Your 3.75 is plenty competitive. UCSB, UCD, and UCI are all within reach, depending on SAT. Be sure to apply for accomodations on the SAT if you are severely vision impaired. The 5 C’s are a stretch, to say the least, unless you absolutely ace the SAT. Definitely look at Occidental. Great school.
@Kelvin82 , have you looked at this scholarship? https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/diversity/programs/microsoftdisabilityscholarship.aspx
You could also apply to the Jack Kent Cooke College Scholarship also. It’s designed for high achieving , low income students. Go to jkcf.org to check them out
Thank you so much for all of the kind suggestions! @GeoffWii2 @aquapt
@akiddoc I have never received 5 Cs. I have received 6 Bs while working to support my family. I know that is not an excuse, and in no way does that justify the dip in my GPA, but I wanted to explain my circumstances a bit more. Freshman year was where I took all honors classes, and maintained a 4.0 average. As soon I turned 16, I began to work to support my family. I received 3 Bs in sophomore year, and 3 Bs in my first semester of junior year. For my second semester, I currently have all As; hopefully I can keep it up.
I wanted to give a quick update. I received my SAT scores today, and I got a 1440. I’m planning on retaking it in hopes of raising my score. I just wanted to ask if my decision is a good one.
Congrats on the SAT score, @Kelvin82 - a 1440 is nothing to sneeze at! It’s really your call whether you think you can raise it with a reasonable amount of effort. You have a lot on your plate, and it won’t be worth doing a boatload of test-prep at the expense of your grades! If you took the test and felt like being a bit more “seasoned” at the types of questions asked, the timing of the test, and test-taking strategies would have helped you to do better, then do some prep and give it another go. If you felt like you were “on your game” and have trouble imagining doing better, then maybe it’s better to put your effort elsewhere. My D has a friend who took it three times, spent lots of time preparing, and scored exactly the same every time. Everybody’s “point of diminishing returns” is different.
But first, if you haven’t already, you should apply to the Questbridge Prep Scholars program. That application is due March 17th. https://www.questbridge.org/high-school-students/college-prep-scholars
They typically want to see slightly better grades than you have, but they give close consideration to personal circumstances, and your SAT score is well in range. If you get into this earlier group, you’ll have an advantage to get into the College Match program when that application opens in the summer.
@aquapt I don’t plan on majoring in an engineering field; my interests lie in chemistry and computational biology. I’m also interested in the humanities, and I’ve always wanted to minor or double major in english. I did summer activities that reflected my interest (Girls Who Code) and participated in competitions (won silver key in Scholastic Art and Writing, regional and state medals at Science Olympiad, and was a finalist for a national essay contest).
What is your SAT breakdown?
@intparent 680 EBRW 760 math
On practice tests I usually scored in the 700s range for EBRW. The test I took was administered by my school (I was approved for accommodations) and the proctor was late. That led to me panicking, and I believe that mental anxiety affected my reading and writing scores.
I took math after lunch, so I felt more prepared and relaxed going in. I definitely want to retake, because I know I can raise my reading and writing scores and hopefully be done with SAT testing.
@Kelvin82 , of the Questbridge schools, Carleton jumps out at me as an especially good fit for your cluster of interests (and your personality, based on my obviously-limited impression). They’re extremely strong in the kind of sciences you like and also in humanities/writing. As a smaller LAC, they make it easy to blend areas of interest. Their admissions are holistic and fit-based - demonstrated interest is very important to them. If you’re interested in the school, make contact early and often. They also have excellent summer programs for HS students, in sciences, CS, humanities and writing, with need-based scholarships: https://apps.carleton.edu/summer/apply/scholarship/ And Californians and Asians, while not super-scarce, are not over-represented (a little over 10% of each).
As for the SAT, it’s actually great that your first score was so uneven. It sounds like you have an excellent chance at pulling your verbal score up, and you’ve already nailed down an excellent math score. That’s a better situation than having to try to squeeze out incremental improvement on both sides. You’ve already done well, but since your transcript isn’t flawless, an even more stellar score would be a big help. It’s definitely worth a retake to break the 700 barrier on the verbal, which doesn’t sound like it will be a stretch at all. Can you ask to take the math section first next time?
@CADREAMIN this is long overdue, but thank you so much for your inspirational words. I feel so much happier knowing that there are viable options out there, and that I am focusing on myself and not obsessing over my peers’ stats.
@aquapt I’ll have to check with my SSD coordinator if I could take math first. Thank you for mentioning Carleton College; I took a quick peek and really liked that I could design my own major. I also looked at Wellesley via questbridge, and the general atmosphere appealed to me. I also liked that there was the option of cross registering with Olin and MIT. I know people who are going to Wellesley, and they all love it. Sigh.
The QuestBridge College Prep Scholars Application closes at the end of march!!! I HIGHLY recommend applying!
@aquapt @latinvibes @CADREAMIN @GeoffWii2 @intparent @MYOS1634 @Emsmom1 and to any other lurkers,
Thank you so much for taking time to read this thread and for all of your advice and encouragement. I am so incredibly happy to say that I was accepted as a Questbridge College Prep Scholar! Thank you again!
Congratulations! Keep us updated 
Wooohoooo @Kelvin82 Good for you - College admissions and college itself isn’t a race, it’s a journey. Take it all in all along the way, and keep learning what you can do!
Congratulations! Our elder son is a QB scholar…today we just learned that our younger son is one, too.
I would be happy to be a sounding board for you along with the more experienced posters and parents on CC. Please keep us posted!
Awesome!! Congratulations, @Kelvin82 !! You’re on your way!
@Kelvin82 OMG CONGRATULATIONS!!! THAT IS AMAZING I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!! Please PM me and join the the facebook group! I can connect you to a ton of good resources 
Congrats again!
Hello everyone.
School has officially ended, and final grades are in. I am happy to say that I am ending this year with my cumulative GPA to be 3.84. My school does not report weighted GPA. I took my SAT Subject Tests, and am waiting for those scores and AP scores, which are available on July.
Also, my school nominated me for the Posse program! However, I heard that one cannot apply to both the Questbridge College Match and Posse. Is that true? Does anyone have personal experience with the Posse program?
Additionally, I found that I was accepted Darthmouth’s fly in program, Dartmouth Bound! I am so excited to visit and see New Hampshire and Dartmouth!
Before discovering CC, I thought my only path to college was through my local junior college. I now realize there are many options out there. Without CC, I wouldn’t have known about all the resources available to low income students, so thank you to everyone.
Great job Kelvin. I don’t know about the posse program and Questbridge. As you are already are in Questbridge, I would email and ask them. Or your counselor at school should know.
Congrats on finishing strong and on the Dartmouth program!!
I had never hear of the Posse thing before, but just Googled it - looks interesting! It seems that the list of schools they recruit for varies by home city - the options overlap with Questbridge but include some non-QB schools too. Check out Middlebury, Kalamazoo, Tulane, Dickinson, and Bucknell - plus, it looks like this might make Berkeley/UCLA more affordable than they’d be with normal financial aid. Exciting that so many possibilities have opened up for you!!