My weighted GPA is 3.4. My SAT is 1670 and my ACT is 25. I am a full IB diploma candidate, and took 5 honors classes and 1 regular class my junior year, and 7 honors/weighted classes my senior year. I have been on swim for 4 years, water polo for 3. I have done ECs such as teaching art to little kids, volunteering for the american cancer society, etc. I am secretary of one club, but have participated in 3. I am very very very very stressed that my gpa and sat score will ruin my chances of getting in
If you look at the ‘Common Data’ for UCSC, it appears that your GPA and test scores are pretty solidly in the lower half of all admitted students.
That means it is reasonably possible, but you need to submit a well-done application.
Students with less than a 3.5 had an admit rate of 8.2% vs. the majority of students: 91.8%, who had above a 3.5.
The “average” GPA was deemed to be 3.88.
Your stats are low, so your essay needs to be very good.
Here’s the problem: the SAT and ACT are used as predictors of how you will perform at the university level. The University does not want you to struggle and fail from the very beginning since you will be with peers who have scores that are a lot higher than yours.
The UC classes go faster than high school. You only have 10 weeks to prove yourself. Some classes have limited tests and your whole grade may be based on 2 tests. Does that make sense? Apply and see what happens.
You may want to take a look at some of the CSU’s and see if you can get into the less impacted CSU’s.
thank you! I think I was just hoping that going above and beyond in everything else would make up for my scores.
thank you!
Stronger test scores would significantly improve your chances. I’d take either the SAT or ACT again.
Check your unweighted GPA against the Common Dataset to see where you stand (Section c11)
http://planning.ucsc.edu/irps/OFFICE/cds_2014-15.pdf
Your GPA is on the low side for UCSC. You need to get your SAT up to at least the 1800 to 1900 range. A good essay would also help.
I’ll say probably not. Your GPA is simply too low to be a serious contender.
I would recommend taking the SAT again if possible. You don’t have a great chance, so definitely make your essays stand out.