^ well, if the mother can’t read English, op HAS TO sign for her hopefully after translating for her. (Nowadays schools no longer accept a cross mark and electronically a signature is the only way. Thats how 12-year old kids end up signing taxes for their non English speaking parents, after translating the whole thing the best way they could).
Op:
Applying to engineering restricts your choices because a lot of colleges that meet full need don’t offer Engineering.
Would you consider physics or computer science?
Study hard for the sat and the act - borrow books from the public library, look at the “xiggi and silverturtle method” on this website’s " testing forum".
UC’s pay more attention to your GPA but you need to increase that score to meet the requirements for engineering at UCs.
Occidental is a good suggestion. Scripps, Whitman would all be possible reaches.
You need affordable matches and safeties though and it’s tough for engineering to find those.
An issue is that you must be able to check “other: Tibetan” or "other: uighur"in the “race” box for universities that request it to be considered a minority. UCs ont take it into account.
What’s your UC GPA?
Is your efc zero?
What’s the highest level of math you’ll complete senior year?
Have you taken AP tests?
Is your high school low performing or high performing? (Do most students attend 4-year colleges)?
What area do you live in (SF, Central valley… ?)
You mentioned not having a mentor. Have you tried to find a FIRST robotics club in your area of CA? You mention VEX, are those mentors college educated? Will they help you? Ask them the same questions you ask here.
Those clubs are run by college educated engineers who could be very helpful to you, both to learn engineering skills and to get advise on the local colleges that would be best, although I think you got good advise on CC here too.
It can be a shock that Stanford is out of reach for 97% of applicants, but once you study the numbers,
you will see you are in good company.
It is hard to complete the process to get admitted to college with your circumstances, but ask for help with your high school counselor as well.
Ask him or her to help you make a college list. If you are in a metropolitan area of CA, there should be help at your high school. Also ask for a mentor there too, they may be able to match you to an adult in your community, to have someone to talk to about this process.
QuestBridge offers guidance. Even if you do not ultimately get selected by Quest Bridge, it may be helpful to contact them, and they are located in the Bay Area of CA as I remember. QuestBridge has 40 specific universities they work with, all private universities. Quite a few Quest Bridge partner colleges are liberal arts colleges that do not offer an electrical engineering major, but will offer physics, math and computer science.
You seem to have a lot of material to write good essays based on your life experiences. Capitalize on that, but also try to be upbeat.
@MYOS1634
I don’t think that the OP indicated that her mother was illiterate and couldn’t write.
I work with a lot of immigrant families whose children can translate, but the parent has knowledge of what is being presented and usually has some sort of signature. When I translate for families (I speak 3 languages and ASL), I have to inform them that they cannot sign legal documents unless they have an inkling of what they are signing. I then send the documents to our translation teams, whose native speakers translate and contact the family to walk through the document.
OP: your parent needs to know that you have been signing for her. You also need to know that you must inform her of what those signatures were for. Really bad habit to get into given the legalities of this country.
There are many easier to get into engineering programs like U of Nevada Reno that also cost way less than in state for CA residents. Arizona State comes to mind, and Oregon State too. California residents do have choices if they go to lower ranked engineering colleges out of state. But of course look at San Jose State too. San Jose State is an excellent choice and could be very inexpensive with fantastic faculty and placement rates. California colleges have impacted majors, though and CS is for certain an impacted major at almost all the CA schools today.
Focus away from Stanford and Berkeley entirely if you can. Focus on affordable schools that match your current SAT score for median score and also add safety schools like U of Nevada Reno. Its pretty close to home if you live
in northern CA, and its very affordable, and may well be a fit for you.
Khan Academy is a great way to study for the SAT. But do not stress too much about your test scores, just go to a college that matches your scores and you will be fine.
Cal Poly Pomona might also be a good option. The price point is at the Cal State level instead of the higher priced U of Cal level.
Still you may quality for massive financial aid, at some private schools, but the battle to get the financial paperwork filled out may be all consuming.
If in doubt, look at community colleges as well, as the back up to the back up. Commuting from home does not sound like it would be good for you, however.
Try for the best, hope for the middle, be grateful for safeties. You can get where you want to go without Stanford or UC Berkeley.
As for signing forms, I totally get it. My parent refused to sign forms. As you do, I filled out each and every form. Some people really don’t get it. If there is an issue you can state why you signed the form. Do be careful with FAFSA forms and other legal documents. Speak to the school and ask what they do in situations where a parent cannot/will not sign forms. Ask your parent to participate in small ways (save the most important forms for this).
See if you can find a teacher. counselor, family friend or really anyone who can encourage you and give you assistance. The best person would be someone who has already done this for their son or daughter. Or who wants to help YOU. There was someone who helped me.
In terms of the SAT, you can raise your scores. I just think raising scores 300 points is HARD. Maybe you can focus on a single area and raise that one they raise another part. Go with your strongest subject ( Math or English) first then work on the weaker link. You didn’t say if they were roughly equal. If not and one is far better that’s good ( only one subject to improve).
If the mother doesn’t know any English as op said, she can’t read it - obviously I would hope OP translated the document (accurately) and signed for her mother with her mother fully aware, not on her own without her mother knowing.
Op may be able to specify but I don’t think he falsified signatures e she would not write it here (I would hope!)
China has some highly educated elites and very competitive schools. Yet in some far provinces of China, boys’ education is prioritized, boarding is necessary yet costs too much, and that means some girls get little education. I’ve learned not to assume.
Electronically there’s no difference as to who typed. But hopefully op’s mother knew enough to “sign through” her child.
@auntbea: You know what I’m talking about very well.
I’ve seen kids as young as 12 or even younger handle all official documents. I would hope the parents knew what they were signing. Translators are better but aren’t available in all languages alas.
@coloradomama: it sounds as if this student is very very low income, thus likely qualified for full cal grants and Pell. As such, if s/he gets into a UC, s/he will pay very little (there’ll be a student contribution). I asked whether EFC is zero (it’s likely low but zero is a good indication).
WUE schools are too expensive for many low income students. Some can be affordable if they’re not EFC zero (like Wyoming).
CSUs may be too expensive if they’re too far to commute to and their financial aid package doesn’t cover r/b - sjsu housing is impossible even for middle class families.
I agree full need privates would be a great option. An issue is the major, which is limiting.
Test optional colleges whowant diversity-focused could be an option, although the score is quite good considering the conditions. Just not within reach for the most selective universities in the country. Hopefully op can study and retake.
Contacts:
Questbridge.
Posse.
Greenlight (website for First gen kids) lists diversity-focused fly-ins. Applications due soon.
This is not necessarily true that they cost way less than in-state UC or CSU (especially with financial aid at UC and CSU). Yes, there are WUE and other scholarships that may be available at some of them, but each needs to be checked individually.
SJSU is one of the most selective CSUs for CS. On the other hand, SFSU is no longer impacted at the campus level, and has only a small number of impacted majors (CS is not one of the impacted majors at SFSU).
I second the recommendation to apply to UCs and CSUs. You want to go to college. It doesn’t have to be Stanford or Cal!
Although your SAT will not help, you do have a compelling story. Admissions committees respect students who do as well as you have done in such challenging circumstances. If there is any way you can mention in your essay something about your particular ethnicity, that would be helpful. It could just be one line about a practice (tradition, musical instrument, holiday, religious ritual, etc.) or a food that is unique to your culture. Otherwise, they are just going to see “Chinese” and compare you to kids whose parents spent a fortune in SAT prep courses and violin lessons.
You should also be thinking about which teachers at your high school that you will ask to write your recommendations. It would be helpful to them and to you if you contact them this summer and ask them, before they get too busy. If they say yes, follow up with some information about yourself and your background. It will help them write your rec.
Even if your school’s guidance counselor completely sucks, set up a meeting and tell them you are serious about college. Be persistent about asking for that recommendation, but in a polite and “winning” way. They have an important job and you want them to think well of you.
@“aunt bea” Thanks for the reminder. To clarify, I’ve been doing my best to fill all forms for as long as I can remember at the welfare office, subsidized housing, etc.
@Coloradomama Yes. I’ve been competing in FIRST Robotics. And good idea on finding a mentor by starting with the school which will be on my to-do list.
@MYOS1634
Would you consider physics or computer science?
_A: Not sure how that will affect what I want to do.
What’s your UC GPA?
_A: 3.9, Unweighted
Is your efc zero?
_A: Yes.
What’s the highest level of math you’ll complete senior year?
_A: Calculus 1 (limits, derivatives, integrals)
Have you taken AP tests?
_A: Yes.
Is your high school low performing or high performing? (Do most students attend 4-year colleges)?
_A: The school is stem-focus, high performance with a curriculum that’s more rigorous than surrounding high schools.
@Ris21242 Thanks! I’ll be sure to highlight the best with the help of my counselor/advisor(s).
@aquapt I didn’t know 3:2 existed! That’s interesting. I have to look into it.
@djbridjmurh Super thankful for that supportive response.
To all,
I didn’t expect the incredible support from everyone. I’ve read the forum but to receive a direct response to a sort-of plea for direction out of desperation has been very uplifting. I’ll continue to refer back to this and mark off my to-do lists with what’s already suggested.
It sounds like your grades and course rigor are great, though, and this from a competitive STEM HS. So one angle to look at is applying to test-optional schools.
The downsides of 3:2 engineering are 1) the extra year of school and 2) the fact that the majority of students who go in with that intention ultimately decide against it. (Though some of these do grad programs in engineering after finishing a physics or CS degree.) The fact of changing schools could be a plus or a minus depending on your situation and temperament. (After three years on a campus they have come to love, many students want to graduate with their class. But on the other hand 3:2 can be a stepping-stone to an engineering school you couldn’t have gotten into as a freshman.) You have to research the financial aid situation carefully. (For example, don’t consider transitioning to an OOS public or non-full-need-met private engineering school that won’t give you the financial aid you need, i.e. UW-Seattle, Georgia Tech, RPI)
But on the other hand, it does feel as if you are feeling very rushed-by-life right now, understandably so! Being able to have three years to “ramp up” at a high quality liberal arts college before transitioning to an even-more-competitive engineering school might not be a bad trajectory.
Lastly, a really important factor to look at is which schools are TEST OPTIONAL. You have a strong transcript that could get you into some of these schools without even submitting your SAT. All of the below are full-need-met AND test-optional:
Test-optional with full EE program: Union College (NY) - worth a close look
Test-optional with general engineering, and CS, but not EE:
Smith College (MA)
Trinity College (CT)
Wake Forest University (NC)
Test-optional with 3:2 engineering
Bowdoin (ME)
Wesleyan University (CT)
Bates College (ME)
Bryn Mawr ¶
College of the Holy Cross (MA)
Pitzer College (CA)
Mount Holyoke College (MA)
Skidmore College (NY)
Dickinson College ¶
Whitman College (WA)
Franklin and Marshall College ¶
Be very careful about the financial aid situation, since you will not know what the “2” school’s financial aid will be like until later. Note that Columbia, which is a common “2” school in 3+2 arrangements, does not claim to “meet need” for 3+2 students, unlike for frosh and other transfer students. Compare:
In addition, admission to the “2” school may require high college GPA (e.g. Columbia) or be competitive (e.g. Caltech). Many of the “3” schools also limit your choice of major there, even though it may theoretically be able to schedule almost any major alongside the pre-engineering course work.
Why do you have to go to Stanford or Berkeley? Do you realize MANY MANY students want to go here?
You need to have other school choices also…MOST people that apply do not get into these schools.
^^ Yes, caution and due diligence are called for. (I did say that, but it bears repeating.)
Dartmouth actually treats 3:2 students in their fourth year as exchange students, so they continue paying their “3” institution and receiving their same financial aid package until the final year, which is a separate program with its own not-crystal-clear need-based aid policy: https://engineering.dartmouth.edu/academics/admissions/undergraduate/be/tuition-aid
CWRU states that entering dual-degree students are “eligible for need-based aid” (as well as merit) but doesn’t explicitly promise to meet full need. Caltech also states that domestic 3:2 students are “eligible” for aid. Drilling down on what “eligible” means would be necessary.
When you get back to school, be sure you ask your HS counselor for “fee waivers” which will allow you
to apply to a number of schools without the application fees.
The SAT and ACT also has fee waivers available, if you decide to take any additional tests.
@hop thanks! eop will be another one on the list to check.
I guess I’m not the only one…as someone posted earlier on how SAT is scored for this summer is different which it is. I struggled with the essay the most and I think that’s where I was affected.