can ucla be one safety out of state?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
1

<p>-GA resident, male
-Ethnicity:1/4 Hispanic (Is this enough to only say Hispanic? I think I look somewhat Hispanic, but mostly Asian. Would it be best to just say I'm mixed Filipino and Spanish? I think my surname sounds Spanish)
-UW GPA: 3.94ish
-Weighted GPA: 4.14
-school doesn't rank, but I got an award for being the junior with the highest weighted GPA, meaning I'm a would-be valedictorian.</p>

<p>SAT I's (I'm retaking this October or November. I will aim for getting as close to perfect as possible.)</p>

<p>Math: 800
CR: 730
Writing:710</p>

<p>SAT II's (should I take some more, I'm also applying to 6/8 of the ivies and Stanford as well)
Math II: 800
Chem: 720
U.S. History: 710</p>

<p>Past AP's: US Gov and Politics-5
Projected AP scores for this year:
APUSH: 5
AP Chem: 4/5
AP Eng. Lang: 4/5</p>

<p>Senior Load
1. AP Calculus BC
2. AP Statistics (is it true stats is not really math, but is more like reading?)
3. AP Biology
4. AP Physics C
5. AP Literature
6. Economics
7. (maybe) Band (if I can fit it in my schedule)</p>

<p>-school doesn't offer honors classes, but mentions "due to the rigorous curriculum of the school, no classes are designated as honors" in school description.</p>

<p>My only B's have been graphic design freshman year and AP Gov last year(will a 5 on the exam atone for this)? I got straight A's junior year.</p>

<p>-will mention Math, Economics, and Chemistry respectively as my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice majors. I want to be an investment banker or hedge fund manager when I grow up.</p>

<p>EC's:</p>

<p>Boy Scouts
-Eagle Scout (just did my board of review). My project was building benches, pressure-washing old ones, and putting sealant.
-Senior Patrol Leader during 10th grade, Patrol Leader during 9th
-broke a national record for hiking. I hiked the Bartram Trail (100 miles/5 days, has a lot of elevation): honored by Governor Sonny Purdue and national head of boy scouts for this feat
-LOTS of community service projects
-raised money for inner-city kids to buy scout uniforms
-Philmont Summer 2010</p>

<p>Tennis (all 4 years)
-private lesons
-varsity tennis</p>

<p>Academic Quiz Bowl team (10-12)</p>

<p>I founded and am president of our school's food critic club. We go to restaurants about once a month and write critiques about them, which are published in the school newspaper.</p>

<p>Trumpet
-private lessons
-Superior Rating (9,10,11) at Solo Ensemble Festival
-Community Jazz Band (9-12)
-GISA all-select band member (11th grade) (top band members of private schools in GA)
-played for church on Sundays
-invited to play at school's open house 10th grade</p>

<p>Piano
-lessons
-invited to play at several concerts</p>

<p>Young Republicans (should i say this? i know prestigious colleges are very liberal?)
-helped a bake sale to fund troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
-helped campaign for John Mccain and senator Saxby Chambliss</p>

<p>Duke TIP summer program (summers after 9th and 10th grade, I respectively studied macroecon. and robotics)</p>

<p>Academic Awards:
-Georgia Certificate of Merit
-Phi Beta Kappa Award (given to Junior with the highest weighted GPA in class)</p>

<p>Hobbies:
-food-trying at restaurants (and even cooking some by myself)
-camping/backpacking</p>

<p>Miscellaneous:
I also volunteer at the library during the summer.
-I'm almost certain my PSAT score will qualify me for semifinalist standing in the NMS search. I didn't fill out Hispanic in the ethnicity section, so I wont get National Hispanic Recognition Program Honors.</p>

<p>Recommendations: I know several teachers at my school who like me and will probably write well about me.
Essay: 1) talk about perseverance, about how I thought I could accomplish anything after my national record hike (would this sound too trite?)
2) talk about how certain adversity in a trumpet competition didn't kill my trumpet passions.</p>

2

<p>safety? i think not. your URM status doesn’t help you because the UC’s dont give you an advantage for being hispanic.
Average weighted GPA of an admitted student is 4.37.
Unweighted is 3.87</p>

<p>I’d say you have a very good chance to get in, but not so far as to call it a safety.</p>

3

<p>A couple things

  1. No college should theoretically reject you because you are a republican.
  2. UCLA doesn’t take recommendations
  3. Have you looked at the essay topics, because I’m pretty sure that one of them is about how your family, friends, etc. have impacted you.
  4. You have a good shot, but i wouldn’t say it’s a safety, even if you were in state. A safety for you would be more like UC Davis.</p>
4

<p>I think you have a fair shot, but it’s nearly impossible to tell. I wouldn’t call UCLA a safety. I know a few people who got rejected who had perfect SAT scores and extremely high GPAs. They had ample leadership experience, too.</p>

5

<p>You have good stats, but I wouldn’t say safety even if you’re in-state. :frowning: Sorry, but with UCLA, it’s impossible to be anyone’s safety.
I’d say if you’re REALLY not that much Hispanic, or count yourself as one regularly, you shouldn’t put it. It seems like you identify as asian more. :slight_smile:
Don’t be scared to put any one of your ECs! The point of getting involved in any extracurricular is that it’s something you ENJOY, not what other people think of it (well unless it really is something harmful). Also, I wouldn’t assume that most prestigious universities are liberal, because you’ll definitely find a generous mix of political views at any.
Oh yeah and for sure UCLA doesn’t take teacher recs, but sounds like they’ll help you with the privates. :smiley:
You have a pretty strong application though, so good luck! The food critic club sounds especially interesting.</p>

6

<p>UCLA is never a “safety” school… sorry. Not even if you have perfect SAT scores. </p>

<p>Calling UCLA a safety school is a big insult to UCLA’s academic excellence.</p>