I am a freshman in high school and I am undecided between a business or engineering major so it would be nice to go to a university that offered both. I live in Florida at the moment, but I really want to go to a college in California (is this even financially realistic). Assume I get great grades (AP classes are for sure and most likely and IB diploma) about 150 hours of meaningful community service, but only two or three clubs with maybe one leadership role (president of debate team is the goal). Selectivity is pretty important to me and I would want to be able to brag about the college. Basically should I aim for a good state school like FIU or something or be able to realistically set my sights on a school like Caltech???
You can’t assume or decide anything four years in advance.
Right - without grades and test scores and real clarity around what your family can afford, there is no advice to give here. Come back when you are a junior. As for ECs, check out Cal Newport’s Study Hacks web site and resources for advice on preparing for college.
Repost in 3 years.
Just an FYI: California UC’s and Cal states offer no financial aid to OOS students. Expect to pay full price for Cal States at $36K/year and $55K/year. If money is an issue, then you might want to consider California privates such as USD (Univ of San Diego), Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Occidental, USC, Chapman etc… where with high stats, merit aid along with FA would be possible. As all posters have stated, do your best in terms of grades, take a rigorous course load, participate in EC’s you enjoy, look for leadership positions and do test prep.
Good Luck.
You might find this thread in the parents’ forum interesting: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1854737-how-have-your-kids-changed-as-students-since-9th-grade.html#latest
First of all, it’s SO awesome that you’re already thinking about the kinds of schools that you want to attend! The best part? You can maximize your opportunities in high school to become competitive for selective schools BECAUSE you’re starting the process early.
But a word of caution, Padawan: from what I’m seeing, it seems as though you’re crafting a “formula” you can follow in terms of hours logged in xyz extracurricular activities, etc. to write your ticket, when in fact, that’s the easiest way to put yourself in the ‘blah’ category. Should you do 150 hours of community service? Well, are you passionate about it?? Whether it’s something like Student Council, volunteering, or Model United Nations, there’s no point in simply punching the clock on an activity that you heard somewhere that colleges like to see. But then you say you want to be President of your Debate team–sweeeeet. You’re way better off throwing your energy into being a debate champ and showing off your leadership chops there, (not to mention keeping your GPA high high high and crushing your standardized tests…nbd:).
If you only take away one thing from this, it’s that EVERYTHING you do in high school (from Day 1 of freshman year), counts towards standing out in your college apps, so it’s never too early to start working hard so by the time you’re filling out applications, you already have a killer profile!
We don’t know if this would be financially realistic without a budget.
We also need a true GPA & test scores, not estimates. Sorry!
At this point, do everything you can without losing sleep (8 hours a night is a minimum).
Read Cal Newpor’s How to be a high school superstar.
Another issue is what college is “braggable” to high school students is often pointless for adults - conditioning your chocie on what kids think will, hopefully, disappear when you grow up because it makes no sense. You need colleges that grad schools or employers have heard of, not what kids in your HS think are cool. I bet most of them have never heard of Amherst, for instance.