Last year as a junior I received a D- at the end of the first semester simply because I was a mess at that time, but then got a B at the end of the second semester. The only UC I’m hoping to get into at this point is Riverside. Do I still have a chance? Do they still overlook the grade improvement despite APUSH not being apart of validation? This is the only D I have in all of high school. I also have a 3.2 UW GPA, 1170 SAT, well-crafted essays and ok ec’s (which include church volunteering, the leadership of 2 clubs, and varsity sports captain).
Edit: I apologize as I should have posted this thread in the admissions forum.
A D might be a problem since US History is one of the required core classes for UC admissions.
Is there any way you can replace the grade?
I’m taking AP US Government next semester, and my counselor told me a while back that It would compensate for the D in APUSH. That’s really all I can hope for. I didn’t take the opportunity to retake a US history class the summer after my junior year.
According to the UC Website, 1/2 year of Government and 1/2 of US History will fulfill the US History portion of the requirement.
UC-approved high school courses
Two years of history, including:
-one year of world or European history, cultures and geography (may be a single yearlong course or two one-semester courses), and
-one year of U.S. history or one-half year of U.S. history and one-half year of civics or American government
Since you did not repeat the 1st semester of APUSH, your D is calculated into your UC GPA and heavily impacts your chances. UCR will be tough. Even UC Merced is not a guarantee. Hopefully you applied to several other schools where your stats put you at the 50th percentile or higher.
Some UC statistical data:
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.00-3.39
UCB: 1.1%
UCLA: 0.9%
UCSD: 0.9%
UCSB: 1.4%
UCI: 3.1%
UCD: 4.1%
UCSC: 14.3%
UCR: 22.9%
UCM: 56.7%
2018 UC capped weighted GPA averages:
UCB: 4.23
UCLA: 4.23
UCSD: 4.16
UCSB: 4.13
UCI: 4.13
UCD: 4.11
UCSC: 3.96
UCR: 3.81
UCM: 3.71
2018 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT:
UCB: 1360-1540
UCLA: 1340-1540
UCSD: 1300-1520
UCSB: 1270-1500
UCD: 1220-1480
UCI: 1230-1490
UCSC: 1210-1450
UCR: 1130-1380
UCM: 1020-1280