at this point, do i have a shot at any of the UCs?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>well.. i'm going into my junior year of high school this upcoming fall and.. i have to say i'm not really proud of my academics.</p>

<p>3.25/4.0 average gpa.
i haven't taken the SAT yet but i expect it to be in the ~2000, 2100 range cause that's what all my practice tests indicate.
nonexistant extracurriculars. :( i just volunteer @ a childrens museum...
and im thinking of acquiring a totally new language to add spice to my application. would they care about your lingual skills if it didn't relate to what you wanted to major in (i'm thinking of majoring in health sciences, or any other science to get me into med school)?
i'm thinking of learning german (i want to study abroad in germany or switzerland) and i already am fluent in mandarin chinese, english (obviously), and i'm on the process of gaining fluency in spanish.</p>

<p>what do you think?
i think my chances are nonexistant. ha. although i have to admit i can write a pretty compelling essay if required :x</p>

<p>btw, i want to get into uc davis because it's growing into a prestigious school and it has really liberal study abroad programs</p>

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<p>Yah I would work mainly on your GPA for junior year to raise it. I still think you have a shot at UC Davis (SB, Santa Cruz, Riverside as well). I would ever say you possibly could get into UCSD if you get that GPA up a lot this year. UCLA and Berkeley will be pretty big reaches.</p>

<p>And @starscream, Santa Barbara is as tough as UC Davis to get in.</p>

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<p>I think you still have a decent chance and should apply to Davis as one of your reaches. Your GPA should ideally be higher, but the rest of your stats kind of make up for it or are in-line with the standards there.</p>

<p>Regardless, work your hardest and apply.</p>

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<p>Go here to start your investigation into what is needed to get into a UC: [University</a> of California - Admissions](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/state_eligibility.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/state_eligibility.html) and go to links therein and read them.</p>

<p>UCs use a combination of your GPA and test scores to determine whether you are eligible for admission to a UC. If you have the minimum requirements you will get into “a” UC, although not necessarily one of your choice, e.g., it could be Riverside which usually has lower ranges of students admitted. And you wil, of course, need far more than the minimum to compete for the top UCs such as UCLA, Berkeley and SD.</p>

<p>As you will see, your GPA will be recalculated as a UC GPA using what are called the a-g courses (usual college prep courses plus art/music). In doing the calculation, they use only sophomore and junior year grades. In other words, whatever low (or high) grades you had in the freshman year will not count in determining minimum eligibility and I have no idea what your sophomore grades were and thus the GPA you list tells us nothing about eligibility. </p>

<p>As to the extra language, the key is to complete the UCs language requirement. If there is something else to mention in your application fine but EC’s and extra languages are things used as part of the evaluation process by each UC and does not determine the initial issue as to whether you will get into “a” UC by having the minimum qualifications.</p>