UC and out of state admissions [CA resident, 4.0 GPA, 1470 SAT, biomedical engineering]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

**
Demographics**

  • US Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: Santa Clara, CA
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public High school

Intended Major(s) - Biomedical, bioengineering

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0 (All As so far)
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.53
  • Class Rank: N/A
  • SAT Scores: SAT 1470

List your HS coursework

  • English: AP English
  • Math: Calculus AB, BC and Stats
  • Science: AP physics, Chemistry honors, AP biology,
  • All 5 scores in 4 AP exams so far.

Awards

Extracurriculars
Teaching young kids, Volunteering experience with schools, camps, summer camps.

Essays/LORs/Other
Relatively decent essays based on the feedback

Schools
All UCs
SJSU
Cal Poly SLO
SDSU
Purdue
Univ of Washington Seattle
Univ of Maryland
Rutgers

Looking to see my chances of getting admissions mostly from mid-tier UCs and CSUs. But also looking at Purdue or Rutgers as possible out of state options.

2

Are you a HS senior now?

If so, it would be a good idea to calculate your three UC GPAs here: GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

If you are a HS senior applying this year, be aware that the EA deadline for UMD is very strict. All materials, including official SAT score, transcripts, and teacher recommendations, must be received by the Nov 1 deadline, so apply ASAP and keep a close eye on the portal to confirm receipt.

3

With these stats, yes to Rutgers, 50/50 UMD, and a reasonable reach with Purdue. UW is reasonable too.

Any budget concerns ?

Good luck

4

Thank you. Yes high school senior this year.

5

Thank you. Would those be better than going to low tier UCs?

6

The strategy for CA kids is generally to apply broadly across the UC campuses, because holistic admission can be unpredictable. Very strong kids can be surprised that they don’t get into UCs they consider “low tier”… while on the other hand, some kids receive rejections from most UCs and then are surprised by a UCB acceptance at the end of the process. Write great PIQs, apply broadly, and see how it goes!

OOS public university admission can be a bit more predictable, and decisions for the EA round typically come out much earlier. So it’s good that you have chosen some OOS schools for your list as well.

1 Like
7

Better no. A better experience - maybe?

Rutgers isn’t a regular campus - from what I’ve read on here, there are buses and multiple campuses.

Think of what you want in a day to day for your four years. Don’t pick a school because you saw a rank in US News.

You didn’t answer my question on budget - your budget drives EVERYTHING.

You cannot attend a school you can’t afford. Biomedical is on the lower end of engineering majors from a pay scale and most organizations want ABET accreditation. Ranks are to sell magazines, not for much else. That’s my opinion. In fact, there’s a parent on here whose kid went to Ga Tech (#1) and months later (forget if they graduated in May 24 or December 24) but at last check couldn’t find a job. No idea what the biomed market will be like in 5 years but as an example, in the UCB placement report, 24% of kids were still seeking employment in the ECE major - and that’s the top school in the country if you go by rank.

So first thing first - budget, budget, budget. You don’t want loans - there’s 180 accredited bio/biomedical colleges in the US and I believe all will be good, especially if you’re a go getter.

Then you find schools to meet your budget - and there will be schools $20K to $100K.

So answer that - but I don’t see any of your out of states as an advantage over any UC with biomed - which in CA and I’m including the CSU schools too. But you might enjoy your experience at another school more - for example, UMD, Rutgers, and U wash all have big 10 sports, etc.

CPSLO
CSULB
San Jose State
UCD
UCI
UCLA
UCR
UCSD

8

No budget concerns but I keep hearing folks who chose to go to UC riverside or Merced or Santa Cruz over out of state schools like Purdue. Comparing costs Purdue out of state total cost shows similar to UC riverside in state total cost.

9

Just a note about Purdue. The secondary admission process for BME historically is one of the most competitive of the engineering majors because they cap the program. It was the only program where my D had friends who met the GPA cut off and still didn’t get into the major.

2 Likes
10

There could be many things at play there.

  1. Some have the goal of a UC
  2. There’s many schools besides Purdue - and perhaps they’re choosing UC on cost
  3. In the case of Purdue, all start in First Year Engineering - a major isn’t assured - that could scare some off. It would me!!
  4. Distance - it’s easy to say, I’m willing to move from California to near DC but when one starts thinking about it, it can be daunting for an 18 year old.
  5. Some believe they’ll only find a job where they go to school - so if they want to live at home, they choose near home.

In the end, you have to do what’s best for you.

UMD will definitely be more than a UC as will UW. Rutgers is too but there’s a chance for decent merit. They both have - as does Purdue and UW - big 10 sports. You won’t get that level of sports at a mid tier UC - does that matter?

Purdue has raised cost on OOS kids and don’t forget, Engineering costs more there. So it’s about $45Kish for tuition, room and board. Of course, some of the UCs cost a ton for housing - so yeah could be similar. But then you have to get to Purdue - fly to Indy (that has a price) or Chicago I suppose - and then figure out how to get there from the airport - yes, there’s ways.

Sometimes it’s just more “familiar” to stay home.

I went across the country but grew up with one parent and was more independent. For some of my friends, they tried and had to go home - couldn’t handle.

It’s a lot for an 18 year old.

Will UMD or Purdue get you a better job than UCR? Maybe? Maybe not.

My son turned down Purdue for Alabama. Why - got his own dorm room - and secondarily I think wanted to be closer to mom and his school was half the distance.

He interned with kids from Ga Tech, had 5 offers by xmas on 19 interviews and his intern company offered later. And in his current job he was hired in a large cohort with Purdue, Michigan, UW, Case Western and more kids but also W Michigan, Akron, Buffalo, Utah, etc. The comment thread - ABET accreditation.

So again, it’s easy to get caught up in what US News or what others say - but they are trying to sell their product.

I personally believe kids who chase, who are persistent, will find success regardless of where they go and kids that may be stud students but aren’t salesman…don’t sell themselves may struggle - and maybe that’s part of the UCB stat I showed earlier…that and a down job market.

In the end, it’s truly a personal call - and I hope a lot more goes into it than a rank by a 3rd party. btw - go look at how US News ranks engineering disciplines - it’s a popularity contest. There’s no hard data used but opinions of academics from other schools.

Summary - figure out what’s important to you - outside of a rank. Visit schools if you can. And then that’s where I’d go - the one that feels right. After all, you need to step foot on campus for four years, day after day. A rank doesn’t cure that if you’re unhappy.

Hope that helps.

Best of luck.

11

You can get an idea of UC admission by campus and broad discipline (engineering, not specifically biomedical engineering, which can be more competitive than engineering majors overall) here, but you need to recalculate your weighted-capped GPA to compare with the GPA ranges:

For SJSU, assuming no college courses in high school, your GPA for CSU is the same as the UC weighted-capped GPA. Multiply by 800, add 400 * your math GPA, and add 200 if you will graduate a high school in Santa Clara County to get your SJSU index. Then compare to last year’s threshold to estimate chances at SJSU: