<p>Hiiiiii so I've decided that UCSB (UCalifornia - Santa Barbara) is my absolute dream school. I live in New York and have a 30 ACT, 3.5 GPA. Would I even have a chance getting in? Or am i just dreaming about the beautiful campus of Isla Vista? FGEYDC.</p>
<p>You have a chance, but it is a slight reach. Your ACT score is fine, but you really need to raise your gpa, especially since you are an out of state student. You didn’t give much info about yourself so it is hard to tell. did you take any AP classes? volunteer work/ job? Make sure you write solid personal statements.
I will be attending UCSB this fall. Here are my stats: ACT 28, GPA 4.00 (weighted), 5 AP classes, volunteer work, member of several clubs/organizations, low income, minority</p>
<p>By the end of next year I’ll be taking 3 APs, have a job and a ton of community service ranging from playing tennis with autistic kids to reading books to terminally ill kids in a children’s hospital and 4 walks. I’m the secretary of my school for next year and a member of a bunch of clubs. My school doesn’t weight grades so I have no clue what itd be if it was considering I’m in most honors classes. Im also white/not-Hispanic. What do you think?</p>
<p>You should definitely apply to UCSB because you have a chance of getting in. The last two years, UCs have been admitting more out of state students so that definitely goes in your favor.
You are in honors/AP classes and have solid ECs which is good. As for your gpa, I’m not too familiar with unweighted grades (especially out of state). Admittance can also depend on the major you put on your application. Some majors like biology and economics are very popular and therefore admissions officers have a more competitive pool of students to choose from.</p>
<p>I want to major in film and media studies. Would that still be ok?</p>
<p>Film studies is small program at UCSB, but gradually being expanded. A few years ago they expanded film studies to include media studies as well. Film is not one of the popular/impacted majors so you should be fine. Ultimately, apply for the major you are interested in and not the easiest one to get into.</p>
<p>Thank you sooooooo much!!!</p>
<p>Glad to help! 
Feel free to ask me if you have any more questions regarding UCSB or any other UCs.</p>
<p>
I toured UCSB a month ago, and they explicitly stated that none of their majors are impacted. Therefore, you (OP) will have an equal chance of being admitted to any major. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Are you aware that UCSB doesn’t give financial aid to out of state students? Have a talk with your parents and make sure they are willing to pay 55k per year.</p>
<p>I’m telling you this, as much as they say it helps. EC really only help VERY little. Unless, of course, you’re talking about high-end competitions. Things like being member of multiple clubs and volunteering in club-events are often overlooked and worthless. I made it in this year with 1850 SAT and 3.9 GPA. Like sr16xy said, your ACT score is definitely good enough, you just need a little push on your GPA. Low income will definitely be a boost, esp if you’re a 1st gen.</p>
<p>^True, EC’s not nearly as important as for private schools. Race is supposed to be irrelevant at UC too.</p>
<p>
Actually, when I did a campus tour and listened to the admissions presentation, they said that they did a 50/50 holistic admissions weight type of thing. Meaning that 50 percent of their consideration when admitting students is GPA, test scores, curriculum, and the other 50 percent is extracurricular activities, personal statement, etc. This was pretty surprising since it’s a public school, which typically puts more weight on grades and test scores, but I guess UCSB is the exception from the other UC’s. This was disappointing for me since I have a strong academic record, but little in terms of extracurricular activities. :(</p>
<p>UCSB is not the exception. Most of the UCs have a holistic admissions process. I would say the only two where you can get in solely on grades and test scores are Riverside and Merced. However, I would argue that grades are still more important than ECs.</p>
<p>That’s what they all say to encourage you to do community work. I can honestly say I did about 200 hours of community service, joined clubs and other ECs, but I left my EC completely empty because I got too lazy to backtrack what I did. I was still accepted with 1850 SAT and 3.9 GPA and an empty EC column. So I’d argue that EC’s importance is overestimated.</p>
<p>Is the 3.9 weighted?</p>
<p>It is lol! My unweighted is about 3.6</p>