Chance me/Match Me: Junior CA resident 4.0 UW/4.6 Weighted Psych Major [<$50k]

Chance Me / Match Me
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  • US domestic: US citizen
  • State/Location of residency: CA
  • Type of high school: Large Public HS
  • Other special factors: N/A

Cost Constraints / Budget
COA at/under $50k/year after aid and/or merit

**Intended Major(s) - Psychology

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: Cumulative 4.48 UC Weighted 10-12 GPA: 4.6
  • Class Rank: U/W - 1, Weighted - 58/566
  • SAT Scores: 1510

Coursework

  • English: 2 years honors, AP Lang, will take AP Lit senior year
  • Math: Currently taking AP Calc AB, will take AP Calc BC
  • Science: Bio, Chem, AP Environmental Science, will take AP Bio senior year
  • History and social studies: AP World, US History at community college, AP Gov/Honors Econ senior year
  • Language other than English: 3 years Spanish, will take AP spanish senior year
  • Visual or performing arts: 1 year video production, 1 year school news TV production
  • Other academic courses: AP Psychology

Awards
School academic/leadership award - Fresh and Soph year
Boy Scouts - Leadership award
National Merit - commended scholar
School district film festival best actor and writer nominations

Extracurriculars
Boy Scouts - multiple leadership roles including Junior assistant scoutmaster position
On campus mental health club
School News network
Volunteer at local hospital
CSF member and National Honor Society

Essays/LORs/Other
Not written yet but I love writing so I expect these to be strong

Schools
Currently plan to apply to UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Cal State Long Beach and San Diego State

Open to private schools in CA and East Coast that might also be a good fit for my qualifications. Looking for liberal (not too religious) schools

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Freshman admission by discipline | University of California (probably works better on a computer than a mobile phone) may be helpful. The GPA ranges appear to be for weighted capped GPA (maximum of 8 semesters’ of +1 honors points), which you have not listed.

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For productive responses, OP should have made it clear, but they are the parent

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That’s correct…my son didn’t want to create an account so he used mine (that I made when DS23 was applying to college).

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To be clear, you’re welcome to answer on behalf of your son, but he cannot share your account

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Here is 2024 admit rate data for the UC’s and some CSU’s for Psychology applicants:

Campus Psychology
UC Berkeley 5.8% No longer High Demand major/ UC Capped GPA 4.14-4.29 Unweighted 3.89-4.00 Weighted uncapped 4.31-4.65
UC Davis College of L&S admits by Division/Department Social Sciences 38%/ UC Capped GPA 4.00-4.27 Unweighted 3.80-4.00
UC Irvine 17.9%/ UC Capped GPA 4.03-4.26 Unweighted 3.83-4.00
UCLA 9.3% for College of L&S Social Science majors/ UC Capped GPA 4.20-4.31 Unweighted 3.90-4.00 Weighted uncapped 4.38-4.73
UC Merced 89% UC Capped GPA 3.40-4.00
UC Riverside 63.5% UC Capped GPA 3.70-4.12
UC San Diego 23% for Social Science majors/ UC Capped GPA 4.08-4.28
UC Santa Barbara 28% for College of L&S Social Science majors/ UC Capped GPA 4.12-4.29
UC Santa Cruz 57%/ UC Capped GPA 3.81-4.20
Cal Poly SLO Projected 6% SLO GPA 4.00-4.25 for College of Liberal Arts
Cal State Long Beach 42% Avg CSU GPA 3.97 for Psychology
San Diego State 26% Avg CSU GPA 4.04 for admitted SDSU students
San Jose State 3.15 CSU GPA meets 2024 Impaction index without considering other factors
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So since you listed all CA schools, the SAT/ACT won’t matter for admission.

As for CA and East coast - to hit $50K you’ll either have need or apply to schools that offer merit.

Are you more interested in a USC type or Occidental?

A Brandeis or BU?

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if your son can keep up the GPA, 4.0 UW, 4.6 UC W and 4.3 UC CAP, he has a good chance for UCD, UCSC, UCI, UCSD, SDSU and CSLB. But I would add UCR and CPP as safety. For OOS, I would add Ohio State and Oregon State as target/safety. Both schools can provide enough merit to be within your budget. Good Luck.

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What kind of college experience is your son interested in? Is his preference for big state schools, or that’s just where the search started because they’re your in-state publics?

Some questions that might help prompt his thinking include:

  • What size school does he prefer?
  • What size classes does he prefer?
  • What climate does he prefer (or prefer to avoid)?
  • How does he feel about significant enthusiasm for intercollegiate sports?
  • How does he feel about Greek life?
  • Are there particular interests he wants to pursue (beyond his major)?