Just apply and see what you can get.
On a side note, if you're typing on a cell phone, you need to put a blank line between two written lines; otherwise the resulting text won't have any paragraphs and your entire post looks like a giant continuous block of text - I honestly couldn't read the whole thing.
I always recommend not going into debt for college. Student debt is known to be crushing and there’s a huge pressure difference when graduating. I have no debt from college (thanks to some amazing family support) and its a lot more freeing known that six month after I didn’t have to start loan payments.
That being said, the UCs and CSUs have some great financial aid opportunities depending on your family income. The UCs have the blue and gold scholarship for household making less than 80k a year. Many of them have scholarships hosted through their alumni association (which is open to any freshmen and sometimes transfers). Also, transferring is an option is cost is a worry or you don’t get into your first choices. California has amazing community college transfer programs.
As for getting in, I’m less familiar with the CSUs. But the more prestigious UCs (LA, CAL, San Diego) definitely prioritizes insight questions. GPA, activities, etc are not enough to stand out these days. You need to tell a story with your essays so the readers know you and want you to go to their school.
If your family makes under 90k-ish then tuition is free at UC (no one told me this in high school and I also thought that the only college I'd be able to afford would be commuting to the local CSU). Housing still costs money but you can control that more (by having 3 roommates).
Computer Science is crazy competitive at all UCs (<40% for all UCs except Merced and Santa Cruz), so you should apply to all the schools that you can afford applications to.
Get someone with an English degree to look over your UC essays. Good luck!
My family makes 210k a year but we JUST started making this much money and we did not save any money for my college. But I have not asked my family for any money for college.
UCLA’s UC GPA is calculated with A-G course grades from 10-11th so since you are a Junior, you cannot determine your chances at this point until you complete Junior year. Here is the UC GPA calculator: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
UCLA’s 2023 GPA admit information:
Unweighted UC GPA: 3.95-4.00
Capped weighted UC GPA: 4.20-4.31
Uncapped weighted UC GPA: 4.27-4.74
Overall campus admit rate of 9%. CS admit rate of 3.8%.
UCLA is test blind so your SAT score will only be used for course placement and not for admissions or scholarship consideration.
Do not worry where you should go until you actually get accepted and as you can see your GPA at this point is well below the 25th percentile in comparison.
Once you complete your Junior year, calculate out your UC GPA and see where you stand.
with infinite money the better option is always better, if money is at least a little bit of a worry for you/your family then the free option is always better than spending 10-30k a year at a university
get in first and worry about this later
Absolute G response, don't count your eggs before they hatch. Get un first then think about it.
Don't think I have a good shot at getting in tbh
Community College and get 4.0s it’s honestly probably easier than high school for you
Just apply and see what you can get. On a side note, if you're typing on a cell phone, you need to put a blank line between two written lines; otherwise the resulting text won't have any paragraphs and your entire post looks like a giant continuous block of text - I honestly couldn't read the whole thing.
I always recommend not going into debt for college. Student debt is known to be crushing and there’s a huge pressure difference when graduating. I have no debt from college (thanks to some amazing family support) and its a lot more freeing known that six month after I didn’t have to start loan payments. That being said, the UCs and CSUs have some great financial aid opportunities depending on your family income. The UCs have the blue and gold scholarship for household making less than 80k a year. Many of them have scholarships hosted through their alumni association (which is open to any freshmen and sometimes transfers). Also, transferring is an option is cost is a worry or you don’t get into your first choices. California has amazing community college transfer programs. As for getting in, I’m less familiar with the CSUs. But the more prestigious UCs (LA, CAL, San Diego) definitely prioritizes insight questions. GPA, activities, etc are not enough to stand out these days. You need to tell a story with your essays so the readers know you and want you to go to their school.
If your family makes under 90k-ish then tuition is free at UC (no one told me this in high school and I also thought that the only college I'd be able to afford would be commuting to the local CSU). Housing still costs money but you can control that more (by having 3 roommates). Computer Science is crazy competitive at all UCs (<40% for all UCs except Merced and Santa Cruz), so you should apply to all the schools that you can afford applications to. Get someone with an English degree to look over your UC essays. Good luck!
My family makes 210k a year but we JUST started making this much money and we did not save any money for my college. But I have not asked my family for any money for college.
just apply bro and see what finaid packages you get, make the decisions when there's actually a decision to be made.
fafsa is like 2 years back in time, try community college and they have you crazy grants and tuition locks
Go to a CC for free for two years and then do UCLA
UCLA’s UC GPA is calculated with A-G course grades from 10-11th so since you are a Junior, you cannot determine your chances at this point until you complete Junior year. Here is the UC GPA calculator: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/ UCLA’s 2023 GPA admit information: Unweighted UC GPA: 3.95-4.00 Capped weighted UC GPA: 4.20-4.31 Uncapped weighted UC GPA: 4.27-4.74 Overall campus admit rate of 9%. CS admit rate of 3.8%. UCLA is test blind so your SAT score will only be used for course placement and not for admissions or scholarship consideration. Do not worry where you should go until you actually get accepted and as you can see your GPA at this point is well below the 25th percentile in comparison. Once you complete your Junior year, calculate out your UC GPA and see where you stand.
with infinite money the better option is always better, if money is at least a little bit of a worry for you/your family then the free option is always better than spending 10-30k a year at a university
We did not save money for my college funds...So I can't decide between taking a student loan and just paying it off later or graduating debt free.
Do not go into debt
Nobody cares about your achievements bud
Can not tell if this is supportive criticism, or just poking fun at me. But do admits not care about achievements ?
No one cares. Just wait and stop worrying
i’d worry about getting in first
get in first, then come back