Back Up Schools

College Search & Lists
1

<p>What schools are good back up schools, particularly in CA and the North East?</p>

<p>I’m considering CSU Sacramento, CSU Fullerton, UCSB, UCI as my back up schools.</p>

<p>The ivy leagues, UCLA, UC berkeley, and UC Davis are the schools that I definitely want to go.</p>

2

<p>Some schools that are not easy to get into, but have a much higher admit rate than the Ivies are USC, Boston U, NYU, Johns Hopkins, and U Rochester. George Washington U, U Maryland College Park, and Northeastern are easier. If you have a realistic chance at the Ivies and live in CA, you should be able to get into some of the UCs that you like.</p>

3

<p>Are schools in the Midwest absolutely out of the question for you? Applying to some colleges in the Midwest would broaden your range of choices considerably.</p>

4

<p>I don’t have anything against the MidWest.</p>

<p>So far, I’m also considering Northwestern.
Is Northwestern in the MidWest? I might consider it.
My Language Arts teacher went there. I heard that it’s a really good college.</p>

<p>I already have around 12-15 colleges that I want to apply to, but I want some suggestions on the NE and California because I have relatives from both regions.</p>

<p>Also, I’ve researched the colleges from
both regions. I want to be at California, attend a college at New York, Boston, or somewhere at the Northeast, where they have really competitive schools.</p>

<p>Of course, the MidWest has those too, but I really want to go to colleges like UCLA, USC, Stanford, and Harvard.</p>

5

<p>Yes, Northwestern is in the midwest. It’s 2 miles north of Chicago’s northern boarder.</p>

6

<p>I heard that it has a good journalism program.</p>

<p>I still have to research Northwestern more.</p>

<p>Does anybody know if they use the Common Application?</p>

7

<p>Yes, they just started using it last year.</p>

8

<p>Northwestern is really less of a safety and more of a high match/reach school for most people.</p>

9

<p>Would a 27-30 ACT still make it a safety?</p>

10

<p>But the mid-50% range is actually 29-33. ~70% had 30 or above. It’s harder to get in than UCLA/UCB in-state. Are you sure you are not confusing it with Northeastern U or Northwestern College?</p>

11

<p>That’s low for Northwestern’s ACT range. </p>

<p><a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4099&profileId=6[/url]”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4099&profileId=6&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>You would be well advised to check the College Board College Finder (the link above) for some of the colleges you are looking at. The interquartile range of admission test scores for the most recently reported enrolled class is reported for each college. Being at the low end of the range, without something else significant in your application, suggests a low probability of admission. </p>

<p>Your interest in marching band activities (which I know about from some of your other threads) suggests you should contact some band directors in Big Ten universities and see if they would like someone with your instrumental background. Any college with big football has a big marching band, and needs students for the band. That might be your best chance at an admission boost–you seem sincerely interested in that sort of thing–and at some colleges might even gain you a partial scholarship.</p>

12

<p>im not exactly sure why you would put CSU Sacramento and CSU Fullerton with UCI and UCSB. I meen UCSB UCI are wat way tougher to get into that the CSU’s you have listed. Plus im not sure why you put UC Davis ahead of UCI and UCSB with UCLA and UC Berkeley. UC Davis is very similar in admission stats to UCI and UCSB, not UCLA and UC Berkeley, and if anything is actually slightly easier to get into than UCI and UCSB. If you are calling UCI/UCSB your safeties, you must have some very very good stats. The more competitive colleges in California would be Stanford, Cal-Tech, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, USC. Some would also list UCI/UCSB/UCD to this list as well.</p>

13

<p>I misplaced UC Davis.</p>

<p>I would rank my safeties according to my interest of the campus and not only by selectivity:</p>

<ol>
<li>UCSB</li>
<li>UC Davis</li>
<li>UCI</li>
<li>UCSC</li>
</ol>

<p>Most people who have given my chances said that my test scores were mostly my probem(1640 on the SAT). I’m studying for the ACT on Sept. 15. I took a practice test and I got a 27 before I started studying.</p>

<p>I’m trying to get a 32+ on the ACT. I know some people, who were in the top10 of the class of 2007, who were accepted to UCLA.</p>

<p>Actually, UCLA isn’t my top pick, but it is a very prestegious university that I would not mind attending.</p>

<p>I want to go to Stanford or Harvard because they’re 2 of my top choices.</p>

<p>The rest of my stats are on track to get into a UC.</p>

<p>I have a 4.0 UW, 4.527 W GPA, taken almost all the APs offered at my school(only 7 offered), volunteer at my school’s library daily, tutor, founder of some clubs next year: NHS, Model UN, Acad Dec., in 2-3 other established clubs, SDMC, 4 leadership positions, attended Boys State, in Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, District Honor Band…</p>

<p>By the time I apply, I would have taken 4 college classes, 1-2 online APs besides what my school offers, and honors physics online.</p>

14

<p>even with good grades a 1640 sat wont get you into UCI/UCSB/UCD. Your gonna deff need to get that up, or do well on your ACT if you wanna get into the mid tier UC’s. UCSD/UCLA/UC Berkeley seem like they are gonna be tough to get into.</p>

<p>here are the stats for admits this year to uc’s. this will give you a better idea of your chances.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles.html[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

15

<p>I think I can manage, hopefully.</p>

<p>I zoned out on the SAT. The only ok score was a 630 on Math. My Reading score on the ACT was a 31, which is good to get into a UC.</p>

<p>My English score was a 20. I’m focusing more of my energy on the English portion. I have a feeling that I won’t do good on the writing(I haven’t taken a practice test for it) because I got a 490 on it in the SAT. I’ll focus a lot of my energy on that, too.</p>

<p>Practice ACT:</p>

<p>E: 20
M: 28
R: 31
S:28</p>

<p>Actual SAT:</p>

<p>CR: 520
M: 630
W: 490</p>

16

<p>^There is no way you can get into Harvard with those scores. You would be INCREDIBLY lucky to get into UCLA in state, if you could even get that, with those numbers.</p>

<p>You’d have to raise your SAT by 300 points to even be in the running. </p>

<p>You need to reconsider what is realistic for you. And Harvard most certainly is not.</p>

17

<p>Thanks to ucchris for the link to the University of California admissions pages.</p>

18

<p>nhsharvard, with those SAT and/or ACT scores, I don’t think that you are being realistic about the Ivy’s or any other top tier schools. Unless you have something very special about your application (recruited athlete, inner city minority candidate, large family donation to school…etc), you are simply reaching too high. There are loads of wonderful schools in your range in the Northeast. You can probably get some good suggestions if you help people understand what type of school are you looking for. Large/small, urban/rural/suburban, big/small greek scene…etc.</p>

19

<p>I think that I can get in, if I pull off a high ACT score around a 34 to at least be in the running.</p>

20

<p>nhsharvard, if you can pull off a high ACT or SAT score, of course your chances will change. Good Luck!</p>