What is UC San Diego for me - match or reach? Read and chance me please!

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Hi all. I recently decided I’d love to go to California for college but I don’t know if I could get into any of the universities except maybe UC San Diego. Chance me maybe?</p>

<p>Female from Illinois at pretty competitive suburban high school
Asian/Pacific Islander
Plan to major in engineering</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<ul>
<li>3.91 UW GPA</li>
<li>5.01 W GPA</li>
<li><p>37/1000 class rank (top 3.7%)</p></li>
<li><p>32 ACT (34 E, 32 M, 30 R, 30 S, 8 W: 31 E/W)</p></li>
<li><p>33 ACT Superscore (34 E, 34 M, 32 R, 30 S, 10 W: 33 E/W)</p></li>
<li><p>I’m taking the ACT again in September to get a 33 or 34 composite and better writing score</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Coursework:</p>

<ul>
<li>Junior AP’s: English Lang & Comp (4), Spanish Lang & Comp (score still in process), Honors Pre-Calc (weighted as an AP Class)</li>
<li>Senior AP’s: community college Statistics (will take AP test), English Lit & Comp, Physics C E&M, Computer Science A, Calc AB, Microeconomics</li>
<li>The average overachiever at my school takes 7-9 AP’s by the end of senior year</li>
</ul>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<ul>
<li>Track & Field (9, 10, 11)</li>
<li>Peer Tutoring (10, half of 11)</li>
<li>Peer Leadership (9, 11)</li>
<li>Business Professionals of America/BPA (11)</li>
<li>Relay for Life - captain of a team for 2 years, we raised $1,000+ both years (9, 10)</li>
<li>Volunteering at hospital - 97 hours so far (10, 11)</li>
<li>Volunteering at nursing home (I start this summer)</li>
<li>National Honor Society/NHS (11)</li>
<li>Mu Alpha Theta (11)</li>
<li>National Spanish Honor Society (10, 11)</li>
<li>National Spanish Exam - Silver Award</li>
<li>6-week paid engineering summer internship at national science lab - worked with physicist and human resources (11)</li>
</ul>

<p>If you know any other California schools that are decent in engineering and would be a match or slight reach for me, please let me know! Thanks ahead of time!</p>

2

<p>UCSD: Match
You should also consider UCSB/UCD/UCI/UCB and Cal Poly SLO. Are you able to afford the OOS tuition for the UC’s at $55K/year? Cal Poly SLO would be about $36K/year so a better bargain and very well respected for Engineering.</p>

3

<p>You know you cant rely on financial aid from the California schools, right?</p>

4

<p>@Gumbymom thank you for your feedback! I just checked out Cal Poly SLO and have kinda fallen in love with it haha. Thanks for the suggestion! The tuition is right in my range too, so thanks for that. </p>

5

<p>Bump!</p>

6

<p>Do you know your UC GPA? I’m not sure what to make of a weighted 5.1</p>

<p>Here is the 2014 admitted student profile. Notice the A-G courses completed.</p>

<p><a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/files/freshman-profiles/freshman_profile_san_diego.pdf”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/files/freshman-profiles/freshman_profile_san_diego.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>You’ll get in. I know plenty of less qualified kids who got in.</p>

8

<p>You’ll get in. I know plenty of less qualified kids who got in.</p>

9

<p>@menacing ok thanks good to know</p>

10

<p>anyone else? Bump</p>

11

<p>ACT score is good. You’ll get in at full fees. SLO will probably run at $34k+</p>

12

<p>@aunt bea By full fees do you mean I won’t get any scholarships? Will I have a chance to get a scholarship if I get my ACT score up to a 34? I’ll only have ~$20,000 for college every year including FAFSA so I am relying on scholarships which is upsetting considering how selective most are.</p>

13

<p>You are an out-of-state student and California’s first obligation is to the children of California taxpayers. There are thousands of California student residents. Scholarships -like Cal Grants and the Blue and Gold plan-go to California residents only. </p>

<p>The UC’s need money and they do accept OOS students in order to get full pay from you. So you will probably be accepted at full pay. Your $20K will barely cover the annual state differential of $23K required of non-residents that is not covered by any scholarship or grant: </p>

<p>“Non-California resident students: Non-California residents pay Non-California Resident Supplemental Tuition (currently estimated to be $22,878 annually) in addition to charges paid by in-state students. The university is unable to provide university grant or scholarship support for this additional tuition cost. Federal loans, which must be repaid by you or your family, may help cover some or all of this cost. Not all Non-California residents will qualify for a Federal or Private Loan, thus all Non-California resident families should be prepared to pay the additional cost, currently $22,878 annually, from family resources. For details, see:
Residence for tuition purposes” <a href=“Cost of Attendance”>https://students.ucsd.edu/finances/financial-aid/budgeting/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>So add the OOS state fee of $23K to the average cost of $32K and you should get a figure of around $55K per year for that UCSD education. Subtract your $20K per year and you are looking at a cost of $35K. You would be able to bring that down by $5500 in loans so probably an overall cost of $29K that your family would have to come up with.<br>
PLUS, San Diego is a really expensive place to live. It adds up. </p>

14

<p>BTW: FAFSA is “Free Application for Federal Student Aid”. It does not award scholarships. It is an application that is used to collect financial information for the colleges. It is used to see if you are eligible for Federal aid in Pell Grants and Loans. You can’t rely on getting a Scholarship from the FAFSA. The scholarships come from the universities. Additionally, Gumbymom mentioned this cost in the first reply above: "are you able to afford . . . . "</p>

<p>Please refer to the following sites for more information:
<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/paying-for-uc/tuition-and-cost/index.html”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/paying-for-uc/tuition-and-cost/index.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“8 Things to Know About Attending State Universities Outside Your Borders”>http://www.thecollegesolution.com/7-things-to-know-about-attending-state-universities-outside-your-borders/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Raising your ACT to 34 will give you more of a chance to be admitted. It won’t change the fact that you will be paying OOS tuition. FWIW: “Everyone” wants to come to the UC’s, so why would the state of California subsidize OOS residents with scholarships when the state already has more people applying who don’t mind paying full fees? No disrespect is intended, but California has some very talented and capable students with similar or better stats than yours and THEY can’t get in either. They, however, have the luxury of in-state tuition anywhere in California.<br>
Read and research COSTS with your parents before you apply to your schools because if you get into a school and cant afford to pay the fees, you wont be attending. Nothing is free.</p>

15

<p>Oops, I noticed you wanted Cal Poly-SLO. It is under the Cal State system which will also charge you at full fees. Double check the website for OOS fees. Remember that California residents are the priority.</p>

16

<p>@engineering2015‌: You will get very little if any financial aid from any of the UC’s or CSU’s. If you could only afford around $20K, like the above posters stated your parents would be responsible for the rest. I would look to your in-state schools or look at some California privates which might give you some merit aid especially if you can raise your ACT score. You might want to consider the Claremont Colleges: Pomona or Harvey Mudd. </p>

17

<p>Why don’t you apply to UIUC, your in-state option?</p>

18

<p>@Gumbymom I have thought about Harvey Mudd before but would I even have a chance of getting in? The acceptance rate is so low.</p>

19

<p>@DrGoogle I am not applying to any in state schools because I have no interest in staying in Illinois for another 4 years even though I know I could get into UIUC.</p>

20

<p>Your mom and dad are ok with it? paying OOS tuition.</p>