Which California (Los Angeles area) colleges should I look into?

The colleges know the curriculum and grading policies at all high schools, and take it into consideration, which is one reason why they look at unweighted grades, then note the number of Honors/AP/IB classes, and the AP/IB exam scores. (An A in an AP class, but a 1 or 2 on the exam, indicates it wasn't as rigorous as it was supposed to be.) Unfortunately, the most rigorous schools really don't get the consideration they deserve, but that's just the way it is. (My son attends a private school that is in the highest group for Ivy ranking, dh participates in the admissions process for his Ivy alma mater, so we know how it works, but my son still he has to make all A's in his very rigorous classes to get into a top college.) My son's private school also doesn't rank, as many don't in this area. Your SAT and ACT scores are a bit low* for the colleges you are considering, except LMU and Chapman, but you should be able to raise them high enough with studying (maybe 200 - 300 SAT points if you really work at it). (*Unless you bring something wow to the college you haven't mentioned, diversity they need, top ranked athlete, major awards, etc.) Pomona is basically considered a west coast Ivy (avg accepted freshman SAT 2200+), very competitive (13% admit rate), and kids I know have chosen it over the Ivies. Claremont McKenna is a step down, still an amazing college, competitive for admissions (17%), and you can take classes at the other Claremont Colleges, including Pomona. Pitzer (also a Claremont College), is competitive for admission (16%), but uses a more holistic approach, if you are in the top 10% of your class, or have an unweighted GPA of 3.5+, you don't have to submit your SAT scores. Accepted freshman average GPA was 3.9, and for those who submitted their SAT scores (most didn't), the math and verbal portions totaled about 1340. Scripps, a women's college, admits about 36% of applicants, average SAT score about 2050. Since it's on the Claremont College campus with 6 other small co-ed colleges, there are plenty of guys around. USC is actually more competitive for admissions than UCLA, it's down to 18% acceptance rate, UCLA is about 22%, the accepted freshman average SAT scores are 130+ points more than UCLA's (and Berkeley's). Everyone applies to UCLA, whereas USC has a very high percentage of applicants from top public and private schools, a more competitive pool, about 40% of the students went to private high school. Admission at UCLA can be a crapshoot, although they have started admitting more top students, as their reputation suffered. Non-resident students pay $23,000+ a year more than resident students, for all 4 years, so it's actually less competitive to be admitted if you're a non-resident. Check the a to g requirements on the UC website to see if you've taken the correct courses, and ask your college counselor to figure out your UC GPA, it's different from most colleges (grades 10 and 11, rigor of 12th), and includes weighting. LMU is a good choice for those who don't quite have the stats to make it into other local colleges, as is Chapman. Kids I know at these colleges really like them. My son finds Chapman too vanilla for his taste, but said it had a very impressive campus and arts/film programs. Admit rate for both colleges is around 50%, except for the film programs, which are probably now 10%. Pepperdine is a probably considered a bit more religious than Chapman and LMU, but it really doesn't seem to have a negative effect on the not to soso religious students I know there, those who are very religious seem to comment on it more, maybe then it's kind of a competitive thing among those students. They have a beautiful campus, and a great study abroad program. About 50% of undergrads participate in study abroad. Average accepted freshman GPA about 3.75, SAT about 1925. Because you're not a CA resident student, your cost of attendance at UCLA will be close to the private colleges' COA, and financial aid packages may be more generous at the private colleges, apply and see. You might also consider UCSB, as it's a bit easier to be accepted to, and it's a great college in a beautiful location, about a 2 hour drive in low traffic from LA. It really isn't the party campus some make it out to be, that's a certain group of students. (A relative works at UCSB, and another is SBPD.) Avg admit freshman SAT - about 1900, UC GPA 4.0, ACT about 27. The cost will be the same as UCLA. Good luck with your college tour! Look at the colleges online first, sign up for emails/mail, so you get an idea of what you want to see and ask questions about. Also, if they have any info sessions in your city, it's a good idea to attend them, they've really helped my son narrow down his list of who were going to visit this summer on the east coast. Good luck!