Hi I’m a mom trying to help my child.
My child wants to major in Biopsychology. I looked at UCSB’s list of most popular majors and the results were:
Social Sciences; Psychology; Biological and Biomedical Sciences; Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs; and Physical Sciences.
I’m very new to this system as I went to college abroad.
Is Biopsychology a hard major to get at UCSB?
Does it fall under Psychology/Biomed?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
UCSB is a surprisingly competitive school - for all majors. The link below will show you the avg GPA/SAT/ACT this year.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/santa-barbara/freshman-profile/
Biopsychology is found under Psychology. Only 3 UC’s offer this specific degree: UCD/UCLA and UCSB and all are very competitive. What are the student’s GPA/ACT/SAT/EC’s etc…?
http://web-dev.psych.ucsb.edu/undergrad/biopsychology-major
http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/undergraduate/psychology-major/psychology-degrees
The student has a 3.0 weighted, with a 2130 SAT score and a 30 ACT score. The student moved from another country with harsh family circumstances for her freshman and sophomore years, she dealt with grief through junior year which affected her grades a lot. The student has good extracurricular activities - 1 year varsity basketball, directed plays for a theater troupe and acted in a play which won an international play festival award, part of a kids for tigers movement - where she acted in street plays, part of a school theater group that brought issues of the girl child and female infanticide to light. Part of her school’s Odyssey of the mind team, part of her school’s dance team - choreographed for them, volunteered for the american cancer society, 12 years classical indian dance, speech team captain, debate team awards(novice and varsity), social work - tutored at a girls’ orphanage in india and held health and hygiene workshops for them, UNICEF, documentation head and camp counselor at an arts camp, photographer and runs an online youth magazine. Does she stand a chance? *Even if she doesn’t go for the biopsychology major. She wants to major in either neuroscience, molecular biology, biopsychology, pre-law, psychological and brain sciences, or feminist studies. Which one do you think she has a chance for? She is an out of state student.
You need a minimum UC GPA of 3.0 just to apply to the UC’s and even at the minimum, you are looking at UC Merced and UC Riverside. Average UC GPA for UCSB is 4.05, UCD is 4.07 and UCLA is 4.18. The student’s EC’s look very good and UCSB will give EC’s much weight but probably not enough to overcome the low GPA. For the UC’s, GPA is king. As an OOS applicant, the acceptance rate is higher, but so are the standards. Will the student be able to pay at the minimum $23K/year + EFC up to full price of $55K/year? OOS applicants get little to no FA/Merit aid at any UC.
Have the student calculate their UC GPA using only AP/IB classes for the extra honors points to make sure they make the 3.0 threshold. If they are willing to major in the other areas listed, then UCM/UCR and UCSC might be good options.
http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
The harsh family circumstances could be addressed in the UC’s essays for additonal boost.
Thank you so much! Your advice is truly helpful. This has been so confusing to adjust to this new college system. She has been practicing to retake the SAT and ACT, if she achieves significantly higher test scores (like a 2200 or a 32, will she make the cut? She has already got a 710 on the SAT II chemistry and has gotten a 3 on the AP Chem and AP calculus ab exams. She is looking to take another 2 sat IIs and get good scores in them to make up for her gpa. Yes, she will be able to pay the minimum without aid. She is really in love with UCSB, and I haven’t assisted her at all so far, but I wanted to be able to answer the questions she has in mind. All her ACT essays have been graded above a 10. does that help?
Depending upon how her UC GPA calculates out, her GPA will still be a problem. If you look at the unweighted GPA listed on the UCSB common dataset, only 0.87% of applicants accepted had a GPA of 3.0-3.24 unweighted. Average Unweighted GPA 3.98
Section C11 http://bap.ucsb.edu/IR/Common_Data_Set/CDS_2014-2015.pdf
Great test scores will help, but UCSB will still be considered a Low Reach. UCSC/UCR/UCM would be better matches for the UC’s. There is no reason not to apply, just understand that her dream school of UCSB, may just be that. UC admissions can be unpredictable but in the end it will come down to GPA/Test Scores/HS course rigor/Essays and EC’s. How much of an impact one area vs another will make is hard to say. Usually you want to be at the average in academic stats to have a fighting chance.
I believe you may have misunderstood here. If she has a LOT of financial need she still needs to come up with the minimum cost of $23K since there is no aid offered for the OOS portion. If her circumstances are better, she may be on the hook for the full $55K/year. There is no combination that involves paying the minimum of $23K and no aid.
As for the BioPsych major, there are 2 steps in the process. The 1st is getting admitted to UCSB. For majors in Letters & Science, which is where BioPsych is housed, the choice of major on her app doesn’t matter. See http://admissions.sa.ucsb.edu/applying/freshman/selection The only majors in this college that are treated individually are dance and music performance. Other than that, it is no harder to get accepted to UCSB intending to major in BioPsych than any other L&S major since the major listed does not matter. The 2nd step is to satisfy the requirements to be admitted into the major, once she is enrolled at UCSB. These are listed at https://www.psych.ucsb.edu/undergrad/biopsychology-major
If her GPA is 3.0 then she has nothing to lose by applying, assuming the app fees are affordable, but her chances are pretty low according to the chart at http://universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/freshman-admissions-summary (on the right select admit rate, UCSB as the campus, and HS GPA as the applicant characteristic). In 2014 the admit rate for GPA under 3.39 was 2% and that probably overestimates her chances since it does not distinguish in-state from OOS.
Out of state students in California receive little to no aid for tuition and fees.
You are currently looking at $55k per year. I’m assuming she is not currently a citizen? and you’ve stated that you’ll pay the minimum (which was clearly misunderstood-it’s $23k PLUS the EFC-which will be significant).
Are you willing to pay over $200,000 for her 4 years in California?
The UCs are public universities paid for by California taxpayers, such that the children of those taxpayers get priority over OOS students. The state of California is out of money and will charge full fees to OOS residents.
The link from Santa Barbara indicates over$60k in tuition and fees for the coming year
http://www.finaid.ucsb.edu/cost-of-attendance
I now understand, sorry for misrepresenting. She is a US citizen and does not need aid therefore we will be willing to pay that money. Her family circumstances were extremely harsh during highschool and have only recently stabilized. Do colleges not take that into account? Her test scores are high, her AP scores qualify for UCSB and she’s aiming to get her test scores higher and all of her ECs prove that she is dedicated on both the academic and community front. She has been given various leadership positions such as captain of the speech team, director in an award winning play, etc. which proves that those around her find her worthy of responsibilities. I really thought that UCSB was one of the UCs that took that into account a lot more than the other UCs.
I have linked the UCSB freshman selection criteria stating that 50% is based on GPA/a-g courses and tests scores while the other 50% is personal statements (essays) and activities. UCSB is more “holistic” than some of the other UC’s, but bottom line is that as an OOS applicant, she will need a UC GPA of 3.4 to qualify to apply and amazing essays and EC’s could overcome the GPA deficit but there is no guarantee.
http://admissions.sa.ucsb.edu/applying/freshman/selection
There is no reason not to apply, but you cannot count on an acceptance. Make sure she has several other schools on the list that she would like to attend. I have gone through the UC application process 3 times in the last 3 years with my 2 son’s and niece. Even with good stats, good essays and EC’s, UC’s are hard to predict.
Both son’s were competitive applicants and neither were accepted at UCSB as in-state applicants. So many competitive applicants apply to these schools and there are not enough spots for all of them.
Good Luck.
Her GPA is really not competitive when viewed and compared to other students, especially instate students.
As a mother, you need to put aside your biases and read the GPA requirements. Her scores have to be better than the instate applicants to even be considered. The UCs get hundreds of thousands of applications each year. Priority goes to instate residents. Our instate students are extremely bright and talented and GPAs are very competitive for UCSB…
She won’t be considered a better applicant because she’s had a harsh life. The adcoms look at GPA and test scores first, then EC activities and a review of the presented essay prompts. Sob stories by parents aren’t going to cut it.
The state of California has placed a priority on educating its residents. The more you are aware of that, the more realistic you can be in presenting this information to your daughter.
You should consider your instate options. If she’s only willing to apply to UCSB and she’s rejected, which happens often, she might not get in anywhere. Your desperation at forcing the issue, UCSB or nothing, may lead to a significantly disappointed child come Spring.
I don’t know why people say it is so much harder to get admitted as an oos student when the admit rates are actually higher for most UC’s. As it stands, it is actually easier to get admitted to most UC’s (including UCSB) as an oos. Now, assuming she is oos, GPA will probably be a problem as I believe you need a 3.4 weighted gpa in order to be seriously considered. Definitely apply though; the odds aren’t necessarily in your favor but, with those excellent SAT scores and amazing personal statements, you may still have a shot.
http://www.ucop.edu/institutional-research-academic-planning/data-reports/key-reports/student-workforce-pages/2015-admissions.html
She is working on getting it up to a 3.4. If it reaches at least 3.2, would that make a huge difference? I’m just trying to get all the facts together and the fact is that she has spent most of her highschool life taking care of her family. It isn’t a “sob story”, she has dealt with a lot more than most high school students in america deal with. She moved from a developing nation mid high school, had to deal with adjusting and acculturation, nursed her ailing family members and took the responsibility of their treatments and coped with their deaths. The incident is a large part of her identity and not just some sob story excuse. I am not “desperate”, I am just trying to understand how to help my child. And I do understand the importance of GPA which is why she is trying to pull up her gpa through her first quarter grades as a senior. And hopefully that will make a difference.
OOS applicants need a 3.4 UC GPA to have their application considered. UC GPA is just grades 10-11 so, there’s really nothing she can do at this stage to bring it up. Without meeting that threshold, the rest basically doesn’t matter.
She should apply to UCSB but, just be sure she understands admisson is highly unlikely.
Clearly she’s had a tough time but, is bright and has a great advocate in you. Here’s how you can help… point her to schools she is likely to get into. Cal States like Sac and Sonoma have solid Psych departments and are likely to accept her. Privates (USD and LMU in So Cal and St Mary’s and UoP in N Cal) don’t have hard thresholds and are far more likely to consider her hardships. I don’t know about their bio-psych focus but, one step at a time.
Her other option is to attend a CC, take the right classes, earn a 3.5 and transfer as a Jr.
Good luck
to raise another issue, why is it so important to go to a UC? For the OOS cost of a UC the OP’s daughter could go to a good college with much smaller classes, more personal advising such as having an assigned faculty advisor, etc. Instate the UCs are still a decent deal (although not the amazing deal they were 20 years ago), but I find it hard to justify them apples-to-apples compared to what is available at a similar price for OOS students elsewhere.
Furthermore the OP ought to be aware that having this specific major isn’t that important. In the sciences the degree that gets you a job is a PhD. BS/BA holders tend to end up in relatively low paying jobs with little opportunity for real advancement. To qualify for a Biospsych PhD program a blend of Bio and Psych courses should suffice; with some digging you can look on the web at U’s that offer that degree and see what they expect of applicants.
It sounds like the D has had a rough go of it, so at this point I’d suggest spending time finding colleges providing the academic and social environment that is the best fit. Dollar for dollar, I’d be quite surprised if the right answer was a UC.
Senior year grades are not considered in the UC admissions process. 9-11th grades are considered to make sure the a-g course requirements are met and 10-11th grades are used for the UC GPA calculation. Senior grades will be used to keep the provisional admission if accepted, but the GPA is what is what it is now and it cannot be increased. If she does not have a UC GPA of 3.4 by the end of Junior year, her application will not be considered. I agree with @mikemac, that are so many good universities besides a UC where she would be gladly accepted and probably at a much less cost. Good luck to you and your daughter.