Chance for UCLA, USC, Whitman College, Lewis and Clark College, and Kennesaw State University

Chance Me / Match Me
1

I have a gist of what my statistical chances are for these schools, but I’m looking for any sort of input on what kind of personality/character they each want. Any opinions from current or accepted students would be super rad. (I’m applying to schools in my own state too but they’re not really competitive)

Kennesaw State
UCLA
Whitman College
Lewis and Clark College
University of Southern California

Hoping to study journalism/communications/media studies
Top 5% of class
4.7 GPA (not sure what it is unweighted)
Haven’t heard back on SATs or ACTS yet; PSAT last year was 1890

APs: Human Geography and Psych (10th grade), Art History, Bio, Language, U.S. History (11th grade), Government, Lit, Stats, Environmental, and French (12th grade); so far I’ve had straight A’s in everything but math and taken all honors courses when available

Joined all extracurriculars as a freshman (aside from NHS and Beta obviously)
FNHS and NHS
Theater Crew
LGBTQ Alliance (president and founder)-also I’m gay as hell and I don’t know if it’s worth mentioning that I worked with my school district this year to revise its code of conduct to address bullying on the basis of sexual orientation (they wouldn’t add gender identity so I’m contacting the state department to resolve that)
Key Club (events coordinator and secretary since sophomore year)
Model UN
Beta
Piano Lessons (eight years)
Girl Scouts (joined in first grade); gold and silver award

Virginia Girls State representative
Virginia Residential Governor’s School for the Humanities (state sponsored program at a university during the summer)

200+ hours of community service through Girl Scouts, theater crew, and Key Club, I also volunteered extensively with my local democratic headquarters for the 2012 presidential election and 2013 gubernatorial elections

I was also born with a neurological birth defect that has in short, given me chronic back pain and resulted in six major surgeries and a lot of medical treatments and physical therapy, etc. I’m considerably limited activity wise and can’t stand on my feet or long periods or play any type of sport, and I’ve missed a lot of school because of the pain.

(Also I’m a white female)

2

And I forgot to add that I’m in a specialized program for the humanities. It’s sort of like a partial charter school within a larger public high school (only about thirty-five percent of students in the greater school go on to a four year university and GPAs and test scores tend to be on the lower side

3

You have tons of great EC’s, good grades, and a disability. You are incredibly unique, and you should use that when structuring your essay. Don’t be afraid to talk about your sexual orientation, especially in the cali schools.
Ken- should be a match
UCLA- reach, but if your SAT scores are good, it’s doable
Whit- low reach, again… SATs
Lew- low match/safety if your SAT is good
USC- reach
If your SAT scores are good, you have a chance at all the listed schools.Remember, you are very unique and you should express that in your essays. I wish you the best.

Chance me?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1786025-purdue-first-year-engineering-chances.html#latest

4

With decent SATs, you should have a great shot at all those schools. My D is at Whitman and loves it. But I don’t think Whitman has a communications, journalism or media studies major or department. Of course you can work with the campus newspaper or radio station while majoring in something else that gives you even more options. But make sure to check out schools to make sure they fit your interests and personality. The schools you list run the gamut of really large to very small, public and private. My D had to choose from a similar list and went to small school and never looked back. But again, really try to figure out what type of school will make you happy.

5

Whitman actually does offer a film and media studies program but thank you for your input! I’m looking for a more socially liberal school where academics are still a priority, and Whitman seems like it would be that.

For anyone else: I just received my ACT score and got 30 for English, 32 for Reading, 24 for Science, and 19 for Math. The latter two dragged my composite down quite a bit. With those scores and the rest of my application in mind, what would my chances diminish to for the rest of the schools?

6

what’s your UC GPA (capped and uncapped weighted)

7

I’m not positive, but I believe that my weighted GPA for UC would be 4.4; I don’t know what it is unweighted, but my GPA for my own high school in Virginia is 4.7

8

I think your EC’s are great, but without that SAT we don’t really know.

UC’s are full fees for OOS students. $55K per year. There are no scholarships for OOS students in California public colleges and universities.

9

University of California schools take ACT or SAT, you aren’t penalized for sending one above the other. And I’m actually pretty set on scholarships, but thanks. I would much appreciate any thoughts pertaining to my application content and ACT scores!

10

Yes, well aware of tests accepted by UC’s as my dd attends one.
What was your ACT?

11

Because of your test scores, the chances for those schools are reaches, but . . . . . . let me make another suggestion for a back door. If you are not offended by this, please consider this option: Go to the Disabled Students web link at the universities that you would like to attend, they will advocate for you in admissions, but you have to make yourself known to the office. They will provide you will all kinds of “helps” that should make your life better at the university. (Example: notetakers, lightweight computers, etc. Also, we had one gal that was provided with a rocking chair for her back)