Are these good stats for colleges like SDSU and UCSD?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

So I am a senior in high school and I am going to be applying to many universities in California ONLY. I really do not want to go straight to community college and hope to get into at least one university. My top choices are UCSD and SDSU but any university not too far from San Diego would be great like UC Irvine.

My stats are: 3.2 weighted GPA and 1120 SAT (although I will be taking both the November and December SAT) I will not be taking the ACT nor will I be taking SAT Subject Tests.

My extracurriculars include:
-3 years in Red Cross Club
-2 Years in Interact Club
-2 years in PreMed Club and I am the Vice President of the club
-1 Year of Track and Cross Country
-Over 200 hours Community Service
(there are more but many are small and wouldn’t really matter)

I am a Hispanic immigrant child of a single mother and 5 brothers and will be the 2nd in my family to graduate high school and first to attend college of any kind.

I just want to know that under my circumstances, would it even be plausible to apply to these schools and would it be possible to be accepted!

2

Recalculate your GPA using the method shown here: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

The weighted-capped version is the one most commonly used in UC and CSU contexts, including below.

2017 UC admission rates by GPA from https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/freshman-admissions-summary :


Campus  4.20-   3.80-   3.40-   3.00-
        higher  4.19    3.79    3.39
UCB     43%     13%      2%      1%
UCLA    47%     12%      2%      1%
UCSD    84%     39%      7%      1%
UCSB    82%     45%     10%      1%
UCI     94%     52%     11%      3%
UCD     90%     56%     17%      4% 
UCSC    93%     76%     44%     14%
UCR     98%     90%     63%     23%
UCM     98%     96%     89%     57%

Of the nearby CSUs, SDSU and CSUFullerton are heavily impacted and therefore more selective, though local area applicants may get some preference. CSUSM is also impacted, but applicants from its local area will be admitted at baseline CSU eligibility (eligibility index >= 2950; eligibility index = GPA * 800 + SAT_RW + SAT+M), except that impacted majors may be more selective.

https://www.csusm.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/impaction/
http://admissions.fullerton.edu/prospectivestudent/freshmenlocaladmissionarea.php
https://admissions.sdsu.edu/freshmen/apply

3

Because your URM status, you should at least try all, expect to be rejected, but nothing wrong to try.

4

California publics do not consider race and ethnicity (and CSUs are pure stats based). Also, even at colleges that do, that should not be relied on to turn a reach into a match, or a match into a safety.

However, the UCs may look favorably on a good essay describing achievement despite barriers to climb and other externally imposed disadvantages and limitations.

5

SDSU admits by EI and major. An EI of 4200+ can be competitive but this past admission cycle, 4300+ was required for most majors. You will be ranked by your EI and major and applicants are accepted from the top down. Local preference is not considered by SDSU or UCSD.

SDSU 2018 averages and not major specific:

Average CSU/UC capped weighted GPA: 3.93
Average SAT score: 1264

SDSU also only accepts up to the November SAT sitting. Although your SAT is below the average, your GPA is the issue being way below the 25th percentile.

UCSD/UCI 2018 stats and not major specific:
2018 UC capped weighted GPA averages: UCSD: 4.16 UCI: 4.13

2018 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT:

UCSD: 1300-1520
UCI: 1230-1490

UCSD, UCI and SDSU will be a Reach schools. UCSD/UCI will consider your essays and EC’s in their application review but GPA and test scores are considered Very Important.

For CSUF, an EI of 3800+ can make you competitive so bumping up your SAT could help your chances there.

If you need to stay local, I suggest you consider CSU San Marcos. Dominguez Hills, San Bernardino, Channel Islands along the most of the less impacted campuses should accept up depending on major.

https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/degrees-certificates-credentials/Pages/impacted-degrees.aspx

If you are not happy with any of these choices, going to community college and transferring to a UC or CSU is a great option.

UC’s have TAG where if you meet all the course and GPA requirements, you are guaranteed an acceptance. UCSD does not participate but UC Irvine, Santa Cruz, Riverside, Merced, Davis and Santa Barbara all accept TAG (some majors excluded).

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/guarantee/index.html

CC to CSU transfer with an ADT will also give you a guarantee to a CSU campus if you complete the requirements.

https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/transfer/Pages/associate-degree-for-transfer-major-and-campus-search.aspx

Best of luck and remember there are many colleges out there that want you and there is more than one way to reach your goal.