I ve had a 4.0 all through my freshman and sophomore year. However, I did not take any AP s those years as I took precalculus, physics and English 2A, which is an honors class, my sophomore year. This year, my only AP s were Calculus AB and Physics 1(has the lowest passing rate of any AP). First semester I got an A in calculus and a B+ in Physics 1. Second semester I have a B+ in Physics 1 again and I could have brought it up to an A but she takes participation points away from being absent, even if it s excused and I barely saw this online yesterday, which was the last day to make up work. Similarly, my calculus teacher issued tests to everyone before the AP exam which he did not practice the material with us before hand and even though many of us have studied a lot of us did bad and those who did good cheated on those tests and those are the people who are getting away Scott free with A s. Of course some people did well on it honestly but the teacher also mentioned he was not keeping those tests in our grades and to not worry about it but yet he did put those tests into our grades and my grade dropped 12% in one day. So now I have a B and I tried talking to him but it did not work out.
Now I have 3 Bs out of the 4 chances for an A in the two APs I have taken and its not even because I didn t know the material, which I studied very hard to EARN the A in both, but now I feel as though my chances for a UC are over.
As for my extracurriculars, I was captain of the football, wrestling, and track team. CCS(regional) qualifier for track.
I interned at stanford last summer and working on a publication with them
I am VP of the MESA club (Engineering)
In recycling club, Computer Science Club, Robotics club (programming and mechanical), SAT club, Physics Club, and Solar Suitcase club( we build solar suitcases for kids in Kenya).
So are my chances over?
Lol, are you serious? Are your chances over? No, they are obviously not, and you know this. 2 B’s won’t keep you from getting into a UC. Your EC’s look pretty good, and you shouldn’t be worried. Without your SAT/ACT scores, I can’t really chance you. And, do you know what your overall GPA is?
The UC’s comprise very different schools. You obviously have a great chance for the less selective ones, but Berkeley and LA might be tough, as they are for most.
Also, Physics 1 having the lowest passing rate does not make it the hardest exam. Physics C, for example, is much harder, but the people who decide to take the class are smarter than the usual student, so more people end up passing. Another thing you want to avoid is blaming your grades on your teachers – sure, bad teachers exist, but you need to take responsibility for what you have earned.
You need to calculate your UC GPA (10-11th grades only) to get an idea if you are competitive.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
A few B’s will not take out of the running for many of the UC’s, although GPA focused, your test scores, EC’s and personal insight essays will all contribute to your chances for admission.
Until you have some test scores to post, do your best and in the end you will have some good schools from which to choose. Also UC’s are not the only good schools in California to consider. Many top Cal states and private schools are on par with the UC programs. You need to do some research on a variety of schools.
2016 Data:
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79:
UCB: 2%
UCLA: 3%
UCSD: 6%
UCD: 15%
UCSB: 14%
UCI: 13%
UCSC: 59%
UCR: 78%
UCM: 92%
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:
UCB: 14%
UCLA: 14%
UCSD: 44%
UCSB: 54%
UCD: 58%
UCI: 65%
UCSC: 85%
UCR: 94%
UCM: 96%
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 4.20 or above:
UCB: 42%
UCLA: 54%
UCSD: 87%
UCSB: 85%
UCD: 91%
UCI: 94%
UCR/UCM: 98%
And never forget that proper preparation at a CCC effectively gives you a do-over. If you apply yourself fully, you can transfer in to a more selective UC campus as a junior than you might be able to do as a freshman. At much lower cost.
^ I completely second what @PadreDeTres says! I’m at a cc and I’m planning on applying to transfer to UCLA this fall. I had amazing grades all throughout high school, but I had a B in PE my freshman year (how’s that possible??), a B my second semester of sophomore geometry due to a student teacher, and a B in the first semester of AP Lang my junior year (teacher wouldn’t bump my 89.6%). I still got into UCSD and UCSB, as well as Cal Poly SLO and some other Cal States. So don’t worry about your chances being “over!”
Remember, you still have time to reflect an upward trend in grades and improve upon this year. And your SAT/ACT is also a factor, as well as your ECs and essays. I will scream from the rooftops that the essays are the most important part to sway your app from a rejection to an acceptance, so when the time comes, make sure those are stellar. And to be competitive for top UCs, having great standardized test scores is also important. As for ECs, seizing opportunities to learn about future careers, participating in clubs with causes you care about, and having leadership roles in student-run organizations are all great ways to reflect a good character, which is one thing anyone in admissions looks for.
A piece of advice though: don’t blame teachers for your grades. Yes, they control them, and yes they’re grading your tests and assigning you work, but the material they teach is unchanging. You could use other resources to teach yourself their subjects if need be, and still manage to do well on tests and homework despite how bad their teaching is. So in the future, if you find yourself in a terrible class again, be proactive and find ways to overcome it, rather than blaming your teacher for the outcome.
no doors are closed yet, it looks like your UCGPA is close to a 4, A strong application and test scores could open the door to any of the 9 campuses. That said, I would encourage you to open your mind a bit to all those non-UC schools. Depending on what you want to study, you may find them more effective and about half the price. Apply broadly, include UCR, UCM, SDSU and CSULB (i am happy to suggest others if you can convey what you are looking for in a college) then see what happens.
good luck