Match a confused HS junior. CA resident, 3.9 UW, passionate ECs, and undiagnosed ADHD, <$35K

[skewedhoped]

Demographics
US Citizen
State/Location of residency: CA (not bay area-)
Type of high school: Public, large (2500+ students), Title 1

Gender/Race/Ethnicity
Asian-American, female
Other special factors: LGBTQ+ if that counts

Intended Major(s)
primarily: environmental science / geosciences, later try to double major in data science
to appease my parents: business, w/ a double major in international relations (or maybe political science + international relations)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.9
Weighted HS GPA: 4.28 / 5? (highest W. GPA was a 4.67, I think)
Class Rank: 34/637 (top ~6%)
ACT/SAT Scores:
currently studying for the SAT (am a junior). got 1330/1520 on PSAT (winged it w/ terrible math skills and 5 hrs of sleep)

Coursework
9th-11th: 7 Honors, 3 APs (lang, apush, and physics 1)
12th: 5 APs (bio, gov/econ, lit, japanese, calc ab) + advanced band

Awards/Honors
scholastic silver key (writing)
NHS, CSF, JNHS
honorable mention (youth poet laureate)
on track to earn seal of biliteracy + seal of civic engagement during 12th grade

Extracurriculars

• Internship @ museum of natural history (11th) some introductory field work, mostly docent duties w/ a heavy emphasis on conservation and community science (~100+ hrs)

• Summer program @ a nearby aquarium (11-12th, → accepted for this summer) focused on marine conservation and service-based work w/ educational docent duties (~100+ hrs)

• Paid internship w/ local chapter of a national non-profit org (basically a youth leader for a very slay program that empowers girls) (11th)

• school’s Principal’s Advisory Council (if you know me IRL no you don’t), 9th-11th → propose solutions to topics like vaping, schedule changes, construction interferences, etc

• Japanese national honor society (Officer, 11th-12th, aiming for president next year aha) worked on organizing district-wide AAPI festival, world-hunger prevention campaign (provided ~1,000 meals to children in need thru an outside partner), school-wide fundraisers & events, etc.

• President of mock trial (11th), involved 9-12th, team reached historic ranking this year (county semi-finals still proud, though-- our underfunded public hs vs 50k/yr private schools)

• co-founder/president of a discussion-based Philosophy course/club. a lot of stress and time spent doing research & making lesson plans/ slideshows for this aha (11th-12th)

• Ethics Bowl (11th-12th): on primary team line-up for regional & invitational competitions; make slideshows and lesson plans to help coach newer members

• Marching Band, Pep Band, and Wind Ensemble (clarinet, 9th-12th) 100+ logged performance hours, placed historic 1st at a regional marching band competition

• Theater (Tech/cast for 7 school productions, worked sound tech for over 12 showings) 9th-11th. tech weeks have taken months off my lifespan

If you couldn’t tell already, I love being able to talk to all sorts of people and doing hands-on work. Sitting down and studying for, say, math or physics, comes a lot less naturally to me than actively doing activities I’m passionate about

also if you somehow recognize me IRL from this post, yes, I did lose the “IDGAF” about college war

Essays/LORs/Other
essays: I love writing and personal introspection, so I’m not too worried about my essays. My writing was what got me into a lot of my ECs, too, and I would say it’s probably also one of my greatest strengths.
LORs: a lot of teachers aren’t favorable to me because I end up doodling or writing poetry in class oftentimes-- but there are. like. two teachers who don’t hate me; who like me, even, and they’ve written pretty good LORs for me in the past

Cost Constraints / Budget
middle class, but only my mom is employed & her health isn’t the best (her job is quite physically demanding), budget is no more than 35k/yr

Schools
Mostly aiming for UCs + LACs!
I genuinely have no idea where I stand in the realm of college admissions, either because of low self esteem (lolsies) or other factors… all I know is that my ECs are okay and I genuinely like doing all but one of them, and that my GPA sorta sucks :< but I don’t know what counts as a target or a pipe dream for me, I’m worried schools with a ~60% acceptance rate will reject me too

So far I have something like this: (the list is a hot mess)
Safeties: CSULB?
“Targets”: UC Davis (??), UCSC, SDSU, Colorado School of Mines, Mt. Holyoke, Umass Amherst, SUNY Stonybrook
“Reaches/dream schools”: WELLESLEY, UC Berkeley, UCSD, Smith, Pomona, Harvey Mudd

it’d be best if I could stay in-state, but the Seven Sisters colleges are calling to me (HWC,)

anyways, should I even get my hopes up or even try applying to multiple selective schools?? Which schools do I have a feasible chance of getting into?
I know my GPA is sorta poopy… I’m fighting for my life against my traditional asian parents to get an official diagnosis for ADHD. even my HS counselor is trying to help get me diagnosed but, it’s been tough.

Thank you for your time!! any/all help + recs would be much appreciated

[lkg4answers]

Please calculate your UC GPAs. GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

Before you do that, look up your HS here and make sure that the courses that are listed at honors at your HS have a star next to them. If they don’t, they won’t give you an honors GPA bump when calculating your UC GPA.

If you are applying to CSULB, look at some of the other CSUs that you might be interested in.

[islandmama1]

You are a super impressive applicant- and I’m worried that you’re WAY too hard on yourself. Wow! Since when is a 3.9 uw GPA 'poopy?"

I think you’ll have plenty of amazing in state options, and I think you should try for the SS schools if they are calling you (and can meet your $$ need!) Reaches are reaches for everyone!

I’ll leave the recommendations to the knowledgeable here, but did want to pop in to say PLEASE be proud of all that you have accomplished - any school would be lucky to have you, and it’s you who will make your own success, not the school you choose!

Good luck this fall!!

[skewedhoped]

UC GPA is a 3.9/4.06, oof. Thank you for the recs, I’ll definitely look into more CSUs.
Do you still think I have a chance at some of the more selective UCs with my GPA being what it is?

[islandmama1]

You should have 3 UC gpa’s - unweighted, weighted and weighted capped - which are the 2 you list?

And yes, I think you still have a chance at some of the more competitive UC’s - write some great PIQ’s - make it your summer project!

[lkg4answers]

My point in looking at more CSUs is that they all share the same application. If you are filling it out for one, it is easy to send to others.

In building your list, it is easy to find reaches (both academic and financial). Leave those for last. Start by finding campuses that you can afford, that there is a good chance you would be admitted into, and that you would be happy attending. Next work on schools where you have a chance, but acceptance wouldn’t be guaranteed (ex. SDSU, SLO, some UCs).

Budget wise, you might look at Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) campuses.

[lkg4answers]

I agree about making the PIQ your summer project. You state that communication is one of your strengths. @7by11 gave some great insight into her daughter’s approach to the UC PIQ.

Please spend time on your PIQs. For my daughter you truly felt like you knew her after reading them ( per her AP Lit teacher). Btw she started working on them late summer and had everyone she knows read them- Friends, teachers, counselor, parents. She made amendments from feedback ( or sometimes she ignored the feedback). I think coming back to the PIQs multiple times helped her guarantee she was conveying her intended message. DO NOT rush the PIQs. The PIQs are an interview. Get the admissions officer to like you. Be humble but use numbers and facts to support what you did. Also remember they read a ton and likely have 8-10 minutes to spend on your application so don’t be boring. Make them want to spend all 8 minutes. She formatted each PIQ with a hook to get attention. Her passion for stem showed in her essays. For the common app schools she researched the school and wrote about what she could bring to the school using the info from the school to help her show that she would fit in and be a positive influence there.

[AustenNut]

First off, I just want to reiterate @islandmama1’s comments…your GPA and the profile you’ve developed are great!

I generally avoid chancing on California publics because they really are their own separate beast. But there are a few Cal State schools that I would definitely take a deeper look into that I suspect would be likely or extremely likely admits for you.

• Cal State - Monterey Bay: If you’re interested in marine sciences and such, this is an amazing option.

• Sonoma State: With your affinity for liberal arts colleges, the Hutchins program might interest you here.

• Cal Poly - Humboldt: Learn by Doing is the Cal Poly motto, and this campus right by the water has lots of options for people interested in environmental science.

If you feel very confident about sticking with an environmental science degree, I’d check out SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry. It’s a small public that’s adjacent to Syracuse and you’re allowed to also take classes at Syracuse, while only paying the SUNY price. I also think this is a highly admit.

If you like the seven sisters/HWC, I’d also look into Scripps which is in California (your preference) and it’s a women’s college, but it’s also part of the Claremont Consortium which is 4 other colleges that combine for a population of about 5k (including Pomona and Harvey Mudd) . This would be more of a reach/high target school, but I don’t think it’s out of reach.

From what you’ve written, I’m not sure if Harvey Mudd seems like it might not be the best fit for your interests. Additionally, I’m doubtful that Colorado School of Mines will end up reaching your budget. But if you’re interested in Colorado, I’ve heard great things about Colorado State and that is one of the WUE schools.

[tsbna44]

You sound great, well established.

The only concern I’d have is your budget.

As @AustenNut noted, please check the NPC for any out of state publics and privates. Some meet need - such as a Smith or Bryn Mawr - and you’ll know if they’ll meet the $35K budget.

And the WUE is a great thought - opening up a lot of schools of varying sizes.

You really have to figure out what you want - because CSULB and UCD are very different than Wellesley and Harvey Mudd.

Figure out what you want - size environment and more - as a first step.

Assuming it’s the smaller based on your Seven Sisters comment, that’s why you (or your parent) needs to run the NPCs (Net Price Calculator) - will they be under $35K or $80K - you can know from the get go if they’re worth it. Agnes Scott seems to get a lot of love on here with great aid - so that might be another to look at.

And if these are too expensive - there are at least two LACs that, with your stats, will match your flagship tuition - so UCB - to help make them more affordable. Whether they are right for you I don’t know - but might be two to look at. Hendrix in Conway Arkansas (great rep) and Ogelthorpe in Atlanta.

And there are small WUE schools like Fort Lewis in Colorado (probably a great place to study environmental science), New Mexico Tech (sort of a smaller School of Mines), Southern Oregon or for mid size Western Washington.

You’re off to a good start - so slow down, figure out what you want, and you can get organized to find assured schools that will meet your needs.

They are out there…I promise.

Good luck

Flagship 50® - Oglethorpe University

We believe in making Hendrix College affordable and accessible. | Hendrix College

[worriedmomucb]

You actually sound quite like my daughter who is currently very happy at the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley. Be sure to look into that.

[Gumbymom]

Congratulations on being a very qualified and competitive applicant. Based on your post, you will probably fare better at the UC’s and LAC’s where you can go into detail about your EC’s and highlight your passions vs. schools like the CSU’s (SDSU,SLO, CSULB) which only look at your stats.

CSULB is only a safety if you are within the Local admission area of Long Beach. For non-locals it is more of a target.

The CSU’s listed by @AustenNut are excellent Safety/Likely schools.

UC Santa Cruz is a great option and I would put it as a Target. UC Davis probably a High Target/Low Reach. I would also add UCSB as a High Target/Low Reach.

If you plan to double major especially in Data science or Business just be aware that for many campuses these are Impacted/Selective majors so you might have to select DS or Business as your primary major and add the Environmental major on afterwards.

For UC Davis, DS is impacted and could be difficult to double major however a double major in Environmental Management/Policy with Managerial Economics would be possible since they are both in the Same College and Managerial Econ has a International Business Econ emphasis.

Cal Poly Pomona has an Environmental Biology major required only a minimum 2.7 GPA for their admission threshold although it. Is an impacted major. This would be a good Safety school with the hands on/Learn by doing and it would be much easier to double major in Business/Political Science

Several posters have given you some good ideas for colleges so best of luck.

[skewedhoped]

Thank you for the insight, especially about double majoring in DS/Business! I will for sure reconsider how I’ll approach that. Cal Poly Pomona also sounds like a great safety school thanks for the rec!

[skewedhoped]

Ooh, I just finished scouring their website and their programs definitely fit what I’m looking for! Thank you for the recommendation and reassurance :,). It’s been a bit of a struggle trying to not self-select myself out of applying to reaches I’d love to go to.

[aquapt]

Seconding Scripps - it surprises me that you have Pomona/Mudd on your list, and you feel drawn to Seven Sisters schools like Smith, yet you’re not including the school where those two categories intersect. A Scripps student majoring in Enviro Analysis can do the exact same major as a Pomona student, with a Pomona faculty advisor, or they can opt to do the major through Pitzer. Geology is also an off-campus major through Pomona. (My daughter did her EA major through Pomona; she never took a geology class, but when she was looking at course offerings, every geology course had positively rhapsodic faculty reviews.) Scripps has its own data science minor, and a major can be pursued through Claremont McKenna.

Have you run the Net Price Calculator for Pomona? I assume you qualify for need-based aid, or you wouldn’t have Pomona and other similar schools on your list, with a 35K budget; are the NPC results favorable? Pomona would give you more generous, no-loan aid than Scripps would, but Scripps still meets need; run their NPC and compare, to see whether it looks viable cost-wise. (I’d expect it to come in fairly similarly to Smith.)

I’m not sure whether enough merit to get CO Mines under 35K is even possible, much less likely. I’ve heard a lot of anecdotal reports of merit potential being oversold there, and students being disappointed by unaffordable acceptances. No need-based aid for OOS students there, and it’s not a WUE school. (Colorado State, OTOH, could be a WUE option; or Colorado College could be a private LAC option, since they meet need. Their block plan can be great for immersive field work, and they have a robust geology department in addition to enviro studies/science.)

Basically, run the NPC for every school on your list; there’s no point applying to schools that won’t meet your budget. Fortunately, you’re bound to have some good options from among the CA publics, and there are good WUE options that will be in the same price range; so you can be choosy about the rest.

[skewedhoped]

Thank you for the detailed advice! I just ran the NPC for Scripps and some other in-state LACs, and they’re surprisingly not overpriced (~27k/yr average). The acceptance rates for Scripps and Pomona are definitely dicey, but it’s good to know that I’d actually be able to attend if I somehow got in. Thanks again :)!

[aquapt]

@skewedhoped - in case you’re interested, this Zoom event tomorrow evening seems like something that might give you a look into some of the environmental stuff that 5C’s students are involved in: