New school counselor here. Trying to help a student who had a very challenging high school experience. Initially didn’t plan on going to college, but as a wisened Senior really wants to improve self and experience a 4-year university.
In a nutshell:
GPA is 2.9
SAT = 1190 (610 English, 520 Math)
Family makes under $50,000/year
Father diagnosed with terminal illness in student’s Freshman year, on permanent disability
Mother doesn’t work - supports grandmother with severe Alzheimer’s
Student has experienced severe anxiety and depression due to family instability, so it has been hard for them to maintain their education
Student works to support family
Demographics
US Citizen
CA - Silicon Valley
Attends a Title 1 suburban high school
Cost Constraints / Budget
Family makes under $50,000/year, finances solely from disability, family is on CalFresh/SNAP Program and Medi-Cal
Intended Major(s)
Not sure, has considered fire science, psychology, and marketing.
Thinking of enrolling as Exploratory Studies.
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 2.943
Unweighted 10-12 A-G GPA: 2.600
CA Cal Grant GPA: 2.682
SAT = 1190 (610 English, 520 Math)
List your HS coursework
English: Writing 9, World Lit, American Lit Honors, Writing 12
Math: Geometry, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Applications of Math, Statistics
Science: Biology, Chemistry, Physiology
History and social studies: World History, US History AP, AP Gov, Econ
Language other than English: Spanish 1, Spanish 2
Visual or performing arts: Ceramics, Art 1
Other academic courses: Digital Innovation Design, Auto-Tech, PE, Football, Weight Training
Extracurriculars
Football player for 2 years, Works at a burger place for 1+ years
Essays/LORs/Other
Strong LORs
Strong essay topic focused on recognizing warning signs that impact their ability to be successful and how to overcome them
Schools
Wants to leave California
Really likes Colorado State Ft. Collins and Boise State
Prefers big cities - activities and sports venues
Likes cold weather and snow
Would love suggestions on schools to consider and chances of getting in with need-based aid. Thanks.
Need-based aid at out-of-state public universities? That isn’t a thing, with only two hypercompetitive exceptions (UVA and UNC Chapel Hill). Student can get Pell Grant but no institutional aid, and merit aid isn’t happening with a 2.9.
And this student isn’t going to get into private schools that meet need.
Boise State and Colorado State are WUE schools, which is great for full pay families because reciprocity brings the “sticker price” down to about the in-state cost of a UC. But for low-income CA kids, this doesn’t solve the affordability problem - they can’t get the need-based aid they require to pay that UC-parity price.
I know the student has preferences, but with a sub-3.0 GPA and high financial need, this isn’t a situation where the student gets to write their own ticket. For a student who wants a cooler climate and has these constraints, I would suggest Cal Poly Humboldt. He should be able to get in, and it would be a great place to study Fire Science. (There’s also psych, of course, and a marketing concentration in the business major.) It doesn’t have the urban-adjacency he wants, but the student needs to understand that the more generous schools outside of CA require a stronger record than he has right now.
If he really needs a “palate cleanse” from California and wants a city experience, I’d suggest a funded gap year with City Year in whichever location he prefers. (There’s also the Forest Corps which could be great experience relative to fire science, but obviously not urban.) This would also allow him to apply with his senior grades on record, which could make a difference if there’s a strong improving trend. He may still have to return to California for school, though - I don’t see how going out of state is financially realistic… but luckily CA is a big state with a good variety of college environments on offer.
Would he consider a 2 year college with WUE tuition ?
Northern Idaho College offers “Fire Fighter 1” and “Fire Service Technology” as well as Psychology, Business, and Business Management majors. Many other practical majors.
I’m assuming this means the family can’t contribute any $ to college costs?
If not, the students budget will be the Pell grant (max $7,495) plus the first year student loan of $5.5k. If they stay in-state CCs and CSUs should be affordable. Can the student live at home and commute? Options outside California are not likely to happen(OP’s budget would only cover room and board costs.)
I think budget wise, if he’s away from home it’s tough.
Colorado State is a no go - when on WUE tuition alone is over $20k.
For fire science it’s mostly two year schools - but there are some like Idaho State, Lewis Clark State College in Idaho, and Utah Valley. They’ll all be over $20k with room and board.
I’d personally start with that major because everyone will have psych.
Boise State will be over $20k as an example.
U of Wyoming - not far from CSU - about $20k all in.
California is a big state. Perhaps he can go North or South and get state aid?
I didn’t look at the academic side - really it has to be budget first.
And schools like Berea in KY would be unlikely to admit him (no one pays tuition) but you never know - for psych.
I would stay in CA for max financial aid possibility. CA is big, if student’s intention is to get away from home, just pick a CSU as far from home as possible. He may also look into UCM, UC tend to give more financial aid then CSU. Due to student’s cost constraint and academic record, they cannot be too picky…
Can he retake the SAT (and if he did, would his score likely improve)?
Has he taken any honors classes?
What’s the upward trend, ie., year by year GPA?
I think the suggestion of Cal Poly Humboldt is excellent because it “feels” like you’re in Oregon but he’d pay instate tuition and get Cal grants etc. And as luck would have it it’s excellent for the majors he’s interested in.
Chico State would be worth a try. The Hutchins program, an Honors program if sorts with small group discussions, may be a bridge too far but if he feels ready for academic challenges it’s always a possibility to try and get in.
UC Merced may turn out to be the most affordable since they would include room&board when calculating aid (especially if he can get space in the dorms) but if his UC GPA is 2.6 and not 2.9 it may not be worth applying.
Are there 4-year (public or private) colleges he can commute to that he could use as a safety?
The only college that would be affordable and OOS is Berea, which would be a Hail Mary App- I see it has been suggested already! For this college, the highest possible SAT score, a recommendation from his employer giving examples from work showing his character, and a clear upward trend with As jr/sr year would matter. It’d be a definite reach - it’s ranked 40 nationally, same as Pitzer for a CA reference, or Spelman (Pitzer out of reach, Spelman unaffordable) but their mission is to admit students with backgrounds such as your student’s and many come with potential that has encountered obstacles middle class students may not be used to.
Many hours of work a week is seen as a strong EC, especially if at the same job for over a year. It means work ethics, strong interpersonal skills, reliability, ability to work with others different from self or other teens.
I would advise against college in Coeur d’Alene if the student is Black, Brown, or LGBTQ.
While attending a CSU can be very low cost as a commuter, CSU financial aid historically did not get increased for resident students (unlike UC financial aid). So CSU away from home may be more expensive than what many here are assuming.
Given an unweighted a-g GPA for grades 10-12 of 2.600 and apparently six out of forty semesters being honors, that suggests a weighted-capped GPA of 2.750. This is too low for frosh admission to any UC (minimum is 3.000).
“Silicon Valley” suggests that the nearest CSU is SJSU. For this student, the SJSU impaction index would be the sum of:
GPA * 800 = 2200
200 if high school is in Santa Clara County
40 if eligible for Cal State Apply fee waiver
40 if first generation to college
So minimum of 2200, maximum of 2480. While the competitively-determined thresholds for frosh entering fall 2024 indicate that 2200 was admitted to many majors, psychology had a threshold of 2520, and business - marketing had a threshold of 2400. Obviously, the thresholds may differ this year.
The next nearest CSU is probably CSUEB. It is a non-impacted campus, and nursing is the only impacted major, so a non-nursing applicant meeting the minimum CSU admission requirements should be admitted. Somewhat further away would be SFSU and CSUMB, both of which are similarly non-impacted (except for nursing at SFSU).
If finances do permit attending as a residential student away from home, then note that most CSUs are non-impacted at the campus level, though some majors may be impacted. See Impacted Undergraduate Majors and Universities, 2025-26 | CSU . Chico, Humboldt, and Monterey Bay are among the more residential non-impacted campuses.
Of course, the other common path is to attend a community college, do well there, and potentially have a much greater choice of CSUs and UCs based on a better college record than high school record when applying as a junior transfer.
@Gumbymom, how does the UC GPA calculation work if a student applies after a gap year - does it then include three years of grades, 10th-12th? (Not sure if this student is interested in this option, but I wanted to get clarity, in general - I have always assumed that senior grades would then get rolled into the calculations, but I haven’t had that 100% confirmed.) If so, this seems like a situation where a solid senior year and a gap year could make Merced attainable, whereas it might not be in the current cycle.
Though, I think it’s mainly relative affordability that could make UCM more desirable than Cal Poly Humboldt; otherwise, I’d think the latter might be a better fit. So the student should look at the cost projections for both and see how they compare, for their particular family finances.
I teach high school in Texas. About a third of my students have similar profile. They usually go to community college, spend the first year building up their GPA, then transfer to state universities. I don’t know the exact number but my impression from our local community college was 75% of their students transfer to state universities. Among the transfers, a big portion, 70-80% continue and eventually receive bachelor’s degree. The total cost could be as low as 0.
The UC’s still calculate the GPA’s using 10-11th grades even with a Gap year.
Senior grades will be reviewed for a-g course completion and HS course rigor.
The Capped weighted needs to be 3.0 or higher for eligibility purposes but the UC’s will still review all applicants and can admit some rare students using “admission by exception”.
Yes, I’m thinking Merced, if possible academically (not sure it is - is 2.9 capped weighted or unweighted?) would be less expensive than Humboldt due to factoring in R&B, but Humboldt may be a better fit academically and for the “far away” feel.
There should be more discussion about community college as a strong option for this student. The student is interested in school now. The student is interested and motivated now. But the academic preparation is pretty weak. The student is going to get a lot more support in the community college system and be able transfer as a stronger student and candidate for college. The hunger is there but maybe not the preparation. Live at home, go to school, don’t take out loans, get a job to help with living expenses, learn about life at the same time.
My presumption was that both student and counselor were well aware of the CCC option, but the student wanted to know whether there was a way to make a 4-year, out-of-state residential experience happen. (And the answer is that the OOS piece is probably a non-starter, but there may be options in-state. Whether the cost is manageable and whether the available options are worth the financial strain compared to the CC pathways, the student and family will need to assess.)
There are also CCC’s that have housing. https://www.cccco.edu/Students/Support-services/College-Dormitories-and-Housing This would cost less than a CSU away from home, but more than commuting from home. A number of the NorCal CCC’s that have dorms also have forestry/fire science. So… is it getting away from home and living on a college campus that’s important to the student, or is it the “four year experience” all at the same school? (Or is the student unexcited about any of these options, if they’re all in-state and non-urban?)
It may also be worth mentioning that several CSU’s mentioned above - East Bay, Monterey Bay, and Chico, among others - participate in the National Student Exchange, which would allow him to do an exchange year out of state at his in-state price. National Student Exchange - Campuses / Location
With an ill parent and grandparent, it might seem wiser to stay closer to home, Would they be wiser to start at a jr/community college (eg Laney College) to bring up grades?
I think we need to be cognizant of this…but of course the student in question will have to be cognizant as well.
From a cost POV, i get saying - stay home.
But when I read this, I understand the OP needing to move out:
Student has experienced severe anxiety and depression due to family instability, so it has been hard for them to maintain their education
Unfortunately, these two things counter one another but perhaps that’s why all the recommendations are to move to a different part of the state (it’s a big state).