Asian female in Southern CA. D has SAT 1560 and GPA 3.93 (Unweighted) and 4.23 (Weighted), 4.5(UC Weighted). The HS is very competitive, national top 100. There is no any information about her GPA percentile in school for now, might be above top 10%. Her EC is OK, but not great. She holds some (real) leadership positions in school famous clubs, and has plenty of volunteer activities, such as animal shelter, teach young kids, mentor young kids leadship skills.
She is not really strong in STEM, but is OK (Most of classes are honor, but one math is regular class). D is p.lanning to apply business/economy related majors in UCLA, UCB, USC, Northwestern, NYU Stern. Prepare ED Columbia/UPenn Wharton.
How’s her chance? Thank you for your reply and discussion,
Solid applicant for NYU Stern.
ED applicants admitted at significantly higher rate than RD for Northwestern University.
Cornell’s business school admits less than 5% of all applicants if I recall correctly.
Concerned about weakness in math for UPenn-Wharton.
Leadership positions in which specific organizations ?
Any specific career goals ?
In need of significant financial aid ?
Thanks for response.
Leadership positions in a well known news club, and one in a less well known business club.
No need for financial aid. (not qualified for need base, don’t expect much from merit base)
Career goals is not very specific. Something in consulting, IB, general finance career in corporate etc.
I am worried she is not specific strong in math (as said she didnot try the hardest class in 11th grade), which will affect her application in those business/economy major as those need strong math skills. For example UCLA business economy should have high expectation from candidate’s math ability.
Concerned about weakness in math [everywhere]. B-schools like to see Calc on that transcript. Finance in particular is quant-heavy.
The OP’s daughter is considering majoring in business or economics.
Does good SAT math2 can make up the gap a bit? Though I know a lot of students get full score here.
Very competitive applicant and has a great chance at UCLA/UCB but definitely no guarantees. What is her Capped weighted since the UC admit rate data is based on this UC GPA? Assuming Fully weighted is 4.5. Does she have any safety schools on her list?
2018 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 4.20 or above capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 37%
UCLA: 41%
2019 UC capped weighted GPA averages:
UCB: 4.23
UCLA: 4.25
2019 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT totals:
UCB: 1340-1540
UCLA: 1330-1550
Admission Rates for California Applicants 2019:
UCLA: 11.8%
UC Berkeley: 19.2%
Thanks @Gumbymom! most of UCs are in her lists of course. The above listed are all reach schools. Before 11th grade all straight A. so the capped weighted GPA should be about 4.3? Our counselor service calculated her UC weighted around 4.5 (looks to me there is something wrong, too high)
We know D has a good chance for UCLA or UCB, but we want to choose specific major (e.g. business econ for UCLA), but that data in Naviance is not published. Each year our HS school has large amount of students admitted into UCB/UCLA. But there is no major information.
Both UCLA and UCB are not direct admit into the Business/Econ programs.
For UCB: The business major is in a separate division and admits students in a competitive holistic process. Frosh intending business majors begin in another division (usually L&S), take the business major prerequisites, and apply (usually in their second years). They also need to take prerequisites for a backup major in case they are not admitted to the business major.
For UCLA: For the College of Letters and Science, the applicant’s major is not considered during the review process.
Only students that enter UCLA as freshman may declare the Pre-Economics or Pre-Business Economics majors.
You must complete all pre-major courses with a minimum 3.0 GPA and a “C” or higher in each course to apply for the major.
Non-transfer students must also earn a 3.3 Primary Score to get accepted into the major. To determine your eligibility for the major view the Primary Score Calculator and input your grades. All pre-major grades must be accounted for in order for the calculator to work, thus, please be sure to include projected grades if you have not completed the pre-major. You must also input your cumulative UCLA GPA and total units completed. The total units must be less than 135.
“The OP’s daughter is considering majoring in business or economics.”
I was a math major. One of the toughest math classes that I ever took was not a math class at all. It was econometrics.
Your daughter is a strong applicant at any school. None of the schools listed are safeties (although I do not know about USC). Definitely make sure that she applies to at least two safeties where she would be happy attending. My guess is that these are likely to be in-state public schools.
@Gumbymom thanks for information. So far I got the wrong impression you have to choose a major in UC, otherwise you won’t get in afterwards. Seems that’s most for Engineering majors. I will keep this in mind.
@DadTwoGirls thanks for encouragement and warning: the math in econ is tougher even than math dept 
we do have other UCs as backup meanwhile D is doing moonshot
FYI: USC is kind of similar level of competition (or slightly less than) as UCLA.
OP mentions that his daughter isn’t in the highest level of math. If she is on track to take Calculus AB senior year, that is perfectly fine.
Most top California high schools do not provide a class rank. Instead students are placed in deciles and that GPA should be in the top decile. And the GPA means the schedule is ‘very rigorous’ or ‘most rigorous.’
That’s true, but irrelevant to UC as UC has every application for the students that applied (to any UC campus) from that HS, so UC can easily rank them (and does).
This varies between the UCs as well as intended majors.
UCSD lists Economics as a capped major https://students.ucsd.edu/academics/advising/majors-minors/capped-majors.html
UCI offers an undergraduate business degree as well as an undergrad degree in economics. The econ degree is in the school of social sciences whereas the business degree is in the school of business. https://merage.uci.edu/programs/undergraduate/index.html
UCR also has undergrad business and undergrad economics degrees https://business.ucr.edu/undergraduate
Here is the breakdown on how each UC admits Freshman applicants based on intended major:
UC admission by major:
UCB:
Division (L&S, CNR, CoC, CED, CoE) matters for admission selectivity.
Within CoE (but not the other divisions), major matters for admission selectivity. Changing majors within the CoE after enrolling is not guaranteed, unless one is CoE undeclared.
Note that L&S admits students as undeclared; admission to capped majors (e.g. CS, economics, psychology, ORMS, statistics, art practice, and a few others) is by college GPA in prerequisite courses (and portfolio for art practice) after attending for a few semesters.
The business major is in a separate division and admits students in a competitive holistic process. Frosh intending business majors begin in another division (usually L&S), take the business major prerequisites, and apply (usually in their second years). They also need to take prerequisites for a backup major in case they are not admitted to the business major.
All students who apply to UC Berkeley and select a major within the College of Natural Resources are evaluated based on their application, not on the particular major they select.
Alternate majors not considered.
UCD:
Admission decisions are made based upon the qualifications of the applicant pool and the number of available spaces within each academic area:
• College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences admits by college
• College of Biological Sciences admits by college
• College of Letters and Science admits by division within the college
• (Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies; Mathematics and Physical Sciences; Social Sciences)
• College of Engineering admits by academic department
Students applying as “undeclared” or “undeclared/exploratory” are considered within the college/division to which they applied.
Applicants are encouraged to list an alternate major, but not in the same area as the primary major (e.g., Computer Science Engineering with alternate Computer Science in the College of L&S). Occasionally, we admit to the alternate major.
UCI:
- Freshman Selection:
UCI admits into the University first and then into the major. In the case that UCI is unable to accommodate all qualified applicants in their first-choice major, those students who indicate a valid alternate major may be offered admission in that major or Undeclared.
UCLA:
For the College of Letters and Science, the applicant’s major is not considered during the review process.
The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science admits students by declared major, with more emphasis on science and math programs.
The School of Nursing also places more emphasis on science and math programs and requires the submission of an additional supplemental application.
The School of the Arts and Architecture; Herb Alpert School of Music; and the School of Theater, Film and Television admit students by declared major (within the school), and put more emphasis on special talents through a review of portfolios and/or auditions, which are the most significant admission factors for these schools.
UCLA only guarantees review of an applicant’s first-choice major.
We typically do not admit to the alternate major
UCSD:
The campus does not admit students on the basis of academic major or choice of UC San Diego undergraduate college. Alternate majors are considered and capped majors are highly competitive. Also note: Capped majors require additional pre-req courses and specific GPA to be able to qualify if changing majors. Also if applying to a capped major, select an non-capped major as an alternate.
UCSB:
College of Letters and Sciences: Choice of major is not considered in selection to the College of Letters and Science. The exceptions to this rule are dance and music performance majors. Both majors require applicants to complete an audition in late January or early February.
College of Engineering: Students are selected by major for all engineering and computer science majors. Only applicants with a solid background in advanced high school mathematics will be considered for admission to engineering. This includes high grades in all math courses through grade 11 and enrollment in pre-calculus or higher in grade 12. A student not selected for their first choice major will be reviewed for admission to an alternate major outside of the College of Engineering if one was selected.
College of Creative Studies:
Applicants to the College of Creative Studies submit a supplementary application in addition to the general UC Application, which is reviewed by Creative Studies faculty. Students are selected within Creative Studies majors only. Applicants not selected for Creative Studies will automatically be considered for admission to the College of Letters and Science.
UCSC:
Important Note for Prospective Engineering Students: Choice of major does not influence the selection of first-year students, except for those applicants interested in a major offered by the Jack Baskin School of Engineering (BSOE). Freshmen who are interested in a BSOE program should be sure to indicate a BSOE proposed major. Students who do not indicate a BSOE program or who apply as undeclared might not be able to pursue a BSOE program.
UCR:
Admission by major but alternate/2nd choice major will be considered if applicant does not need their first choice admission standards.
For Business: Freshmen students must apply to Pre-Business under the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS). The College breadth requirements and the prerequisites for a Business major are completed during the freshman and sophomore years. An application is submitted at the end of the sophomore year. Upon acceptance, students become Business majors and are then advised in the Business Department. Students from any academic major may also complete a Business minor.