I had a bad freshman and sophomore year with a 3.3 gpa, but this year as a junior I have a 4.0 gpa weighted and 3.8 non weighted. I’m also working hard at my act, so do i still have a chance at getting into the UCs and/or private universities like loyola marymount or santa clara? Or would these be considered reach schools. i also do a lot of extra curriculars. any help/advice is appreciated:)
UC’s will only use 10-11th grades so at the end of Junior year you can calculate your capped weighted and fully weighted UC GPA using this calculator.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
For the UC’s, 9th grades are reviewed to determine if you have passed and completed your a-g courses and Senior grades will maintain your provisional admission.
UC’s consider GPA, Test scores, HS course rigor and the Personal Insight essays Very important. EC’s are Important but your GPA will have to the most impact.
For the privates schools, they will look at your 9-11th grades and many times ask for a Mid-year Senior transcript but having an upward grade trend will definitely help.
There is no way to determine which schools will be Target or Reach schools until you have completed your Junior year and have an ACT score.
Below is some UC statistical data to give you an idea if you can be competitive. I would also look at the Cal States since many can be on par with some of the UC’s in academics and difficulty in getting an acceptance.
All GPA quoted is the Capped Weighted UC GPA and not major specific. For Target schools, you want your stats above the 50th percentile (averages) and for a Safety your stats should be above the 75th percentile.
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79:
UCB: 1.8%
UCLA: 2.2%
UCSD: 7.2%
UCSB: 10.1%
UCI: 11.1%
UCD: 16.6%
UCSC: 43.8%
UCR: 63.3%
UCM: 88.7%
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:
UCB: 12.6%
UCLA: 11.7%
UCSD: 38.7%
UCSB: 53.6%
UCD: 56.5%
UCI: 52.1%
UCSC: 75.7%
UCR: 90.1%
UCM: 96.1%
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
25th - 75th percentiles for ACT:
UCB: 30-35
UCLA: 31-35
UCSD: 28-34
UCSB: 28-34
UCD: 26-33
UCI: 26-33
UCSC: 26-32
UCR: 22-30
UCM: 19-26
Best of luck and keep up the good work.