Can anyone chance me? I have a painfully low GPA but good test scores

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - San Diego
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<p>Thanks a lot for even checking this post guys, I need some advice. Should I even bother applying at all? Here are my stats:</p>

<p>UC GPA: 3.54 (on the flipside, I had a 4.0 all throughout my junior year, which is what saved my GPA from dropping lower)
School: Very competitive, I won't tell you where I go to school but I am from one of the top 10 UCSD feeder schools</p>

<p>SAT: 1600 (M+CR) / 2320 (all in one sitting)</p>

<p>SAT IIs- World History: 800, Math 2C: 800, Bio E: 800, US History: 800</p>

<p>AP: Psych, English Lang and Comp, Comp Sci, US History- All 5s, (self studied Psych)</p>

<p>I worked hard on my personal statements; my AP English Lang teacher liked the essays, and so did my AP English Lit teacher. My Honors Chem teacher (who has an MFA in some Literature) liked it as well though she was critical of my chosen topic. But that's a matter that's been taken care of. </p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
AP Physics C
AP English Lit
AP Art History
AP Calc AB/Calc C Honors
AP Gov
Spanish 3</p>

<p>ECs And Achievements:</p>

<p>As you're about to see, much of my ECs revolve around politics and trivia, which makes up the bulk of my interests. </p>

<p>Captain of Quiz Bowl Team (I share the title with another individual, but I do most of the organization of tournaments that we host or attend. The team didn't do as well as I had hoped this year at HSNCT, but that's another matter)</p>

<p>Constitution Team member</p>

<p>Vice President of the Young Republicans</p>

<p>President and Founder of Pre-Law Society</p>

<p>I regularly volunteer at a nonprofit for veterans of the Iraq War, approx. 350 hours so far </p>

<p>FBLA Treasurer</p>

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<p>youre fine</p>

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<p>I think you’re fine, especially with those SAT IIs and a 4.0 junior year. Granted, Harvard might be a stretch but it is for everyone. I think you’ll do fine in the admissions process though.</p>

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<p>umm why is this in the ucsd forum? you do know that with the point system, you’re definitely in? on top of that you’ll probably get invited to honors program or maybe regents.</p>

<p>if you’re applying to top private schools however, let me warn you that they don’t like low gpa-high test score trends. the reverse would be much better. not that i’m saying you are, but don’t get cocky because you think X school should be wowed by your miraculous test scores vs. your low gpa.
also, don’t get smart in your essays. i won’t tell you what to write, but i’ll tell you NOT to write something gimmick-y for the shock factor or simply to stand out. they will see through that. you’re far from the first to have that paradoxical low gpa-high test score trend (regardless of how much you improved jr year) and you’re certainly not the first to write about it either. there’s a number of people who think their “hook” lies in playing up that lazy-genius schtick but trust me, it will backfire.
sorry to be so upfront. i just think that with your potential, you shouldn’t ruin your application by getting cocky or playing tricks. just be straightforward in everything you do, ESPECIALLY essays, because people will always see through the facade.
as far as la and berkeley: it’s shaky (i assume you’ll apply there too) but i think you’ll get into one of them if not both. boston u will be a breeze too.</p>

<p>once again, i’m not accusing you of arrogance or anything, i’m just saying this all in warning. it’s easy to get excited when you see that harvard-caliber SAT score, but know that there are thousands of people with the gpa AND the scores to boot. be honest with yourself, be humble but also be brave. BEST OF LUCK!</p>

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<p>^ lol, agreed.</p>

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<p>92faim,</p>

<p>I apologize if I came off as a guy with the “test scores will save me so screw my GPA” mentality. I’ve been a lurker on CC since I was in 8th grade and I’ve seen the high test score and GPA combination students that get promptly rejected from a school that they thought was a match. </p>

<p>Originally I was only planning on applying to UCR, UCM, and UCSC but my senior friends agreed that UCSD for me was very unlikely but worth a try. So now I have UCD, UCI, UCSB and UCSD on my list. If anything, I regret my crappy sophomore year GPA, and I wasn’t planning on trying to make it look like I deserve to be received into a big name school with the admissions committee bowing to me because my test scores.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice, I’ll definitely keep your words in mind as I continue to work on my apps and essays.</p>

<p>Oh and I’m not sure if I understand your first question. Why wouldn’t this be in the UCSD forum? After all, I am asking about my chances of being accepted into this school. Did you get a little confused because I accidentally included a paragraph on a Northeastern University-specific matter? If it is, then I’m sorry for confusing you. I believe I’ve already deleted those sentences.</p>

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<p>And what exactly is the UCSD point system?</p>

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<p>archives, my friend.</p>

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<p>^Right, I’ve seen the 2005 thread on the point system and the more recent threads. But is there an official source that can tell me how to calculate my UCSD points?</p>

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<p>[UC</a> San Diego Comprehensive Review Admission Process: Freshman Selection, Fall 2010](<a href=“http://www.ucsd.edu/prospective-students/freshmen/eval-process.html]UC”>http://www.ucsd.edu/prospective-students/freshmen/eval-process.html)</p>

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<p>Thanks to Kenmai, I’ve been able to get a general idea of my points. </p>

<p>If there wasn’t a “maximum consideration” for each section of the application I guess I’d look at least a little bit appealing. But considering the limits I doubt my points will make the cutoff, whatever that number may be next apps season. Wasn’t it somewhere around the 7600 range this year? Since I don’t know exactly how many points i’ll receive for each part of my application, my most generous estimate is about 7700 points.</p>

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<p>i’m not sure anyone here can give you a specific number, but i’m sure you’re in at UCSD. your only obligation now is to not mess up the online app when you’re filling out your grades and family info lol.
don’t stress about it, i wasn’t accusing you of arrogance. i’m just warning you not to go there. i think most arrogant people know not to be, but they sometimes get caught up in the rapture of their amazing test scores and the hubris starts creeping on them. it happens, it’s human. i’m only warning you (or anyone in your position) not to ruin your app because of a cocky attitude or gimmick-y essay. btw sorry for my incredulity but i thought you were ■■■■■■■■ with the whole “only applying to BU and UCSD-level schools” part. seriously, you may need new friends. UCSD is in no way a reach for you. i don’t know why they would tell you it is.</p>

<p>that being said, you have really good chances at a number of competitive private schools. like i said, you should apply to ucla and berkeley because i think you might get into at least one, maybe both. but definitely try.</p>

<p>a lot of lower-ranked ivy league schools and the ones coasting in the 11-20 rankings on USNews are very fond of high SAT scores. examples include brown, dartmouth, and usc. research those schools and consider if you’re interested. if you are, i encourage you to apply to them. you’d be surprised what kind of skewed gpa-sat stats their admittees have. i know a number of people who had astronomical sat scores but pretty rotten gpas who got into those schools. they tended to apply ED and have great essays. don’t expect great fin aid from those unless you really qualify, though.
if you decide to apply to any of these top privates, it’s hardcore from here on out. your essays NEED to be good, edging on great. obviously the better your essay, the higher your chances. i’d say that’s the most important thing right now for you. start writing in a diary daily and gathering some thoughts. i’d say that by late august, you need to have a few rather solid essay topic ideas. if you need help pm me</p>

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<p>I’d say that you’re in at UCSD, but if you want Cal or UCLA, you’ll have to write great essays and possibly offer an explanation for the low grades (first essy ais a good place to do so)</p>

<p>I had a 3.77 UC // 2330 / 800 / 790 and got into UCSD two years ago, but not Cal or LA (in retrospect, a blessing). I didn’t apply to privates, so I can’t give you much guidance there.</p>

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<p>Well I go to a very competitive school, a school that I failed to survive at until I set up a sort of battle plan between sophomore and junior year. In retrospect, the only reason I could give for my dismal grades is laziness. Now I did recently get diagnosed with ADD, but that was midway through my junior year, when I was already pulling straight A’s, so the colleges would know that I was perfectly capable of pulling off a 4.0 even without my diagnosis. I feel like I should’ve gone to a psychologist earlier, but I’m not very cool with using ADD as an excuse anyway. Thanks for all the info on private universities 92faim, but I think Northeastern/BU is the highest i’ll aim for. I’ll perhaps try NYU or the University of Rochester.</p>

<p>At the end of the first semester of my sophomore year, I was hoping to finish with a 3.77 UC GPA like Mique was, but obviously that plan of attack failed miserably. I have seen people with stats equal to mine be accepted into UCLA and Cal, but they all were either one in a million anomalies or they had some achievement along the lines of “I helped a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist write a front page story” or “I was runner up in an international TKD competition”.</p>

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<p>ok, i trust you’ll make the right decisions. i’m just letting you know: don’t get intimidated from applying to higher-up schools. you’re obviously very competent and clear-minded, and with a great essay i think you could definitely show out at some top schools. </p>

<p>however, if you’re chalking your low gpa up to laziness, then i understand that and i applaud you for facing the consequences responsibly. i still encourage you to start writing essays early if you want to apply to UCLA, Berkeley and up. i truly believe you can get into schools of that caliber. my offer still stands for you to pm me with any questions. really, i think you could get into some fantastic schools. don’t short change yourself, that’s all i’m saying. good luck! :)</p>

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<p>Thanks, I’ve already finished a first draft of my essay, but I’m focusing a little more on BU since that’s where I hope to go if UCI/UCSD falls through.</p>

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<p>I bookmarked this page from another thread around here, took me a while to find it again earlier lol it’s the spreadsheet that’s been known to be used for their point system. Only thing is that the estimated cutoff on the bottom is more than likely going to change</p>

<p>[ucsd</a> score](<a href=“http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pKB1yD5iQn_8wqH5bhMkhZw]ucsd”>http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pKB1yD5iQn_8wqH5bhMkhZw)</p>

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<p>^ </p>

<p>Well that cutoff is only going to go higher this year right? </p>

<p>Like I said before, if there wasn’t a maximum consideration for test scores, I’d probably have a chance of getting in, but my current score is about 7640. Plus I was being slightly generous with myself so UCSD would probably give me less points.</p>

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<p>Yes, the cutoff is more than likely going to increase each year. And unfortunately it has been the case that people using that rubric have been a bit generous with how they score themselves compared to how UCSD actually scores. If the worst case scenario occurs, you could always transfer into a school of your choice. If you don’t get in the first time (just saying if, not saying you won’t), don’t let it stop you from going where you want to go if presented with the chance down the road.</p>

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<p>Any more insight before I return to preparing for senior year?</p>

<p>Any at all would be appreciated!</p>