Hello
I’m a junior in high school and have some problems in my mind:
I’m very new to these kind of things.
Also what are the course requirements that I should take to make sure I get accepted?
And are honour classes an aid to getting accepted?
Are you going to be a junior this year or did you already finish your junior year? The UCs look at courses taken all four years of high school to make sure you have fulfilled all of the a-g requirements. However, they only use grades from the summer before 10th grade until the summer after 11th grade when calculating GPA.
https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/freshman/minimum-requirements/
Do you live in California or are you from out of state?
Have you already taken your SAT and/or ACT exam?
No colleges have recommendations of the # of AP classes, but for schools like UCLA and UCSB, you want to take a rigorous course load all 4 years. How that translates into the # of AP’s or the IB program at your HS is dependent upon what your Guidance counselors will consider a rigorous course load. AP’s or IB’s are only one piece of the UC application review. What is most important is your UC GPA’s (unweighted, capped weighted and fully weighted) at the end of Junior year, your ACT/SAT test scores, SAT II subject test scores, personal insight essays and EC’s. Also intended major can have a large impact on your chances.
You need to meet the a-g course requirements listed below and beyond meaning just meeting the 15 courses will make you eligible to apply to the UC’s but will not necessarily get you in.
The minimum sequence of A-G courses you need to complete are:
(a) History/Social Science 2 years*
(b) Language Arts (English) 4 years
(c) Mathematics 3 years
(d) Science (Laboratory) 2 or 3 years
(e) Foreign Language 2 or 3 years
(f) Visual and Performing Arts 1 year
(g) College Preparatory Elective
Applicants to the UCLA and UCSB will have on average 3 years History/Social Science, 4 years Math, 3 years Science and 3 years Foreign Language so you need to exceed the minimums. Not all “honors” classes at all HS’s are UC approved so you need to check this link for which courses specifically at your CA HS are UC approved and the get the extra weighting. https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist
The UC’s give little in the way of merit scholarships (Regents and Chancellor scholarships) which are highly competitive and you need to be in the top 1-2% of the applicant pool. UC’s however give good need-based aid if you are a California resident. If not, then you should expect to pay full fees to attend.
Some UC statistical data below: 2019 UC capped weighted GPA averages:
UCB: 4.23
UCLA: 4.25
UCSD: 4.23
UCSB: 4.16
UCI: 4.13
UCD: 4.13
UCSC: 3.96
UCR: 3.90
UCM: 3.73
2019 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT totals:
UCB: 1340-1540
UCLA: 1330-1550
UCSD: 1300-1520
UCSB: 1280-1520
UCD: 1230-1490
UCI: 1250-1510
UCSC: 1200-1450
UCR: 1130-1400
UCM: 1020-1290
25th - 75th percentiles for ACT composite + language arts
UCB: 28-35
UCLA: 29-35
UCSD: 26-34
UCSB: 26-34
UCD: 24-33
UCI: 24-34
UCSC: 24-32
UCR: 21-30
UCM: 18-26
I am going to be a junior, in state and have taken no ACT nor SAT exams.
Thank you for the info! ?
I’d consider taking 2 AP and maybe an honors course (depending on what’s offered at your school) - but, only if you already have a near 4.0 GPA. If you are more of a B student, that may be tough to manage. UCs are really GPA focused so, having straight As with a more lax schedule is better tha Cs with a bigger workload.
So what must I do to make sure my GPA is at the highest? And how can I get into an honours coarse?
You take the most rigorous HS courses where you think you will get good grades (A’s) such as AP/IB or UC approved Honors courses to help bump up your GPA. What are your best subjects or which subjects interest you the most? How to get an Honors course is up to your HS and counselor’s registration procedures.
Which AP classes and honor class are you planning to take? How have your grades been for Freshman and Sophomore year? What classes have you already taken? Do you have an idea of a possible college major?
I only know that my major will be biological sciences.
So you follow the a-g course requirements I listed in post#5. You want to take Biology, Chemistry and Physics but not all need to be AP or IB courses but you want exposure to these courses before taking them in college. Also where are you in Math? It would be beneficial to get up to Calculus by Senior year. 4 years of English are a required. I would take 3 years of a Foreign Language.
Could you list the classes you have already taken and plan to take so posters can make recommendations? What is career goal as a Biology major?
The AP courses I will be taking are:
AP English literature
AP US history
AP phycohology
AP chemistry
AP biology
AP calculus
AP spanish
AP physics
In my senior years I will probably transfer to IB (most likely).
Thank you for the help so far:)
You plan to 8 AP’s Junior year and then switch to IB Senior year why? I would take IB or AP unless there is not enough course offerings.
I agree. Thank you so much for your help Gumbymon! ?
I don’t know you or your capabilities but, i think your schedule is overkill. I haven’t met a single HS junior could handle that course-load. IMHO, your GPA and or your health will suffer.
What’s your current GPA?
@“studentstill123*” Can you clarify your Junior schedule and what classes you have already taken? Did you take any AP classes Sophomore year? You have 3 AP sciences listed and will your school even let you take that many AP’s? Are you on a block schedule 4x4?
My current gpa is 4.5.
Yes, I am on a block schedule 4 4.
Weighted GPA has no meaning since different HS’s calculate GPA differently. What is your UW GPA? Since you posted in the UC forum, are you targeting specific schools such as the UC’s and CSU’s (which have their own GPA calculation) and also private universities?