Can I get into decent California schools with a 3.8 average?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi , I will be applying this fall and i’m so scared. My major will be English which from iv’e heard isn’t as competitive. I will be applying to the following: Cal State Fullerton , Cal Sate Fresno, San Francisco State, San Diego State, UCR, UCI, UCLA, UCD, NYU and UCSB.

These are my stats:
Ethnicity: Mexican
Background & topic for my statement essay: My father passed away 3 years ago in an unexpected car accident . My mother is now a single mother working 6/7 times a week which still leaves our family below or average in middle class. Due to my mother working and my sister in community college out of state ( I will also be the first to attend a University) I have the job as the oldest in the house to take care of my younger siblings with homework and looking after them which impedes on my school work.

Anyway, these are the main qualities which I have. I will apply with a 3.8 average, I will be taking the SAT in a few weeks and hope to get around an 1800. This year my school started IB classes similar to AP but it stands for International Baccalaureate. There is a certificate for students taking only a few classes but I am in the full diploma taking around 6 college classes. In the full diploma it is only 13 students out of the entire 500 in my grade. I am hoping colleges will see that it is the first year so I am still adjusting and out of the 500 students I pushed myself with hard classes(never taken college classes before this year).

EC’s: Varsity track 2 years, JV Soccer 2 years, JV Cross country 1 year. President of Christian Club, member of M.E.C.H.A, Founder of ‘The newspaper’ club, and Co-founder of ‘The equality’ club. I also have 400 community service hours and hope to do 100 more before I apply. Is there any way I can get into these schools? Thank you so much , all comments greatly appreciated! :slight_smile:

2

I can’t speak for the other schools, but i can speak for UCLA since I’m a second year. I feel that your stats are really good and that your essay will be filled with many inspiring things and that’s what UCLA is looking for. People say how you need a 2000 or more score in the SAT to get into UCLA, but i don’t think that’s true. I did not think UCLA will even consider me, but they did. I wasn’t involved in sports, but i was in a lot of clubs. I took between 5 to 7 AP classes and i had a pretty high GPA. I got a 1590 on my SAT. I know everybody is different but i don’t thik UCLA admissions simply look at the scores and numbers, i feel that they also look at your experiences and how you overcome hardships. :slight_smile:

3

Is your GPA of 3.8, your UC/CSU GPA? http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

You have alot going for you in terms of EC’s and a very good story to tell on your essays. UCLA tends to be more holistic in their application review to your advantage. The Cal States should be good safeties and you do have a good chance at the rest of the schools. Very hard to predict the UC’s these days, so all you can do is apply and hope for the best. Good Luck.

4

Is that 3.8 UW? But please add some private schools, you are first generation and URM, probably get great results. Don’t just limit yourselve to just UCs.