College list help needed. CA Resident [in 11th grade, 3.5 GPA, 1220 SAT, mechanical engineering / robotics / aerospace]

California has an excellent CC-UC option pathway with the ability to guarantee transfer (TAG) into certain UCs (not all, but you can still apply to non TAG UCs like Berkeley and UCLA along with the TAG option). This route is 2 years at CC then transfer into junior year at a UC. You could also consider one of the Cal Polys for a transfer. For California publics you should calculate your UC and CSU GPAs. Once you have done that @Gumbymom has some excellent tables that can help you figure out where your chances for engineering stand.

As mentioned above there are some decent out of state options, including the Arizona colleges that are an easy flight from CA. ASU you are probably guaranteed entrance with your stats and you can use their online merit calculator to figure out what funding you might get /final costs of attendance. UoA has changed their admissions process somewhat but it’s probably still a likely from my understanding. Embry Riddle has been suggested. Boulder is excellent for aerospace in particular which also makes it very competitive to get into for engineering (despite the school’s high overall admit rate),but a pathway many use is to get into “exploratory studies” then use the internal transfer into engineering - there are minimums to meet but someone who can succeed at an engineering degree should be able to meet those. This would likely be at the top end of what you’d pay vs the others mentioned though so there’s that aspect to consider.

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