Chance at UCLA or UC Berkeley

If UC gpa is 4.6, and you are elc qualified.

bad freshman grades as well

First, if your UC GPA is 4.6, then you have calculated your uncapped UC GPA. What is your capped (8 semesters of honors points)? ELC only means that if you are not accepted into a UC of your choice, then you will given a spot at the default campus (usually UC Merced) if there is room.

Need SAT/ACT scores, intended major, EC’s etc… to chance you. GPA alone is not enough.

wait, do AP courses count toward the limit? Wait so my max gpa can only be a 4.44 then?? Do UCLA and UC Berkeley look at only capped gpa or uncapped as well. So any gpa above the capped limit wont matter or what? Sorry I am not aware of this, and don’t really understand the 8 semesters thing.

No wait so capped gpa can never be above 4.4???

For capped, you only get credit for UC approved Honors or AP classes. Maximum 2 year long classes (4 semesters) in 10th grade and/or a total of 4 year long (8 semesters) for 10-11th grade. UCLA/UCB will look at uncapped but most applicants will post their UC GPA (capped), so 4.4 would be the maximum for capped UC GPA. Either way, you still need to post your SAT/ACT scores, subject test scores and EC’s to give posters an idea for your chances.

@Unknownsam4 I will use mine as an example: I am a CA resident. For my a-g approved courses 10-11, I earned 9 Bs and 13 As. I took three honors courses and three AP courses. My unweighted UC GPA is (4(13)+9(3))/22= 3.59. My capped UC GPA (standard except for top 2) is (4(13)+9(3)+8)/22= 3.95. My uncapped UC GPA is (4(13)+9(3)+12)/22= 4.14. Really the whole “8” honors thing is how many grades you earned. So I earned 22 grades, 13 of the As, 9 of the Bs. In that set, I took 6 honors and AP (if you are OOS, then use only AP courses, your honors courses are not applicable), and from that, I earned 12 grades, which adds an “extra” 12 points to my GPA. For my capped GPA, I use all the As and Bs I got, regardless of whether or not they are honors/weighted, then add 8 extra points because I have earned eight honors course grades. The other 4 extra are not factored into this one because it is “capped”.

For those 2 schools you want your UW GPA to be close to 4.0. Berkeley needs two letters of recommendations this year and the essays are important.

Gumbymom, wait your capped UC gpa is lower than your uncapped UC gpa, so why would you want to post your capped gpa over your uncapped? Or do you post both?

@Gumbymom

Only UCLA/UCB look at your uncapped but all published statistical data for these schools in regards to GPA is based on the capped UC GPA or unweighed GPA as stated by @DrGoogle. Posters will compare your UC GPA capped and unweighted against the published averages to gauge your chances. I am sorry you do not understand the capped vs uncapped UC GPA concept but if you want to be chanced, it is best to post both capped and unweighted along with test scores, EC’s, state of residency and how much you can afford to pay for school.