<p>I am caught between UCs and CSUs. I feel like the UCs are too good for me, i wont get in, but the CSUs seem like safeties. Of course this not true for all schools there are some CSUs that I would be lucky to get into, but I am having trouble finding some middle ground.</p>
<p>my 10-11 gpa will be a 3.2 weighted 3.4 weighted. I have a strong upward trend 2.9 sophmore year, and 3.6 uw junior year, 4.0 weighted. I don’t have any amazing extracurriculars, just some sports, a little bit of volunteering, and a few clubs. I am in the top 20% of my class</p>
<p>I don’t know my test scores, I just took the pSAT a month ago, but I will probably have about 1850 because I am a fairly good test taker and have another year to prepare before i take the tests for the last time.</p>
<p>tuition isn’t a huge issue. I wont need financial aid from the school.</p>
<p>So what schools should i be looking at and visiting? I dont really know where I lie in terms of admissions and dont know where to start. I would prefer to stay in california or the surrounding states.</p>
<p>Aside from the Cal State Schools, have you looked into Loyola Marymount, Lewis & Clark in Oregon, San Jose State, UC Santa Cruz, U of Oregon, U of Portland, Redlands or Whittier?
Okay, so Berkeley’s out. But don’t sell yourself short. If you don’t apply to any UC schools, you’ll never get into any!</p>
<p>You could get into a few UCs: UC Merced wants a 3.0 and with your estimated score you’d be above the top 25% mark. UC Santa Cruz would be more difficult in terms of GPA but you’d still be in the top 25% for the SAT score so it’d be a match. Same thing for Riverside.</p>
<p>Look into the WUE possibilities.</p>
<p>Check out Whitman, U Puget Sound (reach), Willamette, U San Diego, U Seattle, U Portland (match), St Mary’s of California, Westminster in Mesa (safety)</p>
<p>The UCs have an admission guarantee, although that just means a UC campus somewhere, not the one of your choice. In practice it means everyone who qualifies gets a spot offered at Merced and sometimes Riverside. See [University</a> of California - Statewide path](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/]University”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/)</p>
<p>But that’s not what you should be thinking about right now. What you should be doing, IMHO, is building an understanding of the college admission process and finding colleges that are a fit for you and that you can afford. A lot of your peers simplify the decision to “what UC/CSU can I get into” and choose from them. Sounds like you’re doing that too. And you can if you want. But let me suggest something different. Get a good book on college admissions. One I like is called “Admission Matters” - here is the Table of Contents <a href=“http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/72/11184502/1118450272-17.pdf[/url]”>http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/72/11184502/1118450272-17.pdf</a> . If you want to learn more about LACs one book that really explains their benefits is “Colleges That Change Lives”; its a good supplement to your main book.</p>
<p>You should build an understanding of how the financial aid system works and have a frank talk with your parents about what they can afford, along with working thru one of the FAFSA calculators online. You may be pleasantly surprised to find you have a wider range of colleges available financially than you might have expected, or you might find that some places don’t work out expense-wise.</p>
<p>You will also build an understanding of the different types of colleges out there, learn about the concept of fit, make some preliminary visits to colleges of various types this year (even if they aren’t the ones you are considering) to get a first-hand feel of what they are like. Your book will explain how to present yourself best in the application and explain the admission timeline.</p>
<p>It may sound like a lot of work, and it might be. But you don’t have to do in in a week. As a junior you have almost a year from now to do it, and you’ll know you’ve invested the time in making the best choice for you. Or you could just ask on an internet forum for some names and pick, somehow, between what people suggest.</p>
<p>You guys don’t even know what she wants to study and you’re recommending colleges to her? </p>
<p>Come on people…</p>