You submitted your UC and CSU applications before the deadline. FANTASTIC! Congratulations!
Now what?
Put your hands over your ears and don’t listen to anyone who tells you how hard or impossible it is to get in, or how you NEED a 4.0 GPA. You know how popular the UCs are, that students apply in large numbers, and that students apply to a larger number of schools than in the past. Despite all of that, YOU DO NOT NEED A 4.0 TO GET INTO ANY SCHOOL! Does having a high GPA help? Sure. No school, not even Stanford accepts only straight A students. That would be boring, and the last thing a college wants is an entire class with exactly the same academic profile. Relax and realize that you have done your part and now it is up the admissions office.
Grades are only one factor out of many. The rigor of your high school coursework, the academic reputation of your high school (CCHS is well regarded), the substance of your personal statements, and your standardized test scores are important. Those factors are followed by what you did outside of class (extracurricular), work and volunteer experience, who you are and what is your personal and academic story. You know all of this, and you have heard it before. Did you apply to a range of colleges? This means colleges where you are very likely to be accepted as well as colleges that might be a stretch.
Have you applied to any non-UC, non-CSU schools? Take a look around you, there are some 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States. Many of them have filing deadlines through January, and even into February. Some schools have later deadlines, and others have rolling admissions. Every year a number of schools don’t have enough enrolled students after the May 1 decision deadline, and they open up admissions.
Look at private schools. You may think that you cannot afford them, but often times private schools offer better financial aid and merit aid than public ones. Use the school’s net price calculator. Don’t just sit on your hands, be proactive and pick some more schools so you have the widest options possible. Do some more applications, you have become an expert at it!
Talk to your parents about gathering financial information so they can fill out and file the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as early in January as possible.
Get your new applications done before the winter break so you can sit down, eat latkes, candy canes, or tamales; hang out with friends; read a book for fun.
GET SMART and broaden your options.
Jamie Wallace
Get Smart for College
Independent Educational Consultant
www.GetSmartforCollege.com
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