<p>Hi!</p>
<p>I’m an IB-student who would like to study in California for fall 2014. What’s worrying me is that my terrible SAT-score of 1500 will not take me to a particularly good university. Fortunately(?), I have good IB-grades. I have yet to receive my predicted grades, but I feel confident that I will have at least a 6 in my Higher Level subjects (English, History and Economics), and a IB-score of 35. Furthermore I’m the founder of an organization and an international annual conference, and I work as a volunteer. I’ve noticed that not many universities, particularly in California, give financial aid/scholarships to international students, however this will not necessarily be a problem for me. Of course, I expect the university to at least give me IB exam credit. </p>
<p>I’m thinking of studying Political Science as my major since I would like to study law later on.</p>
<ol>
<li>Which universities do you think I should apply for? (In addition to the ones mentioned, considering my profile)</li>
<li>Which California State University do you think would you recommend for a PoliSci/International/IB student?</li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Here’s some useful official resources for you to get the information you need:</p>
<p>[International</a> | UC Admissions](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/international/]International”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/international/)</p>
<p><a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU;
<p>[University</a> of California - International Baccalaureate credits](<a href=“University of California Counselors”>University of California Counselors)</p>
<p>Be aware that it may well take you more than four years to graduate from a Cal State. You can find the graduation rates here:</p>
<p>[California</a> State University–Los Angeles | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/california-state-university-los-angeles-1140]California”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/california-state-university-los-angeles-1140)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>By the way, I’m not sure if the application deadline is different for internationals but the regular application deadline of November 30 has now passed.</p>
<p>The CA public schools don’t give aid to int’ls. </p>
<p>CSU just uses the M+CR score. You can check your eligibility index here if you can convert your gpa to 4.0 scale, but you must use the CSU method of calculating gpa
<a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU;
<p><a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU;
<p>Thank you for your replies.</p>
<p>AlbionGirl, why would it take a dedicated student more than four years to graduate from a Cal State? </p>
<p>BrownParent, yes that seems to be the case. So far I’ve found three private universities, Univ. of SD, Univ. of SD and Univ. of South California, where I still have time to apply. Which universities (in addition to these) would you recommend?</p>
<p>There are some Cal State schools (like Northridge and SDSU) where the deadline has not yet passed. The difficulty for me is to know which Cal State would be good for me. Of course the admission deadline shouldn’t have passed.</p>
<p>Even dedicated students can have trouble graduating on time as courses are often impacted at Cal State. This means that students are unable to enroll in the courses they need to graduate on time. If you look at the four year graduation rates for Cal State campuses you’ll find that most of them are shockingly low. Some examples:</p>
<p>Cal State Dominguez Hills 4%
Cal State Los Angeles 7%
Cal State Long Beach 12%
Cal State Fullerton 13%</p>
<p>I know that many of the Cal State students have work and life issues that impede their graduation but there must also be students who don’t have these problems and they are also taking much longer to graduate than they should.</p>
<p>Are you retaking the SAT tomorrow?
According to your IB score, you can look into:
You still have time to apply to Occidental (excellent choice for political science); Scripps and Mills if you’re a girl; Pitzer, McKenna, or Pomona (depending if you’re liberal, conservative, or rather intellectual); USC.
If we look at your current SAT score and your IB score together, you can look at Chapman, Whittier, St Mary’s of California, University of San Francisco, University of San Diego.
I don’t think Humbold’s or Channel Islands’ deadlines have passed, but I wouldn’t recommend them for poli-sci/IR.</p>
<p>At many CSU’s, students cannot take the classes that they need, so they’re forced to take other classes and wait a semester or two. :s</p>
<p>I think you need to double-check closed campuses. SDSU is impacted and I know the regular apps closed November 30.
<a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU;
Assume $50K to $60K a year for your education.
The State of California is out of money for funding public education, so the classes at both the UC’s and the Cal States have cut the number of sections/classes because the state is so tight for money. Even if you can get some classes, there’s no guarantee that you will finish in 4 years.<br>
Where do you plan to work with your law degree? You should investigate your home country. In California, you need to have some ties to a law firm because there are too many lawyers who can’t find jobs here. There are law schools graduating attorneys and there just aren’t the jobs to support them.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your replies. I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>AlbionGirl, those numbers are indeed terrifying. “According to the report, SDSU’s graduation rate is 67 percent, and its retention rate is 86 percent.” I guess that is the six-year graduation rate? What’s a good/okay number four-year graduation rate? What is meant with “retention rate”? </p>
<p>MYOS1634, no, I will not be taking the SAT in December. Thank you for listing all those schools. I would prefer a non-sectarian university, such as USC or Pomona. I don’t think I would get accepted in Pomona with my SAT-score. It would be amazing to get admitted to Univ. of San Diego, Univ. of San Fransisco or Univ. of South California. How’s my chances to get accepted into these universities? </p>
<p>aunt bea, thank you for the link. I plan to work in the United States in the future, preferably in California. I’m interested in cyberlaw and patent law. As a resident of San Diego, what do you think of SDSU? I’ve heard it’s a “party school” and that the students are more interested in doing other stuff than studying.</p>
<p>A “good” graduation rate is 50% and above.
retention rate is what % freshmen come back sophomore year (as opposed to kids who transfer, drop out, or are forced to leave due to a very low GPA).</p>
<p>University of San Diego and University of San Francisco are both Catholic colleges, like St Mary’s of California. Both St Mary’s and USF are fairly liberal. Your odds of admission depend on your ability to pay, I’m afraid. Have taken the TOEFL? This would replace your SAT score for both schools. However you wouldn’t be eligible for merit scholarships.</p>
<p>The list I gave encompasses a wide variety in terms of selectivity, enough for you to have reaches/matches/safeties and high reaches like USC, Scripps, and Pomona.</p>
<p>MYOS1634, the cost of attendance is less decisive for me compared to size of school, ranking, graduation rates etc. I will take the TOEFL later this month. USF do require SAT scores from IB-students. (“Applicants who are completing… or International Baccalaureate curriculum are required to submit official SAT or ACT Scores.” [Required</a> Documentation - University of San Francisco (USF)](<a href=“http://www.usfca.edu/admission/undergraduate/international/required_documentation/]Required”>http://www.usfca.edu/admission/undergraduate/international/required_documentation/)). </p>
<p>Too bad USC would be a high reach. Also, is it possible to get merit scholarships with a 1500 SAT score?</p>
<p>SDSU gets a bad rap because there definitely those who party. But, you have to remember that this school is at least 40,000 students and they are not all party’ers. SDSU has a strong alumni base in all areas of the majors. Their business school is ranked well. The basketball and football teams are getting more exposure and are doing very well. I don’t know much about the Poli Sci department. USD across town has a law school, but every poli sci major there, hopes to apply to the school of law. Assume $60K per year for tuition and fees. It is a Catholic-based university.</p>
<p>I think you should NOT assume that it will be easy to get a job in California especially as an international student who would need a sponsorship. It would be extremely difficult for you to find a law firm that would sponsor a visa for you, since there are so many qualified law school graduates in San Diego who can’t find jobs and don’t need sponsorships. (My sister works for a national law firm here-she tells me how often graduates want to join her firm and they send her their resumes. If and when her firm is hiring, they cant hire people who aren’t recommended to them via colleagues (Stanford grads, etc.). They just went through a down-sizing, so they won’t be hiring new people since they get so many law school graduates who volunteer to clerk for FREE!) </p>
<p>Assume $40k per year, at SDSU, as an out of state/country student for tuition and fees, with no financial aid. SDSU is impacted and has limited the amount of students they will accept. California is out of money, so they will accept you if you pay full fees and if they have room; their obligation is first to the residents of California who have paid taxes to fund their own universities.
The Cal states that are still accepting students are mostly in central California.</p>
<p>My mistake, the campuses are accepting international students at SDSU for international students, but the late date of May makes me assume that this is full fee only.</p>