Haha. 
We should get @tsbna44 in here to comment. He’s a Syracuse alum.
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30+ years ago - new world.
I think there’s a lot of ESF info out there and that you can eat in dining halls, use the library, etc. But I never knew an ESF person and it was a lifetime ago.
I’m sure lots on line and if it works out cost wise, if there’s interest in upstate NY, absolutely.
In addition to SUNY ESF, I would look closely at The Claremont Colleges consortium. The 5 colleges have different policies on financial aid, but you can access a major at any of the five from any other of the five at no additional cost. With that being the case, your best financial option is Scripps College. Although you are technically at a women’s college, you are still on essentially one co-Ed campus of about 5300 students with most of your science classes in a joint science department, which is co-Ed. All of the facilities, dining halls, and clubs accessible to students from all 5 colleges.
Financially the 5 colleges take different approaches with financial need and merit. Pomona financial aid, for example, is only need based. Pitzer offers ver limited financial aid of any kind. I see Scripps as the sweet spot for you because it provides both need based financial aid and merit scholarships. This is important because they will factor in your sibling at Brown, but your need will change when your sibling graduates. However, a merit scholarship will keep costs manageable, especially if you manage your money for all 4 years in advance with that in mind, using any savings based on need while your sib is at Brown to put toward the time when need drops & you are the only one in college. You will be a strong candidate for a merit scholarship like the James E. Scripps scholarship at Scripps especially if your essays focus on your leadership qualities as reflected in being a team captain in 2 sports and your role in youth soccer. With this plan, Scripps is likely to come within budget for all 4 years.
Academically, your options for majors would work like this: Environmental Science, Earth Science, & Wildlife Biology would all be through the Scripps & Pitzer Joint Sciences Dept. Because Environmental Science is one of the most popular and highly prioritized majors at Scripps, it receives substantial funding Your GOA and SAT will make you a prime candidate for top research fellowships. If you choose Earth Science, some if your courses will be at Pomona in their Geology Dept. The Claremont Colleges do not offer a major called “Wildlufe Biology”. Instead you major in Biology or Environmental Science through the Joint Sciences Dept and choose the Ecology & Organismal Biology concentration. As a Scripps student you then get full access to the Robert J. Bernard Biological Field Station, located just north of campus. It is described as an 86 acre tract of protected coastal sage scrub ecosystem with an artificial lake providing unparalleled opportunities for field research, tracking wildlife, studying native plant ecology, and conducting field experiments. Finally, there is no “Astronomy” major at the Claremont Colleges. Instead, you major in Physics and choose an Astronomy or Astrophysics track. Foundational courses are taken at the Joint Sciences Dept and advanced courses in your major are taken at Pomona’s Physics & Astronomy Dept. In this major, you will have access to Pomona’s unparalleled observational infrastructure: Table Mountain Observatory an hour away from campus for observing near Earth asteroids, Brackett Obsefvatory on campus, and the Carnegie Partnership which regularly places students in summer internships at the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena with access to the Magellan telescopes in Chile.
Two other small liberal arts colleges which offer all 4 of your majors of interest are Ohio Wesleyan and DePauw University in Indiana. However, they aren’t in the kinds of location you seem to be interested in.
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Maybe too large but UN Reno would be solid in your interests with short non stops from the LA area. It’d be at the cusp of budget. It’s a WUE school.
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Are other UCs and CSUs in reasonable commuting range?
The UC’s calculate out and review 3 UC GPA’s: Unweighted, Capped weighted and Weighted Uncapped.
I am assuming this is the Weighted Uncapped GPA. What is your UC Capped weighted GPA (out of 4.4 maximum) since this GPA is the most common GPA listed in the UC Freshman Profiles and statistical data.
Since you are a California resident, you can look up general admit rates and average Capped weighted UC GPA’s from your specific HS here for all the UC’s: Admissions by source school | University of California
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These are the numbers on the last transcript I received, but it doesn’t reflect my junior year spring semester or additional comm. college classes.
UC (Capped) GPA: 4.421
UC (W) : 4.526
UC ELC GPA: 4.526
This is really great information. Thank you. I toured Pomona College and liked it but was disappointed that they don’t have an Environmental Science major (instead they offer a more policy-focused major, Enviro. Analysis). We ran the NPC for Pitzer and Scripps and they’re both below $30k, with Pitzer actually coming in under $20k! I wonder if Pitzer does not have need-blind admissions though.
Most schools that meet need are not need blind.
But that doesn’t mean they would not accept you. And you aren’t requiring a full ride.
But it goes back to - you need an assured and affordable safety - and many names are above. But beyond that, take your shots. btw - need blind and meets need schools likely get more applications because of that - making them harder ins - hence a Pomona is a harder in than Pitzer.
Don’t forget, other schools might hide an environmental science curriculum in other areas - like earth science or geology or may have a create your own major.
Pitzer’s website says this - which doesn’t really make any sense (the first sentence) - but it does note they are need aware:
Pitzer is a need aware institution which means that we will meet all demonstrated financial need a student has. Financial aid is provided through a combination of grants, work study, and small-scale loans. To look at your financial aid eligibility you can use the MyinTuition or Net Price Calculator tools.
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Have you looked at Cornell?
I think if you like Wesleyan, you’ll like Pitzer too, though Wesleyan probably has the more robust sports scene. An “away” game at Pitzer means walking down the street to Pomona. Within NESCAC, the rivalries spur a lot of school spirit:
HS transcripts do not always reflect the true UC GPA’s so it is better to calculate using the Rogerhub calculator instead. I know my kids HS transcipt GPA’s were different than the actual UC GPA’s since not all HS’s Honors designated classes were actually UC approved.
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Yes, that is true about Pomona but the Environmental Science major at the Claremont Colleges is offered at the Scripps/Pitzer Joint Sciences Dept. And it is actually a very good program. The Scripps/Pitzer Environmental Science major is really the better choice for your interests. The Claremont Colleges can be confusing because each is a separate institution and when you tour one, they tell you about themselves. But if you are enrolled at one, you can choose a major at any of the others, assuming the prereqs, etc. So, you can be enrolled at Pomona but choose the Environmental Science major at the Scripps/Pitzer Joint Sciences Dept., for example.
Pitzer is in fact need aware, so need likely factors into admissions decisions. The problem for you at Pitzer is that there are very few merit scholarships there, so when your sibling graduates from Brown, there will likely be a significant change in your financial aid there because it will likely be need based. The reason I recommended Scripps for you is that they offer BOTH need based aid AND merit scholarships. You are likely to be one of their top applicants and therefore a prime candidate for one of their scholarships. Therefore, when your need is less, you will likely still have a merit scholarship to offset costs. In addition, they are looking for women with leadership capabilities. Your captaincy of 2 sports and your role in the youth soccer program both identify you as a young woman with the strong leadership qualities that they are looking for. You can emphasize your leadership experiences in your essays and can ask your references to do the same. Furthermore, Scripps actually places a high priority on Environmental Science, so your interest in this major is also in your favor and additionally makes you a high priority target for them and therefore an even stronger candidate for a merit scholarship.
I don’t know how you feel about attending a small women’s college. If you prefer a co-ed college, keep in mind that Scripps is part of a much larger 5300 student consortium. The fact that the campuses are all immediately adjacent means that it is really like one medium sized university, which also had separate undergraduate colleges. My niece went to Scripps before getting her PhD at Northwestern. She did not find herself isolated in an all women’s environment. But the biggest factor for you is that you are interested in the sciences and Scripps sciences are at the Scripps/Pitzer Joint Sciences Dept. And Pitzer is co-ed. So, you will automatically be in a co-ed environment in those classes. In addition, you can choose electives from any of the 5 colleges, so more co-ed opportunities. You can eat in any dining hall. You can join clubs and organizations sponsored by any of the five. You can use libraries and facilities from any of the five. It really is a very unique opportunity.
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Do you know you if you’re eligible for ELC? It should show up in the UC application portal. If you are, then given your GPAs, I think you will get into UC Santa Cruz, and it should be within you family’s budget. Even if you’re not ELC, you should get into Santa Cruz and Davis and Cal Poly SLO. You’ve gotten a lot of good suggestions already, I would probably have UCLA and Berkeley as a lower probability and UCSB as likely.
Pitzer students go down the street to Pomona for home games. (They combine for shared athletic teams). Go Sagehens
Away would be even closer at Claremont McKenna - Claremont, Mudd, Scripps combine for athletics.
I looked it up and some of the other teams in their conference include Caltech, Occidental, University of the Redlands, Chapman, and University of La Verne.
Oxy meets need and has environmental science. @ajb2008 - has your family run the NPC. They meet need.
Another poster did point out that you have a sibling at Brown - so need will change when they’re done. But then you have a sibling coming after you.
I’m not sure if there’s any gap years - meaning a year where no one is in school - but you might want to run NPCs with as the only in school - if there is - just to see what the cost will increase to and can your family afford that?
That certainly will be the case for the final student after you are done.
Are you aware of someone being able to see if they are eligible for ELC prior to submitting the UC app? We honestly never paid attention for my D25 because we knew she was, but a friend told me that her D25 couldn’t see it prior to submission. But perhaps she missed it? S27 is more on the cusp with his weighted capped, so I’m more curious this go around.
ETA: This might be the answer. I’ll post here for others. From the UC website: “After submitting the application, you can log back into your application to see whether or not you’ve been designated as being in the top 9 percent of your class by selecting the “View how your application is reviewed” link.”
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If the HS counselor knows or can find out the ELC threshold GPA for the school, then comparing the student’s GPA to that can give an unofficial hint. Be sure to recalculate the student’s GPA using the same method used for the ELC threshold GPA.
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Students get letters saying they have a good chance for ELC based on their transcripts, but of course only when they enter the portal will they know if they are ELC.