Thanks And What Are Your Plan Bs?

Colleges & Universities University of California - GENERAL
1

Firstly, a big thank you for all your help. The kid finished her applications to UCB/UCI/UCLA/UCSB/UCSD. We had a past UC reader look over them and she liked them a lot, so fingers crossed. But we know its a lottery and giving her a 60/40 shot to get into ANY of these despite all majors being non-impacted/selective.

So now onto RD and Plan B. What equally good but equally affordable (for those of us not likely to get financial aid) options are there for chem/bio-chem degrees?

My DD is ranked 1 and is doing a full IB with 4 HL (double science) and 3 SL courses with 4.0/4.65 U/W GPA. Good ECs including starting a club for last 3 years, science olympiad (state finals), several internships including a paper, sports. Awards are very strong at school level (several best students of the year) but nothing state or regional level. Essays are good (sheā€™s a good writer).

  1. Iā€™d be interested in hearing about other state R1s that are not too expensive (or hand out merit) for OOS students. But it would have to be in a blue/purple state (so no Purdue of UF) due to her beliefs.

  2. Iā€™d also be interested in hearing about larger LACs or schools part of a consortium that will offer enough merit to make it worth while and are strong in chem/bio. So far we identified Pitzer, Scripps and happy to hear about others.

Unfortunately CC is not an option (our local ones arenā€™t so good). She did apply to SLO and SDSU but those are also a lottery due to not being in region/area.

2

Definitely not a lottery.

And she sounds great.

Thereā€™s many a flagship and other type schools you can get a chem/bio degree - and thereā€™s some less expensive OOS than a UC in-state.

I donā€™t see the Claremont schools being tenable at UC costs.

A lot depends on her willingness/ability to go farther.

Since you want to stay at UC Costs, Iā€™d start with WUE.

For Flagships, Colorado State Oregon State, with New Mexico, Nevada Reno, and Utah must less. In purple land, you can run the scholarship estimator for ASU and U of A (very strong in the sciences) at $20K off assuming a qualifying GPA would put you in range. Iā€™d say unlikely but not impossible.

SUNYs - like Bing and Stony Brook could be great options although more regionally known. Itā€™s a bit late for PItt and merit but they seem to be passing out some $20K awards this year.

One where you would crush the budget and is U of Kansas. Now you say blue / purple State and Kansas - strong in the sciences btw - heck no - but embedded in the state constitution, voted a few years back, are reproductive rights. Hereā€™s some more info:

ā€œThe Kansas Supreme Court reaffirmed on July 5 that the stateā€™s constitution protects the right to abortion, striking down several abortion restrictions challenged by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Kansas abortion providers.

The decision comes more than four years after the court recognized that the state constitution protects the right to abortionā€”and nearly two years after Kansans voted overwhelmingly to protect that right. ā€œ

So KU would crush the UCs in costs for you and its Honors College is considered top notch. It doesnā€™t use test scores (not sure if you have) in its merit.

Others to look at but maybe not there cost wise (but maybe) are Rutgers, Delaware, UMASS, UVM, etc.

As for LACs to hit that are in a consortium, I canā€™t think of any to hit cost - maybe Agnes Scott - maybe. One can take classes at other Atlanta universities - although I think you have to factor in transportation - the consortiums sound better, easier than they often are. Did she apply for the Johnson full merit at W&L? Kalamazoo could hit cost - itā€™s small, with a high PhD ratio and down the street from W MIchigan - not sure about class taking. Like Agnes Scott, K has big merit. Agnes Scott is a female school - Georgia is red of course but Atlanta blue.

SUNY ESF has a biochem and chem major. Itā€™s about 2K kids -but itā€™s connected to Syracuse U so you have the facilities, dining hall, library, even clubs, etc. of SU at a smaller price. It also has a high PhD ratio - so thatā€™s some ideas.

Hope that helps.

1 Like
3

I recommend University of Minnesota, but have her apply now because they offer spots on a modified rolling basis. The supplemental is super short and easy (a ā€œWhy Majorā€ essay.) You get automatically considered for the Honors College and Merit Money. If your daughter has good grades and test scores she will get merit (up to $20K a year.)

1 Like
4

University of Wisconsin is also good and worth looking at, but I donā€™t think they give money to out of state students.

5

Thank you for your detailed reply. Iā€™ll be sure to pass it along.

But I am curious, why do you say UC is not a lottery and more importantly, do you think her chances are much better than 60/40 at getting into one of those programs? That was my estimate and based on that I suggested she/I spend a lot of the winter break applying to throw a large net.

6

University of Hawaii Manoa is another state flagship school with WUE discounts.

1 Like
7

I donā€™t think itā€™s as much of a lottery as some think. You need good stats, high rigor, and excellent PIQā€™s. And this is coming from someone whose older daughter was admitted to all the UCā€™s 3 years ago (except Merced and Riverside to which she did not apply.) I definitely think your daughter has a very good shot at all the UCā€™s. Iā€™m assuming she has lots of rigor, particularly in STEM? Does she have good AP Scores?

8

I think kids create success - in the UC case, the GPA and PIQs.

They donā€™t pick a name out of a hat.

ā€˜If sheā€™s top shelf, sheā€™ll get in.

@Gumbymom is best to analyze the 3 GPAs (others might too). You havenā€™t posted here but you have before.

I canā€™t say youā€™re getting in but a lottery itā€™s not.

And while it seems you preference UCs, there are back up possibilities.

Millions of kids are in college and most donā€™t walk on water. A few but thatā€™s not the norm.

I hope that info helps in identifying a few safety to look at.

PS - donā€™t worry about selectivity on others. Some like Kansas have high acceptance rates - like a UCM, they have a mandate / access.

But kids succeeding in majors like that - letā€™s say the creme will rise and not all are the creme de la creme. And like KU, for example, and the Honors college will add more heft.

Iā€™m just saying - she might, like many, assume some arenā€™t at the UC level but remind her, thatā€™s what she needs - safetiesā€¦in case.

Good luck.

9

Sheā€™s doing a Full IB Diploma and the UC reader said sheā€™d score top or next down for her college rigor. She only had the chance to do 3 APs in Sophmore got 5s in all of them.

10

Fair enough, I think you are right in that they probably get 95% of decisions right. So for those 95% of kids itā€™s not a lottery. But given the sheer volume of applications and the subjectivity of the PIQs, Iā€™m sure some kids fall thru the cracks and get denied when they shouldnā€™t have.

11

WUE is one of the things that immediately popped into my mind also. Colorado State and Oregon State both come to mind as examples. Both by the way have very good DVM programs so there will be some very good pre-vet students in the undergraduate biology and chemistry classes (along with the premed and research oriented students). Fort Collins is also quite nice. I do not know Corvallis but have heard good things about it.

UC Riverside and/or Merced also come to mind, as does Arizona State.

One daughter was offered merit aid at the U. of Colorado with stats that appear to be not quite as good as your daughterā€™s stats, but decided to go elsewhere for undergrad (fortunately closer to home).

To me, chemistry, bio-chemistry, and biology all make me think that either ā€œmedical schoolā€ or ā€œsome form of graduate schoolā€ are very possible. You can get into very good graduate programs (whether medical or not) with a degree from a very wide range of universities.

I agree with other comments that your daughter should have a pretty good chances for admissions to one or more of ā€œUCB/UCI/UCLA/UCSB/UCSDā€œ, but I also agree with your desire to add safeties that will be affordable.

12

Thatā€™s likely more APs than 99% of 10th graders.

Youā€™re expectations are a bit high :slight_smile:

1 Like
13

Sure, but given sheā€™s doing a full IB diploma those are the ONLY APs she did.

14

I think sheā€™d get solid merit (20-25k) with those stats at UVM (an R1)- definitely blue school and area:) - Smaller flagship - I think a pretty campus and a gorgeous part of the country IMO. Small airport near campus so easier to get to from CA than you may think. I have a CA relative that has it as a first choice.

1 Like
15

I think many consider the full IB superior.

I think and this isnā€™t meant as a shot, but some overwhelm themselves /strain with weā€™re not good enough whereas youā€™re probably in an exceptionally strong position should the student deliver.

You and your student can take a deep breath is what Iā€™m saying. Theyā€™re going to be fine and at UC or similar budget if you apply properly.

And the where is unlikely to matter long term.

1 Like
16

Our daughter started off as a bio/science major. She got into all her UCā€˜s and USC, Johns Hopkins, Yale and a number of other out of state universities.

She ended up at SUNY Buffalo because they offered a special program (and a full ride) and, at the time, they provided a certificated introduction into one of the upstate New York medical schools. She liked the major but then she took a bioengineering course. She discovered she liked the engineering portion of the course and eventually switched majors to engineering.
The school is under-rated. Weā€™re in SoCal and she considered the weather as a new adventure. She did extremely well and she liked her experience. So if you need a Plan B and if your daughter is anything like our daughter, then she will do well no matter where she is; this is something that is way out there but it will work.

4 Likes
17

I wish a lot of folks realized this.

4 Likes
18

Decisions at those UC schools are unpredictable, but I donā€™t think itā€™s a lottery as to who gets in.

Here are some other R1 schools on our radar in blue/purple states:

Northern Arizona University

Stony Brook University

University of Arizona

University of Hawaii at Manoa

University of Massachusetts at Amherst

University of Minnesota at Twin Cities

University of New Mexico

University of Pittsburgh

University of Washington

Washington State University

I believe all of these schools offer some merit to OOS students.

19

SUNY Buffalo and Pitt would be good ones to add. These schools have a lot to offer and are often underrated.

1 Like
20

Sure, as I said upstream, they probably get the vast majority of decisions right, but there seem to be an increasing amount of randomness. My kid is in the top 10 rank at school, and their counsellor said many kids in their spots in previous years didnā€™t get their top 5 UC choices. The throw-away answer is that those kids had issues with their PIQs/ECs but I often wonder if given the sheer volume of applications UCs just make some errors and given each app is read independent for each school some kids just get really unlucky.

I think even Davis now gets 100K applications and they mail out decisions in about 100 days so thatā€™s 1000 apps a day reviewed during the holiday season!

Iā€™m super glad we have all these great universities in state.