the net cost calculators for both the UCs and the CSUs as well as the privates colleges you recommended and the tuition actually surprised me so I might consider some private schools. Also I didn’t realize UCR didn’t have majors I was interested in
Oh yeah between Pomona and SJSU there only seemed to be a $1000 difference in tuition.
That’s what I was worried about I want to do more ECs but considering how I will be going to my senior year soon I don’t think I can do much
I’ll probably get a part-time job during then to add to my list
