The others are all UCs. It’s pretty simple to get into those. If you have the requisite numbers, you’ll get in. Especially if you’re a CA resident. They’re set up to take CA residents, so they’re not quite so picky. Same with CC transfers. They were set up to take students transferring from CCs, so they give priority to them versus transfers from 4yr schools.

Stanford, like a lot of the other top privates, wasn’t set up as a catchall for the local population. As such, it can be pickier about who they take. So, not only do you need top grades and test scores, you have to also distinguish yourself with amazing extracurricular activites, gushing letters of rec, and an impressive essay.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a person admitted into Stanford who also didn’t get into the UCs. Conversely, you’ll find many people who got into all the UCs but could not get into Stanford.

The good news is that Berkeley and UCLA, and even UCSD to some extent, are so prestigious on a national level (worldwide for Berk and UCLA), that you’re not gonna be hurt too much by going there instead of Stanford.

Your GPA is not the only thing that will get you into Stanford. You need to take advanced honors and AP courses, get high SAT and SAT II scores, participate in valuable extracurricular activities especially those that show your leadership abilities, and get good letters of recommendation. Good luck!

i think berkeley would be the next hardest to get into

then ucla and i think the least selective on to get admission to out of the 4 schools would be ucsd.

hope that helped

make sure you have a high SAT score. but more importantly have a lot of extra curricular activities and such.

Unless you have Ultra Liberal views on the world I’d pass on Berkeley.

Good Luck! =]