Any other suggestions? Looking west coast maybe?
Reed
Student population seems way too small. Need at least 5000 students.
As someone who will be going to Rice next year, let me take a moment to defend Rice - it’s a pretty liberal school in a liberal city - most big cities in the South are pretty left-leaning - you’re not going to find a culture of homophobia in Houston or Atlanta any more than you would in Boston or LA. The undergraduate focus is great, and students seem very happy. It’s also great for physics and the natural sciences.
I’d have recommended Harvey Mudd, but you say you don’t want a school too small. Maybe Georgia Tech? Another excellent school for STEM.
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So I have looked at all the schools being suggested. I am adding two to my interest list: Rice University and Cal Poly SLO. Cal Poly seems nice to me (I love hiking!) and has good programs. Rice is in Houston which is meh on liberalism (looking at election results from Harris County) but not bad at all and LGBT resources on campus look really really good.
I know Rice is a long reach but where would Cal Poly SLO be on that scope of things?
If you like Rice, you might also like Washington U in St Louis.
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From what I understand, Cal Poly SLO is about the level of competitiveness of UCSD, so it’s probably a high match or a low reach for you.
Our little Naviance tool has a box in the range of 4.1-4.6 GPA and above 1450 SAT in which every student in that range got into Calpoly. So maybe a match.
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I’ve heard good things about the campus itself but I toured the campus (visiting relatives in SW IL) and didn’t really like it.
Are you sure you don’t want to consider Harvey Mudd? While Mudd alone is a very small school, it’s part of the Claremont Consortium - 5 schools that are all on the same campus - they have combined sports teams, and you will go to parties and such with people from the rest of the consortium. If you combine all 5 schools, the total undergraduate population is around 6000 I believe. And for STEM, it’s really hard to beat Harvey Mudd. It is super intense though, so something to keep in mind.
i used the net price calculator and it is way above the $40,000 per year maximum my family and I (through student loans) can afford… we are in situation where we are too rich for financial aid but too poor to pay out of pocket.
California I am probably sticking to UC/CSU only… maybe USC?
I have friend who is son of family making around $210,000 a year who got into HMC and couldn’t afford it… he’s going to UCSD instead.
Fair enough. I know USC recently rolled out a plan where all families making $85000 or less get free tuition, so I’d assume that they have reasonable financial aid for the middle class as well. They also give out good merit scholarships - I got a half scholarship and I know kids who got full.
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Could I get a merit scholarship? My scores aren’t amazing…
USC doesn’t give out merit scholarships strictly based on scores and GPA or anything. If you want a merit scholarship, you apply before December 1st, and they will get back to you by the end of January. However, it is definitely very competitive, so I would recommend you running through the NPC to see the kind of financial aid you get. But your merit application won’t automatically be disqualified because of SAT or GPA, if that’s what you’re worried about.
Okay, that is good. My SAT score/GPA isn’t low, but they aren’t remarkably high either.
After some research I have a pretty final college list along with some “considering” schools.
So in terms of actual colleges:
Safety:
UCSC
UC Merced
SJSU
Target:
UCSB
UCSD
UC Davis
UC Irvine
CP SLO
Reach:
Cal
UCLA
CMU
Lottery (basically 0% chance):
Dartmouth
Harvard
Brown
I may consider:
Rice (reach)
University of Portland (safety but concerned about LGBT acceptance)
Harvey Mudd (reach)
USC (reach/hard target)
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UCSB has one of the best physics programs anywhere. I think Stephen Hawking used to spend several months every year there. If you can get into that program, you’re in good shape.
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In CCS or in their college of arts and science?
Hi everyone who helped me, I would just like to inform you how my college decisions went. In July of 2020, I changed my mind and decided to apply for engineering (electrical specifically).
I was accepted at: UC Irvine (Honors), UCSD (Regents), UCSB, UC Davis, Cal Poly SLO, SJSU, Tufts, UPittsburgh (Honors), and Colorado School of Mines.
Waitlisted at: UCLA, Cornell, UC Berkeley, Northeastern, Georgia Tech, Duke
Rejected at: Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Princeton, WashU in St Louis, Brown
I am attending UCSD this fall barring any changes with regards to UCLA/UC Berkeley.
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