Chance me for the UCs and CSUs (terrible 9th grade but great 10-11)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics
CA In-State Resident
CA Public School
Asian American

Intended Major(s)
CS

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted 10-12 GPA: 3.89 (All As; B+s in non-stem AP courses)
  • 10-12 A-G Weighted GPA: 4.47
  • 9-11 Weighted GPA: 4.08 (9th grade was terrible with Bs in Band and a C in AS English)
  • UC Capped GPA: 4.33
  • UC Uncapped GPA: 4.67
  • ACT/SAT Scores: Not taken but expect to get 1500+

Coursework
Pre-Calc Hons (UC approved)
AP Calculus AB
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics
AP Euro History
AP US History
AP Econ
Hons CS (UC approved)
AP CS
AP Psychology

Extracurriculars
2-Year Term on my city’s Youth Advisory Council
10+ years of Saxophone Jazz
CS Internship with European start-up
CS Internship with US start-up
Software sales internship with European start-up
Intern with leading Legendary Environmental Org helping reduce forest fires
Mentoring with Youth Center
Track & Field
UIUC Summer Engineering Program

Schools (Is this characterization on point)

  • Safety - SJSU, SFSU,
  • Likely - UCM, UCR
  • Match - UCSB, UCI, UCD, UCSC
  • Reach - UCB, UCLA, UCSD, CalPoly
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I know Cal Poly uses 9th. As a result, I’d consider SE rather than CS as it’s less competitive and most CS grads do SE anyway.

I’m not sure if any other schools use 9th, but @Gumbymom and @ucbalumnus would know.

Also, I’m confused on your GPA. You said 10-12. What’s your 9/10/11 unweighted AND UC/CSU capped and weighted and the same for 10/11?

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I did not provide UW 9-11 because its irrelevant for these colleges. Only CalPoly uses weighted 9-11 and mine is 4.08 if I just consider the A-G courses.
UW 10-11 3.89
UC 10-11 Capped 4.33
UC 10-11 Uncapped 4.67

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CSU’s and UC’s are test blind for the 2022 admission cycle. They will use the SAT for placement so not necessary to take the exam unless you plan to expand your application list.

I think you have gauged your chances well. SJSU’s CS threshold can change so even if you are above this years impaction threshold does not mean you will be next year. Not a safety but close.

Best of luck.

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That would be my take too. I’d just reiterate, the best hope at Cal Poly is not CS, but SE, and it’s a reach. The 25th/75th percentile GPAs in the CENG among all engineering majors last year, even the easier admits, were 4.12/4.25. Good luck. :+1:

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Yep. That’s my worry with Calpoly especially since there are no essays to compensate for the GPA and I can’t use SATs to offset. I am hoping my straight A+s on Math courses will help me out there.

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If I do take the SAT and hit 1500+ with an 800/? split, I am thinking of applying to 3-4 out of state options.

Which of these do you think are within reach: UIUC, UW, Purdue, UMich? Also thinking of HMC which I know will be tough.

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Recalculate your HS GPA with GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub . Use the weighted capped version for the table below.

Fall 2020 admission rates by campus and HS GPA range from Freshman fall admissions summary | University of California :

Campus 4.20+ 3.80-4.19 3.40-3.79 3.00-3.39
Berkeley 37% 14% 2% 1%
Davis 86% 55% 16% 7%
Irvine 60% 38% 9% 1%
Los Angeles 38% 8% 1% 1%
Merced 98% 97% 95% 88%
Riverside 97% 90% 65% 30%
San Diego 78% 39% 8% 1%
Santa Barbara 81% 40% 9% 2%
Santa Cruz 92% 82% 59% 26%

These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective). As a prospective CS major, assume that admission will be more difficult than the percentages above may suggest.

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SFSU is not impacted, and CS is not an impacted major there, so it should be a safety if you meet CSU eligibility requirements.

SJSU’s CS admission threshold of 3400 for fall 2021 was equivalent to a 4.25 weighted-capped GPA. Note that frosh applicants who will graduate from a high school in Santa Clara County get a +200 bonus (equivalent to +0.25 GPA). Because the threshold is determined competitively every year, it should not be considered a safety, although it can be a likely or low match if you significantly exceed the past threshold.

GPA for CSU purposes is the same as UC weighted-capped, except that if you took college courses, CSU counts each as two courses and two grades (versus one course and one grade per course at UC).

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Thank you for this table. My UC Uncapped is 4.67 which I did calculate using the RH tool. Just looking at the GPA, I look alright for most of the UCs but this topline # is probably not useful to gauge myself against other CS applicants.

I tried to calculate my SJSU impaction index for their COE. Assuming my understanding is correct, I will probably around 3575 for CS. And around 4600 for the COE.

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The GPAs in the table should be compared to your weighted capped (not uncapped) GPA.

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Yep, that makes sense. My capped is 4.33. I was previously looking at UCB and UCLA admit profiles where they publicize the uncapped #s. UCLA 75th percentile of admits was at 4.63.

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I am not that familiar with the OOS options but a SAT 1500+ Will make you competitive for the schools listed. Not sure what your college budget is for Undergrad but run the NPC’s to make sure they are affordable before applying. You should plenty of choices in-state so unless the OOS costs come about less expensive, you cannot go wrong with any of the CA schools for CS.

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if I get into any of my target or reach schools within CA, I wouldn’t go OOS even for a better ranked school. To me, OOS is to just mitigate the risk a little bit if I hit a big SAT #. HMC will still look at my SAT and I am thinking 1500 is a minimum there.

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