Hello everyone. Currently I am half way through my freshman year and we will be picking classes for next year in the upcoming weeks. I want to go to USC/UCLA/Stanford and was wondering what i need to do to set myself up for getting accepted.
I go to a small High School of about 250 kids in rural Wisconsin.
My GPA is 4.0 and I rank 1/37 of my small graduating class.
This years classes
-Algebra 1
-English 9
-Into to Tech and Engineering
-Spanish 1
-PE/Health
-Science 9
-Global Studies
-Independent IT/tech support for school(updating computers, fixing smart boards etc)
EC’s
-Spanish Club
-Future Business Leaders of America
-Student Council
-Football
-Wrestling
I want to go into business/computer science. I guess I just want to know what I need to do to prepare and get accepted. If I’m missing something just tell me and I will update my post.
Just saying… If you arent taking any honors classes that concerns me… Even UCLA and USC want a rigorous high school schedule CS requires many advanced english science and math classes!
Also another note: Our schedules are set up in a way that we have 5 required classes each year(Ex. Math, Science, English, etc) and we get to take 3 electives. These can let you double up on another class like math as we have 4 classes a day for each semester, or you can take a different elective such as Spanish, Intro to Business etc. However, our senior year our only required class is English, and all of our other classes are ours for electives etc.
Also, if you plan on applying to California public schools (UC’s and Cal States), your parents need to start saving some big bucks. As an Out of State (OOS) student, you will not receive any financial aid to attend school in California.
Read the book “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport to get some ideas on how to spend your time out of class over the next few years. Take the most advanced classes you can at your high school, and see if you can do some APs online or take a few community college classes. Study hard to do well on the SAT or ACT, and also make sure you study for and do well on subject tests. A 4.0 is great, but you need very strong test scores to go with that.
Agree that UCLA won’t give you much financial aid of any kind, and USC (although it is a private college), does not give great FA. Stanford gives amazing aid, but is also amazingly difficult to get into.
You are lucky that you live in a state with a very strong public flagship (Madison), and you also have reciprocity so U of MN - Twin Cities is available to you at in-state rates as well. Not as warm and sunny as California, but both will give you a solid education and can work as good matches/safeties, especially financially.
Does your school not have advanced/honors/pre-AP/AP courses? If it doesn’t (or doesn’t offer them to freshmen), your schedule seems okay; otherwise, I’m a little concerned. Choose the most rigorous schedule possible. Find an extracurricular you’re really into. And enjoy high school.
My school does honors for some classes but usually not freshman year. AP classes you can take starting Junior year. A lot of times Seniors load up on AP’s and/or go to classes at the community college 20 min away. However, for my graduating class they are requiring more credits from our school to graduate which doesn’t give as much freedom for taking AP classes. As of before the post i was planning on using my electives sophomore year to double up on math and take Intro to Business as well as Spanish 2.
As for financial position my family is doing very well and my parents would probably pay for half of the cost. (That’s the deal they kind of made with sister who goes to UW Madison and brother who goes to a different UW school
Hey there! I am a Junior and will be applying to UCLA and USC (out of colleges on your list). Here is my advice to you!
1.) If I could go back to Freshman year and change one thing, it would be to get organized. Developing good note-taking and study strategies is key at this age.
2.) Take the hardest classes your school offers (that you believe you can handle). You can do anything if you put your mind to it!
3. If you can, exceed the required courses for those colleges and to graduate your high school. Example: some schools want 3 foreign language credits, let’s say you take Spanish I II & III, yeah that’s good but further yourself by taking AP Spanish or a DC spanish. Even take the SAT Subject Test for Spanish. Colleges want to see that you take the extra initiative. My school does not offer many APs or any honors, so I’m actually paying for additional classes outside of school. If your parents let you do this, I strongly recommend it. I will already have 7 college credits done by the time I graduate.
4.) E.C.'s do matter, especially for schools like this. Get involved in stuff that is related to your intended major, and stuff that is not. Colleges like to see well-rounded and diverse people. Volunteering is also good. Running for a class office or student government position is also good.
5.) Establish good relationships with teachers and staff, especially those who you might need to get a recommendation from. I would say in this case it’s okay to be a kiss-up, but you still want to be a likable person.
6.) SAT and ACT will be key for you, even though you have an amazing GPA. Try to aim for perfect scores that way if you fall short, you still know you gave yourself a rigorous prep for them. Don’t wait to take them end of junior year. If you can try to take at least one of each before. Also like I said before, look into the SAT Subject tests especially if you are good in the areas they offer. (Example: Biology or Chemistry). Even if you don’t get a perfect score colleges like to see that you took the extra step to take these.
7.) Enjoy your high school years and don’t stews. Stay organized and motivated, it might be hard but it will be worth it. I wrote a lot above, but for the schools you want to attend, it doesn’t just come to you. People spend hours and hours on all of the above stuff and sometimes still don’t even get in. Just be the best you can be, good success will come to you. Best of luck!
So your parents will pay ½ cost at:
USC-$60K per year. Cost leftover for you would be $30K per year.
UCLA ~ $55K per year. Cost for you as an OOS, without financial aid, would be $23K per year
Stanford~60K per year. Cost for you to fund ~$30K per year.
Where are you going to find this money? Let us know so that we can try to get the same.
My son was a national merit winner and he was offered ½ tuition only at USC. That was $20K and we needed to fund the rest of the $40K.
You can’t assume that money will magically appear in the forms of scholarships or merit aid. Full rides are almost non-existent unless your parents fund the whole cost.
CS requires many advanced english science and math classes!