I am a hispanic first generation student involved in Diversity Club and Key club and I also participate in 3 varsity sports. I have taken a total of 4 ap classes so far and plan on taking 4 more my senior year. My freshman gpa was a 3.14 and a 2.905 first and second semesters. Halfway through my sophomore year I went to see my guidance counselor to see if I was on track to go to college and I was mistaken. My first semester gpa that year had been a 2.8 and then after my meeting with my counselor I woke up and got a 3.4 gpa second semester. Junior year I got a 3.3 and a 3.45. Along with a 29 on my ACT and a 3.18 UW gpa am I prospective for colleges such as U of M twin cities, U of W- Madison, UCLA or any top tier public schools?
What state do you live in and what is your budget? If you aren’t in CA, UCLA will be expensive.
Budget is not something I will have to worry about as I started a successful social media ad agency and have saved enough or will have enough to be debt free from any college by the time I were to graduate. I am in MN.
You need to calculate your UC GPA for UCLA: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
UCLA does not use Freshman grades in their GPA and you need a minimum UC GPA of 3.4 to apply to any of the UC’s as an OOS applicant.
UCLA admit rate for a UC GPA of 3.40-3.79 was 3% for 2016.
This UCLA’s Freshman profile for 2016:
GPA and test scores of middle 25%-75% students
High School UC GPA: 4.12 - 4.30
ACT Composite Score: 29 - 34
SAT Critical Reading: 620 - 740
SAT Mathematics: 640 - 770
So your UC GPA will be way below 25th percentile and your ACT is just at the 25th percentile. UCLA is a High Reach so apply if you do not mind wasting the $70 application fee.
You need to lower your expectations for a top tier public university. You probably should target some good private universities instead.
Check the common dataset for any schools of interest and aim to be at the 50th percentile in GPA/Test scores for the best chances.
I don’t think you have any chance at UCLA, only because your GPA and test scores are way below even the 25% of the admitted students. You may have a chance elsewhere though.
You have no chance at UCLA, and it’s harsh but true. UM and UW are both great schools though, and while you aren’t exactly competitive with the average admitted student, if you do great your last year and take the ACT again ( raising your score just a little more will go a long way) I think you’ll have a shot at some good colleges.
Oos applicants to any UC need a 3.4+ so UCLA or other UC 's are out.
UMN Twin cities will depend on the major - cs in liberal arts, other liberal arts, most CFANS, HHD are reachable reaches. Same thing for UWisconsin.
However you should aim for schools where a 3.2-3.3 GPA is average and your 29 in/near top 25%.
What major would you be going for?
Western Washington University, UMass Amherst are both good for CS.
Penn State for ist (apply for summer session and raise your score to 31-32.)
Ohio State would be a good school to add to the list. Perhaps Purdue as well, but not for Engineering. University of Arizona and Arizona State should be considered as well.
Agree with the other posters that UCLA is out. GPA is too low and UCs do not factor race in admissions so being Hispanic will not help.