Sadly I think it would be more like: 3.95, 3.9, 3.5 and 3.0 (unweighted, of course). In reality, the UC holistic approach and differences between majors makes guidance on GPA very difficult and of limited value, IMO.
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In the UCLA 2022-23 CDS, You will find a distribution below 3.9 GPA for enrolling students. Engineering or STEM majors might be a narrower band but for the rest you want to look at a wider GPA range.
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Would still be of very limited value though⊠93% are above 3.75 and that is before accounting for intended major and HS context. A kid in an affluent high school applying UCLA CS or engineering is deluding themselves if they think they have a decent shot with a 3.75 UW GPA, as that very likely puts them well outside ELC recognition at their school and also very likely below interquartile range for their intended major. Context is as important as the GPA, IMO. ~None will get in with low GPA, but also ~none will get into CS/eng with even 4.0 UW from affluent school without almost all honors courses to get school-ELC AND relevant ECs⊠it is just too competitive in a holistic admissions process for GPA alone to be of much utility to most kids.
The CDS doesnât really give you the distribution below 3.9 UW, because it has one category for 3.75-3.99. Itâs possible that the distribution would actually look something like this, if you broke down the second category (just a guess):
| UW GPA Range | Percent |
|---|---|
| 4.0 | 59.1% |
| 3.9 to 3.99 | 29% |
| 3.75 to 3.89 | 5% |
| 3.5 to 3.74 | 4.9% |
| etc. |
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I just wanted to see what the numbers were related to @dimeking 's snapshot of the grade distribution for incoming frosh in 2022 as seen in the CDS by going high and low for each particular range â Iâm not up to formatting it at this time:
Low Side++++++++++++++ High Side
4.0*.591 = 2.364++++++++++4.0 * .591 = 2.364
3.75*.34 = 1.275++++++++++3.99*.34 = 1.3566
3.5*.049 = 0.1715+++++++++3.74*.049 = 0.18326
3.25*.016 =0.052+++++++++3.49*.016 = 0.05584
3.00*.003 = 0.009++++++++3.24*.003 = 0.00972
2.50*.001 = 0.0025+++++++2.99*.001 = 0.00299
ÎŁ of above = 3.874+++++++ÎŁ of above = 3.97
The C12 data says the average for freshmen is 3.93, so this is closer to the higher end of the tiers. The midpoint of 3.75 & 3.99 is 3.87, so for sure, the second tier would above 3.87, somewhere around 3.89 as an average. If that were the midpoint of the second tier then 59.1% + 17.0% = 76.1%, so that would be the 25th percentile, pretty close to a 3.90 average. And below the 25th the drop off is more precipitous so that would probably make the 25th a bit higher. Since engineering has a 6% acceptance rate, itâd be tough to get in with anything near as low as a 3.90. Added that they all pretty much can skip out of two calc classes, and other classes.
Per your post #142, thatâs why I recommended that students who want to attend UCLA and additionally want CS could instead major in:
- Mathematics of Computation, in which the student who majors in this could opt for the direct CS courseload by starting out with CS 31, 32, 33, 35L or take the Program in Computing courses. Graduates from this major are getting top-tier SWE jobs.
- Applied Math, with Specialization in Computing**. This major is flexible enough for the graduate to go to something more related to finance, or CS.
- Linguistics & Computer Science. These students take classes in the CS department, and Iâve heard of grads from this program going to work for Microsoft, AWS, etc.
- Data Theory and or Statistics, Say coupled with the new minor, Data Science Engineering, which also has classes from the CS department. Data Theory is just as the name stated, extremely deep into theory, and I believe the courseload was put together by a Caltech grad.
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Yeah⊠some of the majors are brutal (S23 applied aerospace eng⊠3.7% 
)
Wish i was able to time travel into the future to see the note, i would have chosen MATH CS. I chose MATERIAL ENGG, and its going to be brutal. UW=3.95 W=4.5 so fall in the 29% range I am guessing Engg will be even more selective probably in single digit.
For those UCs that have released acceptance rate information broken down by major, Materials Engineering (or Materials Science & Engineering) appears to have a relatively higher acceptance rate, since it attracts fewer applicants compared to other Engineering majors.
For example hereâs the most recent breakdown for UCLA engineering admit rates by major:
(Source: https://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/seasoasa/2022-UCEE-Report.pdf)
However, the acceptance rate alone doesnât tell you how hard it is to be admitted to any particular major, since it really depends on the applicant pool. Itâs possible that the students self-selecting to apply to Materials Engineering might be stronger students. Itâs hard to know, since there is no GPA breakdown by major.
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I wouldnât give up hope; you still have a good shot, especially in light of that snapshot of the HSSEAS report of admissions by @tamagotchi. And Materials Engineering is a great major, not a lot of people know how a lot of it, and youâd be among a self-selected group. UCLAâs E majors also have a technical breadth, in which you can take CS classes.
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My son has applied to aero everywhere. Brutal.
Any insights if the UCs look at demand increasing in certain majors and (gradually) shift their staffing/resourcing to support more students in the higher-demand majors?
Many schools are having a difficult time keeping up with the demand. In the case of CS, there have been several articles written about the nationwide shortage of professors. Here are a few.
https://www.ics.uci.edu/community/news/press/view_press?id=163
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Someone with a PhD in CS probably has industry recruiters filling up the email boxâŠ
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Not necessarily true in all cases. My student took Japanese at CC to satisfy A-G for foreign language. He had to submit a pre-approval form at his high school and requested the CC transcript to be sent to his high school. The grade appeared on his high school transcript. But it did lower his GPA since he only got 4 points for an A. Unlike AP courses that he would get 5 points. He also had to submit a separate transcript from CC for UC application.
But the college course would get extra weighting in the UC GPA calculation even if though the HS did not weight the class.
Closing this discussion thread now that the 2022 UC admit rates based on the Capped weighted UC GPA are available.