@Shiloh18 . . . late to the discussion. Sorry to read of your daughter’s woes.
A few points:
- You're California residents. @gumbymom , CU Boulder, Arizona State, University of Arizona are all options for kids from good high schools in CA, who have a hard time gaining entry to some of the "mid-tier" UCs, and they're usually native to OC, Palos Verdes, or some other nice community. So, shiloh18, it's evident she attended a well-funded, (probably) public high school, besides your not mentioning finances. Don't tell us where you're from, though. Just a few years ago, your daughter would have been a slam-dunk to enter UCI, UCD, UCSB, which would have left the 3.2/1,100/25 CA stat-students for CU, ASU, UofA.
- I'd like to see what her UC unweighted GPA (soph, jr; a-g) is. A fully weighted 4.5 can disguise a considerably lower uwgpa.
- How would you rate her personal statement? Was it only about herself; was it unique, was it GOOD, etc?
- Lastly, a suggestion. It's a bit late for this as you've already sent in the deposit to CU, but community college is an extremely viable option, especially now for those who have excellent stats, etc. I didn't quite get whether her younger sib was the prospective life-science major, or whether it was her. But cc is out there, so if she finds that CU is not her cup of tea, then your local two-year is there for her. And if this is a route she would want to take, have her apply to the honors program, which she should be a certainty to gain at admission.
- That's right, you lamented her applying to a specialty major probably an impacted one. She can correct this by going to cc. But if she does go to CU perhaps you can impress upon her to stick things out for the whole year. Then if she doesn't want to go back, she can enroll at cc. She'll need to take transferable classes to their full amount at whatever institution she were to attend.
Best of luck!