Again, just look through the current threads for each school as the college decisions were coming out. Tons and tons of “president of this, leader of that” with 4.+++ GPA’s and lots of APs – getting waitlisted and often flat out rejected. It was shocking. Kids with better stats than mine, getting rejected while he got waitlisted. Kids with lesser stats getting in, while others were not – it was all over the place. My son has higher stats than your daughter has currently and he was rejected at 2, waitlisted at 3, accepted at Merced through the Count Me In program, as he’s in the top 9%.
He was accepted at 3 CSU’s and waitlisted at 1 (Cal Poly SLO).
We didn’t do what I am advising now – we assumed success based on really tangible things like his high school career success and applications that exceeded the ‘freshman profile’ for all the schools. It’s the wild west out there haha. Do both yourself and your daughter a favor now, save the heartache, and adjust your thinking. Reconsider your opinion on the ‘lesser’ UC’s. Apply everywhere – hope for it all but assume or expect nothing. Plan a plan B, C and D.
These are the 13 areas of criteria that all the UC’s will use for their application review. Each campus weights these area’s differently so that is why you may see a wide variation of acceptances across the campuses. Personal insight essays are considered Very Important in the application review.
Academic grade point average in all completed A-G courses, including additional points for completed UC-certified honors courses.
Number of, content of and performance in academic courses beyond the minimum A-G requirements.
Number of and performance in UC-approved honors, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate Higher Level and transferable college courses.
Identification by UC as being ranked in the top 9 percent of your high school class at the end of your junior year (Eligible in the Local Context, or ELC).
Quality of your senior-year program as measured by the type and number of academic courses in progress or planned.
Quality of your academic performance relative to the educational opportunities available in your high school.
Outstanding performance in one or more specific subject areas.
Outstanding work in one or more special projects in any academic field of study.
Recent, marked improvement in academic performance as demonstrated by academic GPA and the quality of coursework completed or in progress.
Special talents, achievements and awards in a particular field, such as visual and performing arts, communication or athletic endeavors; special skills, such as demonstrated written and oral proficiency in other languages; special interests, such as intensive study and exploration of other cultures; experiences that demonstrate unusual promise for leadership, such as significant community service or significant participation in student government; or other significant experiences or achievements that demonstrate the student’s promise for contributing to the intellectual vitality of a campus.
Completion of special projects undertaken in the context of your high school curriculum or in conjunction with special school events, projects or programs.
Academic accomplishments in light of your life experiences and special circumstances, including but not limited to: disabilities, low family income, first generation to attend college, need to work, disadvantaged social or educational environment, difficult personal and family situations or circumstances, refugee status or veteran status.
this is invaluable, extremely instrumental and of amazing use…wish my D22 had an opportunity to review this prior to last fall UC app submission. ty, still have D24 and D29
Note that of the 13 listed criteria, the general types are:
Criterion
Academic
Context of Opportunity
Other
1
X
2
X
3
X
4
X
X
5
X
6
X
X
7
X
X
8
X
9
X
10
X
X
11
X
X
12
X
X
13
X
I.e. 5 criteria are purely academic ones, 3 are academic in context of opportunities, 3 are academic and/or other (extracurricular) criteria, and 1 is purely context of opportunities.
@NCalRent Thank you for the replies. I can’t find a way to edit the original post but here are her three GPA scores from californiacollege.edu which holds her official GPA results from the school.
