Science-loving HS Senior from Los Angeles [CA resident, 4.0 GPA (4.00/4.31/4.69 for UC), 1440 SAT, <$30k]

Chance Me / Match Me
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I am a Los Angeles-based high school senior seeking a medium-sized college offering robust programs and research opportunities in any or all of the following fields: astronomy, environmental science, ecology, and wildlife biology. I value a vibrant campus culture characterized by strong school spirit, traditional athletics, and a sense of community. I want a serious academic environment with a fun social scene. My ideal location provides proximity to nature and water, alongside access to diverse cuisines. I prefer warmer climates, but I’m open to all regions. I love UCLA (commuting isn’t an option for me) but due to the competitive nature and financial constraints of large public universities, I am exploring smaller liberal arts colleges that are committed to meeting full financial need while providing the research access essential to my academic goals. I’m also wondering if there are bigger schools that have what I’m looking for outside of CA that might offer me merit aid as an out-of-state student.

Demographics

  • US domestic

  • Los Angeles, California

  • Title 1 highly-ranked public magnet HS (ranked as one of “America’s most challenging high schools” by US News & World Reports). I’m only mentioning because it seems like colleges “like” my school.

Cost Constraints / Budget
under $30k/year

Intended Major(s)

Undecided, but interested in astronomy, earth science, environmental science, wildlife biology

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0

  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.8

  • Class Rank: School doesn’t officially rank but I’ve been told I’m in the top 5-7%

  • ACT/SAT Scores: SAT 1440 (750 R&W, 690 Math). I’m taking it again Oct. 3rd.

HS coursework

  • English: Honors English, AP English Language and Composition (5), currently taking AP English Lit.

  • Math: Honors Algebra, Honors Geometry, AP Precalculus (5), currently taking AP Calc AB

  • Science: AP Bio (4), Chemistry, AP Computer Science Principles (4); currently taking AP Physics and AP Environmental Science

  • History and social studies: AP World History (5), AP United States History (5), currently taking AP Government.

  • Language other than English: French 1, 2, and 3. My school doesn’t offer AP French but I will be taking the AP French test in the spring.

  • Visual or performing arts: currently enrolled in Art Appreciation through a community college.

  • Other academic courses: 3 years of Journalism. I’m the Editor-in-Chief of Online Content and Copy Editor ; Teacher’s Assistant (for credit) for a Biology teacher

College Coursework

  • Meteorology- A

  • Astronomy- A

  • Oceanography - A

  • Psychology- A

Awards

AP Scholar with Distinction

Extracurriculars

  • Stanford Program for Inspiring the Next Generation of Women in Physics (SPINWIP)- virtual summer outreach program hosted by the Stanford Physics Department and the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, designed to get high-school girls excited about physics (application and LOR required).

  • UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy - Astronomy Live’s Summer Observing Workshop- 9 week summer program, operated and extracted data from the Nickel Telescope (application and LOR required).

  • California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS) - Cluster 2: Ecosystem Responses to Climate from Plants to Planet- 4 week UCLA summer program. Conducted scientific research and remote sensing to analyze environmental changes relative to climate change. My personal project was published on the NASA JPL website (highly competitive application and LOR required).

  • Varsity soccer 4 years (Captain)

  • Varsity track 4 years (Captain)

  • National Honor Society

  • President and founder of a youth soccer mentoring program at my school

  • Volunteer weekly at a local hospital for 3+ years.

  • Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy volunteer

  • Volunteer for Pasadena Humane Society

  • Friends of the LA River volunteer

  • Babysitting for 4+ years

  • Pop-up bakery entrepreneur

Essays/LORs/Other

*Working on essays now with a tutor. I think they’ll be strong.

I’ll have strong LORs from my Physics and Journalism teachers. My professor from the UCLA summer program I attended also offered to write me a LOR. Considering a supplemental essay from my soccer coach/history teacher.

Cost Constraints / Budget

Budget is an issue. My family is trying to keep costs below $30k/year. I will be applying to UCs but my family isn’t eligible for financial aid from UCs, so tuition would be around $40k+/yr and I would need to take out loans. I want to apply to other schools that might be more affordable. My parents make approx. 150k a year working for non-profits. I have one older sibling (attending Brown and received a lot of financial aid) and a younger sibling who is currently a Junior in HS. We have home equity that my parents don’t want to touch because it’s basically their retirement plan.

Schools

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability):

  • Extremely Likely: Cal Poly SLO (not quite meeting the affordability threshold)

  • Likely: UC Davis

  • Toss-up: Carleton, Wesleyan, UCSB

  • Lower Probability:

  • Low Probability: Stanford, UCLA, Pomona, UC Berkeley, Dartmouth, Duke, Swarthmore?

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That depends completely on the major you apply to.

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So the first thing I look at is this - and then I look at your list of schools that have no merit aid and I wonder - what their NPCs say they will cost.

Here are two - please have your family fill out. If they meet the $30K guideline, then great apply. And if they don’t, then remove them.

When you have a budget, you need to build for a budget, not for a name - if that makes sense. So it could be even the UCs aren’t affordable.

So in that sense, I’d give you names that are assured - even if they don’t meet the rest of your desires.

Miss State is likely bigger than the medium you want. But it’s not huge and it will be in the $20K range.

But UAH is medium. Yes, they are in the Southeast those two. But will both crush $30K.

Kansas State may hit $30K- not sure - it’s not huge but medium. High teens population wise of undergrads.

There are others like Alabama and Ole Miss that would hit but they are likely too big so I’ll stick with Medium. U Kansas might.

Others, like Truman State and I’m guess there are more are in the midwest - these are schools with great reps and will assuredly hit. You might add Western Carolina and Central Michigan. Actually, there’s 4 NC Promise schools - W Carolina is one - all four will hit cost and beat it.

Then I go to WUE - where you get benefit for being a Californian:

For Astronomy, I get Montana State and New Mexico - which is likely too big but Montana State and Wyoming.

For env science, I get an Idaho State, U Montana, New Mexico Tech, Southern Utah, W Washington, Wyoming.

Earth Science, Idaho and State, Montana, New Mexico Tech, SD School of Mines, W Washington,

Wildlife Biology - Western Oregon, Wyoming, New Mexico Highlands.

So - these are all names you assuredly won’t like - but - you have a budget and these are the types of names that will work. Additionally, many Cal States will - but maybe some of the off names - because you need smaller schools and lower cost. In high cost of living areas, college can be $18K just to live.

There are other regional schools that may work too - like an E Tennessee or Tennessee Tech…may work.

You are a wonderful student - but it’s the budget - that makes a Central Michigan or UAH the most important school - vs. a Stanford or Wesleyan - because you need an assured home.

So I hope that helps you.

Now, assuming affordability at the top schools and I’m not an adcom - but I’d say this about your chances, knowing the title 1 school:

SLO - if not affordable, no reason to apply. You need to find the Bakersfield, LA - or wherever is affordable or start at a CC and save for two years.

I find it hard to rate the UCs and CSs given they don’t count test so will leave those alone.

Carleton - yes. Their domestic acceptance rate is near 40%. But you won’t get merit so does it meet costs?

Wesleyan - maybe.

I’d say no to all your low probability - but you never know, given you come from a Title 1 school but your SAT is too low.

Have your folks fill these out. Do they meet $30K?

I’m guessing you won’t love Wyoming or Western Washington but just from a medium size, affordable, with these majors of interest to you, they’d be great ones to check out - in addition to other non WUE names above.

If these work, you might add others that are strong in need based aid. You might also add Whitman to your list. Why? You can reach out to them for a pre-read - i.e. they’ll tell you the cost up front - and it’ll be fine in your areas of interest.

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Toss-up would probably be as good a way to describe your chances at Wesleyan and Carleton as any. Both are strong in STEM; both would probably be loan-free. Wesleyan has traditionally encouraged Women in Science. Unfortunately, California is not an underrepresented state for either of them.

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Don’t forget that some very competitive private schools can simultaneously be a horrible deal or free. It all depends on your expected family contribution from your FAFSA. The odds are against you getting in because those schools get far too many fully qualified applicants, but it doesn’t hurt to pick a couple and throw an application in.

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Thank you for this. I’m going to research all the schools you mentioned.

Re. affordability of the privates on my list. When my family ran the NPC for all of them, they were under $30k. Carleton and Wesleyan were under $25k.

Re. my SAT score… since a lot of the privates are test optional, would it be better to just not submit my scores?

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Below $30k is doable but you’ll need a wide net and an open mind – if not some luck.
Is $30k your total budget? Or just tuition + fees?

One set of options to consider are large public universities set in college towns (for diverse cuisines + nature access.) Schools in the south and middle of the country tend to be more affordable. Take a look at the university of south carolina honors college. UGA could be affordable with one of their more generous (but highly competitive) merit scholarships – the classic city (I think that’s the name?) brings it down to in state tuition. Clemson is another option.

And yeah one of the predicaments for someone with your profile is that your high stats make you competitive at some highly-rejective colleges – that are very generous with scholarships if you are lucky enough to get in. Bowdoin comes to mind. Dickinson, maybe. These are tough admits but not impossible.

So for example that UGA scholarship is the kind of thing that you can shoot for, but ultimately it’s low probability.

I’m trying to think of land grant schools that also could be affordable out of state…

Oh and re: test scores: Go rock the heck out of the math section, ok? Your profile, with your RW score, is very strong. Nudging the math up would make a difference primarily at larger public schools outside of CA.

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Have you looked at UC Santa Cruz?

Also, for the UCs, can you calculate your UC GPAs and share them? GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

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Clemson is $60,000 oos, not generous with merit at all.

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I think it depends on the school. I think you have more wiggle room on your list. 1440 is very good. Are you an underrepresented minority? If that can be weaved in, it can help. It can’t help from a box check.

Carleton shows 2/3 submit and you are just under the 25% - but their acceptance rate is quite high.

You might look at other meet need schools too - example - at F&M, only 38% submit a test. At Kenyon only 16% - and your score is in range. So you can look at the entire list.

Then there’s those that will try to buy you in - but maybe not to $30K - the Allegheny, Beloits of the world.

I’d say this - what areas of the country are you open to - and sure, you’d be $25K at Alabama and $20K -ish at smaller UAH - but you have to fly there - and maybe you are heck no to the SE. Or Wyoming or Dakotas, etc.

So - if you had your desires, what one or two or three geographies would you be ok in?

I’m guessing we can find schools to meet that need. You may not love the names but - they’d be schools that could fit.

But you can find other meets need schools that have low test submission so TO wouldn’t be a problem. The issue with many though is - as need aware, they can reject you for needing too much - but if NPCs are $30K-ish, schools today sort of know they need those kids more than you need them. Someone like an Occidental for you to stay local. Or a Skidmore where only 33% submit - and you would.

Unless you have schools in mind - like you’d love UGA - I’d stay away from those types. Why? You have to win a top scholarship whereas a Bama, Miss State, Ole Miss, etc. and others - your academic accomplishments assure you the price you need vs. taking a Hail Mary flyer, etc.

Good luck.

Here’s Every College That Offers 100% Financial Aid · PrepScholar

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The most recent acceptance rate at Carleton is 20%.

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Yes, but if the CDS is to be believed, they admitted 132 of 3290 internationals.

Take them out - and you are left with 3506 applicants (domestic) and 1348 acceptances. 38.4%.

Now - many think of Carleton as top shelf like the NE schools and I’m sure it is. So I’ll call their much higher acceptance rate (domestic) the midwest penalty.

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So I am not sure of your gender identity, and these are not exactly warm weather colleges, but Mount Holyoke could be a great fit for you (if it would be suitable). Also possibly Smith and Bryn Mawr.

In terms of coed options, Rochester, Case Western, Lehigh, Vassar, Colgate, Haverford, and Franklin and Marshall.

Obviously you need to check the NPCs on these.

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I note Carleton in their last CDS reported a 25th SAT of 1460, median 1500. I don’t mean to discourage the OP, including because they are retaking. But I think part of that “Midwest penalty” is they get far fewer “lottery ticket” applicants than academic peers who are in more popular locations, and for that matter fewer highly qualified applicants who are really just using them as a backup option to a long list of other colleges in the same region they actually prefer. The kids gunning for Ivies are more likely to use, say, NESCACs for that purpose than Carleton.

However, they still get enough highly qualified applicants to be able to pick the ones who are their favorites, and they don’t have to compromise on academic qualifications very much, unless of course they want to.

My two cents is that in practical terms, places like Carleton are therefore not necessarily better bets for kids without very good numbers. However, if you DO have very good numbers, AND you are also a good fit for them academically and personally, then it is potentially a much better bet than otherwise similar schools in much more popular locations that are swamped by applicants.

Basically, they can be very good choices for what are sometimes known as “average excellent” applicants–assuming good fit at least.

ETA: I just checked Tufts, and their SAT 25/50/75 are 1460/1500/1520, versus 1460/1500/1530 for Carleton. But Tufts has a 12.8% domestic acceptance rate (this is similarly backing out Internationals).

Not to pick on Tufts, but they are sort of the poster child for a college with a highly desirable location that gets a LOT of problematic applications they have to figure out how to filter out. Which then drives down their acceptance rate, but not in a way that pushes up their SAT range above a place like Carleton.

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Circling back to recommend both the University of New Mexico and Northern Arizona University as two schools that might be within your budget and also tick a lot of your boxes. Look for honors options and look closely at scholarship options for out of state students. I like these two for you a lot.

And I 100% recant my Clemson rec! They do offer a handful of massive scholarships but honestly so few that it’s not worth it. Ignore me :grimacing::grin:

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You are 100% correct. Apologies for suggesting that one – my bad! Thanks for correcting.

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The reality is it’s less competitive than some of the other top schools. If you are accepting 38%, and a less % of kids are submitting tests, it’s naturally less competitive.

Do I think OP will get in - yes?

But I am very cautious about money and even if an NPC said it’d cost x $, I wouldn’t trust it - because until you have an offer, and one that’s officially at the right price, you have nothing.

But I did suggest many other schools - other meets needs like Kenyon where hardly anyone submits and OP is in range so can submit plus Skidmore and F&M where they are in range SAT wise - and no doubt there are others.

But back to Carleton - people may see it on par with the creme de la creme, but I’d argue it’s not close in selectivity - the #s tell that story…but i’m comparing it to the Bowdoin’s of the world, not the next set down, etc. because typically it ranks up there with the Bowdoin, Swat, Pomona types but it certainly appears a much easier admit, from the data provided by the school itself.

btw - another meets need where OP is well above the thresholds of SAT, etc. is Connecticut College. Worth an NPC run.

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and for warm, add Agnes Scott - doesn’t meet need per se but goes deep - and you can take classes at Emory, Ga Tech, etc…assuming OP is female give the first EC.

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I think right now the OP’s SAT is a little low for colleges like Carleton, but I couldn’t really know for sure how to evaluate their chances without seeing their counselor and teacher recommendations.

My general point is acceptance rates are very noisy data because they as much reflect who is applying and being rejected as who is being accepted, and so it is unwise to take them as a simple proxy for academic selectivity.

I think the more nuanced and helpful way for the OP to think about this is still first check if their basic numbers look solid for a given LAC. Then look at what that college says they are looking for in a student, and see if they think that sounds like them. Also perhaps consult with their college counselor and teachers–although they may not always know a lot about every possible school, they could have some general sense of fit as well.

Again, if your numbers look good for both, and you feel like a good fit for both, then you may well have better chances at a Carleton than a Bowdoin.

But I would not assume Carleton’s higher acceptance rate means they are more likely to accept someone who does not have strong numbers or is not a good fit.

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