Could you comment on my daughter’s college list? Is it too optimistic? Should we add others? She is interested in attending a strong psychology program at an urban setting. She prefers a large school with an option to study abroad for a semester.
Demographics (Female, Hispanic, Bay Area, Large Public School)
Major: Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology
UW 3.56/W 3.72, 7 AP, 3 College Classes (2 from Tier 1 School)
Applying SAT Optional
Founder of two clubs, another club leadership position. Some volunteering
I do think your daughter might want to add a few more true safeties. I
think the “safety” schools you listed are more like matches. Psychology is a popular major at many schools. Did your daughter apply EA to any schools other than Penn State? (Penn State isn’t urban at all, though State College is a thriving college town).
So before going through the chance me, the title and your words say “Urban Setting”.
So let’ start with that. Secondly - strong psychology program - hmmmm - psych is psych. Sure, some schools will have more elective offerings but let’s not kid ourselves.
So let’s look at your list:
NYU - not going to happen. UCB, UCLA, UCSB and UCSD - I can’t rate the UCs but I see two that aren’t urban.
Match - UW - could happen (Washington)…if Wisconsin, less likely. UCONN is as urban as Humboldt - hmmmm - not urban at all.
Lehigh - unlikely - but I wouldn’t say urban. GW - possible - demonstrate interest.
CU Boulder - yes - but not urban. Let’s go suburuban. Syracuse - since you can afford - possible but not a safety. Not urban but near the downtown. Penn State - is - not urban at all.
Fordham and Drexel are urban.
You might look at an Arizona (not urban, but close), College of Charleston (urban), Pitt (urban) and VCU as other urban schools and lose schools like UCONN, Boulder, Penn State.
This is a pretty reachy list for her stats. It’s very very tough to get into the more “urban” UC’s with a sub-4.0 weighted GPA. (I know you are aware, having categorized most of the UC’s as reaches.)
She’s a senior? The UC/CSU deadline already passed, but some CSU’s extend it. SFSU, already suggested above, is one of those - deadline already extended to May 1st for most majors.
UMiami is similar to Syracuse, admissions-wise, and could be worth a look.
Some schools on your list are very much not urban (Lehigh, Penn State… and she’s likely to get branched at PSU anyway).
Fordham and Drexel are good ones to try. If she likes Philly, consider Temple also - particularly if she’d be interested in studying abroad in Italy or Japan, where Temple has campuses. If she likes the urban Catholic U’s, consider U of SF, U of Portland, Seattle U, DePaul, Loyola Chicago, Loyola New Orleans, Loyola Maryland, Providence College, and so on and so on.
Consider the urban WUE schools, which would be even more affordable than a UC. U of Utah, for example, has a lot in common with CU Boulder but is much more affordable and in a major city. U of Nevada Reno is very popular with California students - more than 20% of the undergrad population are Californians. Portland State is a bit of a commuter school but has a nice residential sub-community in the dorms.
Clark U (in the Worcester Consortium with Holy Cross) is particularly known for psychology - if Holy Cross is on your list, Clark surely should be too.
Thank you all for the responses! They are very helpful. I think I put too much emphasis on “urban setting” It is a preference but not necessarily a deal breaker. We realized that we should be adding a few more safeties.
Your comment was sooo helpful! Thank you for taking the time. Based on these stats (if there is no other red flag) would you consider Riverside a safety and Santa Cruz a match?
I think I put too much emphasis on “urban setting” My apologies. It is a preference but not necessarily a must have. UW is University of Washington. Thank you for taking the time to write!