Is my college list too competitive for my qualifications?

College Search & Lists
1

I’m a college sophomore / junior (depending on what units you’re counting) and will be transferring from CC to a 4-year in Fall/Autumn 2017. By then, I will have an Associate’s in Social Science from a California CC and my GPA will be in the 3.3-3.5 range most likely. I will be applying to Sociology programs at all of the institutions I’m applying to.

My list (in order of preference) is as follows:

University of Washington, Seattle
Bradley University
Stanford University
UCLA
UC Berkeley

My EFC is around $6000. There will be 3 kids in college when I start next Fall, out of a family of 6. Our household income is around $105k, which for Stanford means no tuition if I get accepted.

I know my GPA isn’t very high and I haven’t participated in any formal college extracurriculars while at my junior college, but that is largely due to (1) a semester with 18 units where I lost a very close relative completely unexpectedly and had to forego working in half my classes (thus getting Fs) because the emotional stress was too much for me, and (2) two undiagnosed mental illnesses whose symptoms became more severe after transitioning from high school to college which made socializing outside of normal classroom activities and smaller group settings difficult.

I have retaken 2 of the 3 failed classes and gotten As, and will be retaking the last one this Fall. My school offers academic renewal, so my GPA only reflects the most recent grade; having the last F removed and replaced with the higher grade should bring up my GPA from the current 3.2, especially if I get all A’s/B’s for the whole semester.

I am expecting stellar recommendations from some of the more respected PoliSci, Philosophy, and English professors on campus, especially from my transfer-level courses where I was usually the 1st or 2nd student in the class. One professor is a Stanford alum who suggested I apply because they thought I would be successful in that environment; there was a slight implication there would be personal favor mentioned, but I’m not counting on that.

My high school record is pretty strong. I graduated in the top 5% of my class, scored a 29 on the ACT and a 1750 (520 Math 640 Reading 590 Writing) on the SAT, scored a 4 on AP Psych and AP Lang exams, was a member of the NHS, started/lead a peer tutoring club my freshman year, and was TA for elementary math classes in my free time. I also volunteered at my local library and started a freelance tutoring business. I received a scholarship upon graduation from a local business sorority for community service/scholarship and entered college with the Board of Governor’s Fee Waiver for scholarship, which I’ve also received for the 2016-17 school year.

I am really dedicated to my studies, always have been, school is kind of my life. I’m just kind of worried that a sympathetic, however genuine, personal story isn’t going to make up for 1 really bad semester and a lack of ECs, even if I make up the grades and can explain why my school spirit dropped off the face of the earth from high school to college.

Should I take the chance of applying to this spread of competitive schools (w/ the exception of Bradley which is a match from what I’ve researched), or should I lower my standards and to with schools that have higher acceptance rates?

2

Bumping…

3

Here is a link for transfer GPA’s for each UC: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major

If you are happy to attend Bradley, then it is fine to aim high. If you want more choices, I would add in a few more UC’s to the list as a cushion or TAG to one of the other UC’s.

Will UW and Bradley be affordable, since transfers usually get very little FA?

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UW is probably the most expensive of the schools I’m applying to, and I definitely won’t be able to attend unless I find a significant source of aid. I am applying to a lot of scholarships. Bradley is more affordable and even without aid should be doable financially for my family.

I hadn’t really considered doing a UC TAG since my top choices for UC were UCLA and Berkeley, which obviously don’t participate in the TAG program, but I’ll look into a third option that offers it. Thanks for the advice.

5

Apply to more UC’s (including UCM) just to make sure.

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Stanford’s trasfer acceptance rate for Fall 2016 was only 2%… the majority of the admitted group had at least 700 on each part of the SAT and ACT scores over 30. Even with a 4.0 CC GPA, your chances are minuscule…
I also don’t think you are competitive for Berkeley, UCLA or Washington.

If you want to attend a California public university, you should consider UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, UC Merced, and a handful of the California State Universities (SFSU, SJSU, SDSU, Long Beach, etc).

7

@MYOS1634 Thanks, that seems to be the common suggestion.

@harvardandberkeley I’m not super set on Stanford, as I said in my OP I’m applying more out of the suggestion of an alum than anything else. As for UCLA and UC Berkeley, I am at least competitive for both of their Sociology programs because my major GPA for those schools is closer to a 4.0. I’m not sure how cumulative GPA plays into transferring into a particular program, though (I would assume CGPA = accepted to the school v. major GPA = acceptance into the program you want). I appreciate your input.

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I mean, ensure that you have a few universities where you’re sure you can get into - lower UC’s or sdsu or cal poly slo or even cpp - then you can add as many reaches as you wish.
I’d only cross out u Washington because it’s unlikely to offer financial aid to an oos transfer applicant.
Perhaps add Kenyon for English, or, closer to you Willamette, Lewis and Clark , Occidental, Pitzer, Whitman. I’m not sure what they’d be like financially speaking though.
If you are OK with Bradley, what about Creighton Or Nebraska Wesleyan? Or go farther, with Gustavus Adolphus, stOlaf, Lawrence, Beloit?
Also not sure how ASU Barrett would handle your application or costs.