@ethellou: Based on your posting history; Rejected at UCs, CMU, WashU, UVA, Wesleyan, etc…
So you cannot blame “Admission by examination” as the cause of your rejection. None of the other schools you posted about use this method, so it means your GPA among other aspects of your application did not meet the criteria for admission. All you can do now is possibly take a Gap year, regroup and reapply to some more realistic schools with the stats you have. You are not the only applicant has been rejected by many schools. Learn from your mistakes since you are obviously a very intelligent applicant based on your test scores. Don’t blame the system, you need to understand the system to make it work for you.
3.1 with tons of ecs and thoughtful essays. Again, the website says that ‘if you don’t meet the minimum requirements’, which are quite explicit, that ‘high scores’ can qualify one. All I want to know is how many folks have been accepted this way. If they don’t do it, they shouldn’t say they do it. And if you had a 459 when they say the minimum is a 425, you wouldn’t have given it a shot?
Once again, meeting minimum eligibility criteria does not mean admission. If you think that meeting minimum eligibility criteria means admission, you will be disappointed many times in the future, both in school, and when applying to jobs and promotions, since the listed minimum eligibility criteria simply let you into an often highly competitive process for which there is may be little chance of success.
If you are a natural born citizen of the United States, you become eligible upon reaching age 35 and after residing in the United States for 14 years to become President of the United States. But very few people who meet these minimum eligibility requirements actually do become President of the United States.
Would you do a gap year or bust your ass at one of the meh schools that accepted me and try to transfer?
If you’re not going to use it, take it down. Take it down now.
And again, why say 425 if it’s laughably low. Sorry, these turds aren’t flushing.
@ethellou - A 3.1 GPA is not going to get you into a top 5 UC unless you are a recruited athlete or have a big hook, regardless of your ACT score. They will want to know why someone with your apparent abilities did not perform better in HS. Did you address that anywhere in your application?They want to know that you have the drive to succeed at their school. And if you are OOS, you are NOT eligible to be offered at spot at UCR or UCM without actually applying there.
Admission by exam likely at least got your application read, but it can’t make up for other shortfalls.
There were many in-state applicants with high ACT scores combined with high GPAs that did not get into the top UCs. Admission is very selective and a bit unpredictable.
If your essays sounded remotely like any of your posts, then it wasn’t only a GPA issue.
Many other? Females with a 35 and 800? From one of the best high schools in the country? Puh lease. Tis a revenue raising racket. Take that candlepower and work with it.
Many? High? How high? Let’s be OBJECTIVE.
You seem to want to keep hammering your ACT score and ignoring your GPA. It’s apparent that the UCs did not want to ignore your GPA. So let me put it another way. There were TENS of THOUSANDS of applicants that were rejected by the top UCs with a 3.1 GPA. You were passed up for applicants that were better qualified, or that adcoms felt had a better chance at succeeding.
Meh grades and applying to what is probably THE most sought after undergraduate public university in the states?
3.1 GPA just doesn’t make the cut at the UC’s anymore especially in selective majors as noted by several posters.
@ethellou, stop being bitter. That attitude doesn’t make the situation any better, and is not very healthy for you.
See this: http://admissions.berkeley.edu/studentprofile
Avg. GPA admit: 3.92
Avg. ACT admit: 33
Your ACT score is higher than avg. ACT admit, but not as much as your GPA of 3.1 lower than avg. GPA admit. In fact, your GPA is not even close.
I don’t know what college you applied to, but if you applied to a selective college, e.g. College of Engineering, the stats of admit are even higher.
Not to continue this argument any longer, I was able to find this on the UC application instructions regarding Admission by examination:
Students who don’t meet all of our subject or GPA requirements may be considered for admission on the strength of their test scores. To be considered, students must take either the ACT with Writing or the SAT, as well as two SAT Subject Tests in two different disciplines. Students may not use an SAT Subject Test to meet this requirement if they have completed a transferable college course with a grade of C or better in that subject.
Students must achieve a minimum UC Score total of 410 (425 for nonresidents). In addition, they must earn a minimum UC Score of 63 on each component of the ACT with Writing or SAT and
on each of the Subject Tests. For instructions on calculating the UC Score, see admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/ freshman/minimum-requirements/examination/index.html.
Students who qualify by examination are not guaranteed admission. They are, however, entitled to a full review of their application.
So again, there is no guarantee of admission even if your UC score surpasses the minimum. I am pretty sure your GPA among other factors kept you from getting acceptances. The UC’s are very GPA focused, so I am assuming in their review that outstanding test scores do not make up for a lack in GPA.
So if gPa is your thing, why even compose such language?
Don’t post it then. 35 is better than 33. We shall find a niche where working smart is important.
With a 35? And an 800 math level 2? Of course, I applied. And not just Berkeley. The mid UCs as well. I’ll put my candlepower up against anybody at SB or Irvine. And soon,as an adult, I’ll work smarter and eat you for lunch. Just saying ‘admission by exam’ is bullshit. Refund my money. Cheers
You got what you paid for – a full review of your application. It is not their fault if your application is not competitive for admission, even though you may have met the minimal qualifications to apply.
@ethellou I don’t think you are getting it. Admissions by exam works when you have low GPA, but still competitive, like 3.5 or 3.7.
The avg ACT of applicants is 31, the avg of admits is 33, yours is 35. So, yes your ACT is one notch higher than all the admits. But your GPA is 3.1, the avg of applicants is 3.7 and avg of accept is 3.9, so you are about four levels weaker than all the admits. At the end of the day, being three levels weaker than an admit will not get you accepted. If you have a 3.5 you would have probably been accepted, my GPA was 3.7 and 35ACT and I was accepted, but because my higher ACT and lower GPA cancels out.
Average 33 across the UCs?