Applying to UC's... help me pick which ones to apply for?

State Forums
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<p>This info was from a previous post for Cal States I needed help apply for: </p>

<p>Current location: Long Beach, California (high school student)
GPA (Unweighted/Weighted): 3.5/ 3.7
SAT Score: 1560 (first time without studying, got a 1370 my second try WITH studying)
ACT Score: 21 (first time without studying, waiting for Oct. results)
AP Classes:
1.World History - 3
2.Bio - 2
3. US History - 2
4. English Comp - 3
5. Macroecon - currently taking
6. Government - currently taking
7. Literature - currently taking
8. Statistics - currently taking
9. French - currently taking
10. Psychology - currently taking</p>

<p>NOTE: Got 3 C's in total on my transcript.
Sophmore Year: Algebra II (1st Semester)
Junior Year: Functions and Trig (1st Semester) & US History (2nd Semester)</p>

<p>//Extra Curr. (counting this year)
1000+ Hours at an aquarium for 4 years
- 2 leadership roles earned
Volunteered at my Catholic Church for 4 years
- Sunday School aide</p>

<p>//Campus Involvement (counting this year)
+Key Club - 4 years
Events Coordinator for 2 years
+California State Federation 3 years
Secretary for 2 years
+Filipino Club - 2 years
Vice President for 1 year
+French Club - 1 year (current)
Secretary for 1 year</p>

<p>*I also participated in several clubs during freshman year, but did not continue them</p>

<p>// Work Experience
Cashier for about 2 years in Fast Food Industry (part time)</p>

<p>// Personal Life
My family of 5 makes less than $20,000 a year
First Generation Student</p>

<hr>

<p>I already applied to Cal Poly Pomona, SF State, LB State, CSUMB, and Chico. I already got a conditional acceptance from Chico. </p>

<p>I want to apply to UC's and I have 4 free waivers, and I need help choosing ones that are in my realm. </p>

<p>I actually fell in love with Santa Cruz and Davis, do you think I can make it to either one? Especially with my C's? I want to major in psych or sociology if that helps. I'm also considering to apply to UCLA but just for fun. My mom wants me to apply to Irvine, so what are my chances with that? And if anything, what UC's should I apply to to get the most out of my fee waivers? </p>

<p>I'm currently final editing my personal statement btw so I am definitely trying to perfect that. </p>

<p>Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! </p>

2

<p>Calculate your UC GPA: <a href=“GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub”>http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Your GPA is on the low side for most of the UC’s, which is around a 4.0+ and your SAT/ACT scores are very low. </p>

<p>You might have a chance at UCSC, UCR and UCM.
UCI/UCD average GPA is 4.05+ and SAT around 1900+/ ACT 27+</p>

<p>Your best chances would be with the Cal States mentioned. C’s on your transcript will hurt with the UC’s which get a huge amount of excellent applicants each year. Since you have the waivers, there is no harm in applying knowing that many are reaches. </p>

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<p>@Gumbymom‌ do you know why i wouldn’t be accepted to santa cruz? on college board, it seems like i’m a match for the school, and the majority of the students there have similar grades / sat scores as me. </p>

<p>i am stuck on three majors. psych, sociology, and cognitive science. i’m taking ap psych at the moment and i have a very strong A in the class and decided to take AP Stats over pre-cal since psych is so heavily influenced by stats. i also have taken AP Bio and I have a lot of experience working at an aquarium (with over 1000+ hours, earned multiple national awards from it, I also train volunteers and the teen program). in addition i am first generation student making less than average families. i hope to express this in my personal statement. would this give me some kind of advantage? i have 3 c’s in total, one in Intermediate Algebra, one in Trig, and one in AP US History. I’ve been worried about this so much, but everyone on the UCSC reddit have told me that I could get in. </p>

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<p>@psychstudent15: I did not say you would not get into UCSC, just you have a low chance for acceptance due to your test scores and your possible majors especially Pysch.</p>

<p>I would consider it a High Match/Low Reach depending upon the applicant pool. You have a much better chance at UCR and UCM.
Here is the the common dataset and average Freshman Profile for UCSC.
You are below the 50th percentile in GPA and test scores.</p>

<p><a href=“http://planning.ucsc.edu/irps/OFFICE/cds_2013-14.pdf”>http://planning.ucsc.edu/irps/OFFICE/cds_2013-14.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/santa-cruz/freshman-profile/index.html”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/santa-cruz/freshman-profile/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Since you have the fee waivers, there is no reason not to apply. Just be realistic with your chances and prove me wrong.</p>

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<p>Realistically, your best UC chances are UCM, UCR, and UCSC.</p>