Hi! I was wondering if the classes that I am currently taking + my test scores are good enough for me to get accepted to UCSD (my top choice). I’m concerned that I am not taking courses that are rigorous enough to compete with everyone else. Currently I’m a junior and I plan on majoring in biology or chemistry. Do you think I should take more AP’s next year? Let me know!
My UC-calculated gpa is a 4.8, unweighted 4.00, weighted 5.00
ACT: 32
AP world: 4
World history SAT: 780
Chemistry SAT: 770
English SAT: 740
Ap chem/psych: TBD
Sophomore year:
AP World history
H English
H Algebra 2/trig
H chemistry
H anatomy/physiology
Spanish 2
Junior year:
AP Chemistry
AP psychology
Honors sociology
Honors ethics
honors english
honors precalc
US history
Spanish 3
Your classes are definitely good enough – what matters more is that you are doing well. Your test scores are good too. As long as you have some decent EC’s, you stand a good chance. And yes, I’d suggest taking one or two more AP’s next year.
Also, how do you have a 4.8 UC GPA with the 8 semester cap for honors/AP courses?
@cc8912 Thanks for your reply! I haven’t gotten any B’s in high school. I used rogerhub’s calculator to find out my UC gpa. Could it be wrong?
Also, this guy at my school who got into every single UC he applied to had low to mediocre AP testing scores and for some AP classes he even cancelled his score. I thought your AP scores are important in your application process. How in the world did he get into all 8 UC’s that he applied to and USC? I feel like it’s unfair that other students who earned 4-5’s on all their AP exams got rejected from quite a few UC’s while he got into all. How did this happen?
You definitely have a 4.0 UW, but I believe the 4.8 weighted might be inaccurate. I wouldn’t worry about this too much though as your grades are excellent anyways.
As for AP’s, I don’t know how much their scores matter. I think it just matters that you get a 4 plus in most and you’ve taken a decent amount. For you, though, I’d recommend trying to 5 as many as possible since you aren’t taking that many. That said, I wouldn’t stress about it. AP scores definitely don’t play a huge role in admissions – for UC’s, I know that GPA is the number one factor and then (I think) SAT/ACT scores come next. Because of that, you will be completely fine as long as you score decently. It might be unfair, but, unfortunately, college admissions are – you can be a perfect student and get rejected when a kid with a 3.0 who is a huge legacy or a recruited athlete gets in.
Remember that UCs count only take into account grades from 10-11 grade so you are on the right path. Don’t worry too much now. If you can take another ACT and get the composite to 34+ you would be a viable candidate for Berkeley/UCLA. I assume you are in-state for UCs.
I would add UCSB to your list if Chemistry/Biology are your interests. UCSB has good programs in those areas and are actually ranked higher than UCSD according to US News.