I’m a senior graduating this June and am about to start writing essays for applications. Im applying to every UC school except UCSF UCR and UCM and for private schools, Stanford (parents requirement), USC and Santa Clara University. I think I would be really happy going to any of those schools, especially UCD and UCI.
My grades/scores are: 4.0 unweighted GPA, 4.6 weighted(UC 5.0 scale). ACT-33
I play guitar a lot in my free time and I’m going to base a lot of my essays around that but other than that I dont really have any extra cirriculars.
So, am I in a good position right now to get into these schools? This senior year the highest GPA I can get is a 4.5 and I’m really worried about possibly ruining my 4.0 with a B which hopefully wouldn’t affect my acceptances. Thanks!
FYI: UCSF is a graduate school for Health Sciences only.
You are a competitive applicant based on your Stats for all the schools on your list. Stanford is a Reach for everyone.
But your lack of EC’s could be an issue for USC/SCU/Stanford/UCB and UCLA, since EC’s are what usually sets apart most top stat applicants from the rest. Schools do not want to see applicants focus solely on just academics and getting 1 B will not be the end of the world or make a huge difference in your chances.
Senior grades are not considered in the UC admissions but doing well will maintain your provisional admission.
You are a strong applicant but, Stanford rejects 95% of applicants so, no matter your stats, it is a reach.
All the UCs are likely to take you but, you’ll need competent essays and I bet, at least one rejects you. USC and SCU are likely to admit you.
You might want to add Cal Poly SLO as another option. It has a much smaller student body than the UCs you are looking at and offers a unique learning environment and a cool college town.
You indicated that you are not applying to UCSF (which is primarily a medical/heath profession campus), UCR and UCM. You might want to consider UCR as a safety school. It has a fairly wide range of majors and recently opened a medical school on campus. Even if you don’t apply to UCM, UCM will admit you if you are rejected by all the other UC’s, if you are in the top 9% and if there is room for you.
I agree with Gumbymon that because you lack EC’s, there may be a good chance that you will not get admitted to UCB, UCLA, Stanford and USC. I think you can get into SCU.
Lastly, if you are on the edge, some UC’s may ask you for supplemental information around December to late January and will ask you to list your senior courses and your grades in the 1st semester of the senior year. You should not slack off in the first half of the senior year. Good luck.