Chance a Canadian applicant for the UC’s

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
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Your opinions appreciated on my chances at UCLA, UCB, UCSD, UCI and UCSB.

Demographics

  • Asian (Chinese) male

  • International student from Canada

  • No hooks

  • Not applying for financial aid

Stats

UW/UC GPA/Weighted: 3.89/4.11/4.33

Future plans

Intended major in Business Administration/International Business

IB courses/scores

NOTE: my school converts IB grades to % on transcript. The names in quotation marks are what’s shown on my transcript. They are just the IB courses but with different names for the school system in my area.

Exams:

SL Mathematics A&A (M22): 7
SL Computer Science (M22): 7

Last reporting term (transcript grades):

“Advanced Functions” (SL Math): 100%
“Calculus and Vectors” (SL Math): 100%
“Intro to CS” (SL CS): 88%
“CS Final” (SL CS) :98%
“English” (HL English A LangLit): 92%
“French” (SL French B): 88%
“Economics” (HL Economics): 97%
“Psychology” (HL Psychology): 97%

Current courses:

HL English LangLit (IP)
HL English LangLit (Planned)
HL Psychology (IP)
HL Psychology (Planned)
HL Economics (IP)
HL Economics (Planned)
Theory of Knowledge (IP)
SL French B (Planned)

All my grade 9 and 10 grades are above 90% (all A’s). Upward trend in social sciences and math.

Awards

Invited to Kakehashi Project; exchange project in Japan; 1st place in the provincial Ontario Japan Bowl, so I was invited; one of the 2 teams, out of the 50+ teams across Canada, invited; first at my school to receive an invitation (INTERNATIONAL)

Outstanding Academic Excellence for IB SL Mathematics A&A; level 7 IB score and 100% in the course; nominated by my math teacher; one out of the 7 students, out of the 80+ students in the 4 math classes, to receive this award (SCHOOL)

Academic Excellence (Honours w/Distinction); approx. 60/100+ students receive this award
(SCHOOL)

Two RCM Level 8 Piano and Piano Theory awards; Honours for piano, honours w/distinction for piano theory (NATIONAL)

ECs

Head of Advertisement, Student Activity Council (gr. 9, 11, 12)

  • organize various school-wide events
  • film these experiences, create recap videos, post on IG page
  • hosted two-month-long Alumni Talk and promoted a food bank that had 300+ food items donated to it

Percussion Section Leader, Wind Ensemble (gr. 9, 10, 11, 12)

  • lead sectionals to help other percussionists improve
  • currently preparing for MusicFest Canada’s 51st “The Nationals”

Content Creator & YouTube Manager, National STEM Fellowship Charity (gr. 11, 12)

  • create TikTok videos on STEM-related subjects to promote STEM to all students, regardless of demographics
  • “LGBTQ+ People in STEM” vid had most views (2.5k) in June 2022 and my “Tips for SL Math” had the most views (2.9k) in August 2022
  • currently devising promo plans for YT channel; working on a holiday theme

Social Media Coordinator, non-profit org in my community (gr. 9, 10, 11, 12)

  • promote various workshops and initiatives on Instagram and YouTube accounts
  • film and edit teaser videos to excite youth about our numerous STEM opportunities
  • since joining this org in middle school, i’ve learned to help others when challenges arise and collaborate effectively to overcome these unprecedented difficulties

President, city’s FBLA chapter (gr. 11, 12)

  • initial general member, but chosen by FBLA Canada to lead the city’s chapter bc of my business-oriented/leadership experiences
  • recruit students in my city, train 30 students (more than the average for a city chapter) to compete in the Canadian National Leadership Conference

Director and Software Developer, dance studio in my community (gr. 10, 11)

  • directed, filmed, and edited a promotional video which is posted on their website
  • designed and coded a registration application to simplify manual work

Drummer, rock band (gr. 9, 11, 12)

  • play in numerous school concerts
  • lead the band during rehearsals by planning breakdowns for each song, organizing the song list for each practice, and choreographing creative concert entrances for singers and instrumentalists

Doubles Partner, Badminton (gr. 9, 11, 12)

  • made gr. 9 school badminton team (JV)
  • currently training to captain the senior badminton team (varsity)
  • running junior team (JV) tryouts in December

Link Leader, Link Crew (gr. 10, 11, 12)

  • selected by teachers to be a Link Leader
  • help students transition into high school; lead engaging events and host school tours

Card Creator, non-profit org in my community (gr. 10, 11, 12)

  • designed a total of 32 handmade and virtual cards to instill positivity in cancer patients before the non-profit took a hiatus
  • received several praises for creating a thoughtful and well-designed card

Personal Insight Questions

Leadership: talked about devising the school’s inaugural virtual Holiday Assembly bc in-person one was cancelled by COVID; wanted to continue spreading memories with all students; led SAC team in creating a successful assembly that 1,068 students enjoyed watching (people have said this one emphasizes leadership qualities, well-written)

Creative-side: talked about being a drummer in the rock band; how i used my drumming as a creative way to help my friend overcome her troubles (people have said this one is very wholesome)

Talent and the process of nurturing it: talked about videography, my journey w/it, how i filmed a promo vid and the experience (introvert at first, but branched out and stopped becoming the ‘new guy’); 100+ b-roll footage acquired thanks to my videography skills and a well-edited video that attracted many new dancers to the studio (people have said this one is well-written)

Academic subject/furthering it: dad suggested i take CS, decided to try it out; talked about struggle with CS, but after watching students create fun CS projects online like pizza-delivery system, became more inspired; managed to thrive in red errors and ultimately code a frontend/backend registration app for the dance studio (people have said this one is well-written)

Final Thoughts

I don’t know if I did this right, but tried to summarize my application to provide the most details. Again, not expecting too much.

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You have a fantastic resume! You definitely have as good a chance as anyone else. If you were in state, I think you’d have an above average chance at UCB. Being out of state/international, of course, makes the road harder just because the numbers work against you. But I do think you look like a really solid applicant, with strong academics, solid extracurriculars, and clear leadership skills. Honestly, I don’t know how you find time for it all - do you sleep? :wink:

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thank you for the kind words! it’s a bit reassuring, but then again, i do 100% agree. internationals seem to have it rough. all i can do now is just cross my fingers. good luck to your applicant as well! :slight_smile:

1 Like
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I agree that you are a competitive applicant and any school would be lucky to have you as a student.

Now into the stats.

Overall UC admit rates 2021 (most current) based on the UC Capped weighted GPA, not major or residency specific.

Campus 4.20+ 3.80-4.19 3.40-3.79 3.00-3.39
Berkeley 30% 11% 2% 1%
Davis 85% 55% 23% 10%
Irvine 60% 31% 14% 1%
Los Angeles 29% 6% 1% 0%
Merced 97% 98% 96% 89%
Riverside 97% 92% 62% 23%
San Diego 72% 25% 2% 0%
Santa Barbara 73% 28% 4% 1%
Santa Cruz 91% 81% 46% 9%

Admit rates by Residency:

Campus CA RESIDENT OUT OF STATE INTERNATIONAL
Berkeley 14.5% 8.6% 5.5%
Davis 32.3% 59.8% 43%
Irvine 18.2% 36.6% 21%
Los Angeles 9.2% 8,8% 5.8%
Merced 100% 78.6% 81.7%
Riverside 66% 88.1% 68.%
San Diego 23.8% 31.5% 15.5%
Santa Barbara 26.7% 28,8% 19.7%
Santa Cruz 43.2% 70.7% 55.4%

UC Berkeley:
Admit rates by UCB College based on the Fully weighed UC GPA:

GPA L&S CoE CoC CNR CED
3.800-4.000 6.3% 2.7% 4.5% 11.5% 8.7%
4.001-4.199 10.6% 3.9% 8.2% 23.7% 14.7%
4.200-4.399 21.8% 8.8% 17.5% 38.9% 29.1%
4.400-4.599 34.8% 16.4% 33.3% 53.0% 39.5%
4.600-4.799 40.9% 21.4% 39.6% 52.4% 49.4%
4.800-5.000 41.5% 20.7% 36.2% 46.1% 43.0%

Overall 2022 admit rate for UCB College of L&S was 12%

UCLA:
Overall admit rate for the College of L&S 2022 was 10%
Overall campus admit rate for 2022 was 11%.
GPA statistics for admitted freshman students
Fully Weighted GPA Median: 4.54 25-75% range: 4.35-4.72
Unweighted GPA Median: 4.00 25-75% range: 3.94-4.00

UCSD does not have specific admit data by College or Major. They admit into the University first, then into the major and will consider an alternate major.
Overall admit rate of 2022 was 23.7% with a GPA range Middle 50% based on the Capped weighted UC GPA of 4.12-4.30. International Studies/Business was in the top 10 popular majors at UCSD.

UCSB:
UCSB does not admit by major into the College of Letters and Sciences. Overall admit rate for the College of L&S 2022 was 27% with an average fully weighted UC GPA of 4.40. UCSB’s overall admit rate was 25.8% with an average fully weighted UC GPA of 4.29.

UCI:
UCI admits into the University first then into the major. They consider and encourage an alternate major. Business Administration is highly competitive with an admit rate for 2022 at 8.8%. In comparison, Business Econ’s admit rate was 27.0% and International Studies was 17.5%.
UCI’s overall campus admit rate was 21%. First-Year GPA Median: 4.22
First-Year Middle 25% - 75%: 4.08-4.29

Based on the statistical information presented and your profile, all the UC’s are possible but several will be tough admits. This is my opinion and of course I do not work in admissions nor can I see your complete application. The UC’s are need blind so being a full pay applicant does not factor into admission consideration. Also as an International applicant, full pay is expected and the UC’s have capped enrollment for OOS and International applicants.

Due to the competitiveness and low admit rates, UCLA and UCB should be considered Reach schools.

UCSD’s International Business Program would probably a High Target/Low Reach.

UCI’s Business Admin is a Reach but Business Econ or International Studies would be closer to Target/High Target.

UCSB would be also be a Target/High Target.

The UC’s tend to be very unpredictable since each campus may utilize the same application review criteria but weights these items differently.

I am wishing you the best of luck.

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