Hi I’m an upcomg senior and I’m planning to either go to SDSU or UCSD. Do you think I have a chance to get accepted and maybe even a scholarship.
STATS
Freshman wgpa:3.75
Sophomore wgpa:3.67
Junior wgpa:4.6
No extracurricular because I believe it doesn’t teach any real experience
I did however taught myself how to code and develop an online company.
SAT:1530.
ACT:34
Household of 4: <32k annual income
UC’s and CSU’s give very little merit aid (scholarships). Most of the financial aid awarded by the CSU’s and UC’s are need-based aid so if you are low income, then you would be eligible for federal aid, Cal Grants, Middle Class scholarship program and the Blue and Gold program (if you are a California resident for last 3).
You have excellent SAT and ACT scores which might garner merit aid along with need-based aid from some of the California private schools which could possibly bring down your Cost of attendance into an affordable range.
USC, Occidental, University of San Diego, Stanford, Santa Clara, University of San Francisco, St. Marys College of California to name a few private schools to consider.
UCSD and SDSU do have some merit scholarships you can apply for after you have submitted your applications. Just make sure that if you do not receive any merit aid, that these schools are still affordable.
https://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/financialaid/scholarships.aspx
https://students.ucsd.edu/finances/financial-aid/types/scholarships/freshmen/index.html
Each school has a Net Price calculator so I would first use the NPC to check affordability and to get an estimate of your costs.
https://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/financialaid/netpricecalculator.aspx
https://students.ucsd.edu/finances/financial-aid/forms/calculator.html
FYI: The UC’s and CSU’s use only 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation while the private schools will use 9-11th plus 1st semester Senior grades in the application review.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Having No EC’s could hurt you at the UC’s and Private schools since they like to see students to give back to their community and explore outside their world outside academics.
CSU’s like SDSU do not consider EC’s in their application review.
Now that’s an interesting, and not helpful, point of view.
“I did however taught myself how to code and develop an online company.”
I think that this is an extracurricular.
This student says income is in the $32,000 a year range. Wouldn’t that make him or her low enough income to qualify for the Calgrant? And possibly a portion of them Pell?
@benn can you commute to either of these colleges?
Yes being low income, the UC’s and CSU’s would be good options and OP would probably qualify for Federal aid (Pell grant) and Cal Grant (if a CA resident) which I am assuming since they are targeting CA schools. Since OP was asking about Scholarships and they have a high SAT, I was trying to address the merit opportunities which are not that great for the CSU’s and UC’s, but the need-based aid would definitely make these schools affordable.
@benn, run the Net Price Calculators for all schools of interest but you should not just limit your list to these 2 schools. You could also qualify for fee waivers for the UC and CSU applications which will allow to apply to 4 UC’s and 4 CSU’s.
For the UC’s:
**Fee waivers
UC will waive application fees for up to four campuses for qualified students who would otherwise be unable to apply for admission. The fee waiver program is for United States citizens, permanent residents, and applicants eligible for AB540 benefits.
Fee waivers can’t be applied to more than four campuses, regardless of their source (e.g. UC, CollegeBoard/SAT). If you apply to more than four, you’ll need to pay $70 for each additional choice.
Applying for a fee waiver:
You can apply for a fee waiver within the online application and be notified immediately whether you have qualified. You will need to provide your family’s income and the number of people supported by that income.
For CSU fee waivers:
https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/paying-for-college/Pages/fee-waiver.aspx
FYI: There is merit aid (scholarships for competitive academic stats) and need-based aid (grants based on income). Since you have a solid GPA along with your SAT score, you should qualify for both at many schools beyond the UC’s and CSU’s.
Are you an instate citizen/greencardresident of Calif?
I don’t think you can simply plan to attend to either school since Admissions is very unpredictable. You need to apply to several UCs, since they give the BEST need-based aid. CSU’s tend to largely gap.
@thumper1 yes I can, I live in San Diego, sdsu is 3.5 mile where I live and UCSD is 16 mile
@DadTwoGirls I thought extracurricular was like school activity, ex: sports or a club.
Apply to both SDSU and UCSD…you may find both affordable IF you commute from home. As noted, you might want to consider some other UCs…as admission can be unpredictable.
Make sure your Calgrant info and FAFSA are submitted ON TIME…and that your school sends the GPA verification…on time @Gumbymom is this done automatically now?
“Extracurricular” means outside of an academic course of study, so in a broad sense it comprises anything you do that’s not directly related to academics.
@thumper1: GPA verification should be sent automatically but it is always best to check with your HS to confirm it has been sent.
SDSU does not give local service area priority, but @benn you are definitely competitive. UCSD will be tough if you really do not have any EC’s.
Extracurriculars are anything you do outside of school hours. Your coding and your company would be EC’s. It can be anything you do in your free time. It does not have to be conventional. If you run, read for fun, love to cook, babysit, work, they are EC’s. It does not have to be formal or in anyway connected to the school.
Sorry to be picky, but…
This would mean that academic homework done over the weekend is an extracurricular activity, and a chess club that meets during lunch at school on Wednesdays is not an extracurricular activity.
It has to do with what you are doing, not where or when you are doing it.
I should have been more explicit.