Chance for UCs? Please help I am extremely stressed out

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

Schools: UCB, UCLA, UCSD
Intended Major: Psychology or Agriculture

Weighted UC GPA: 4.4
Unweighted UC GPA: 3.7

SAT: 1450/1600
SAT MATH II, Korean, Bio : Taking soon

Sophomore:
Cross Country A, A
English 10 A, A
H Alg II / Trig A, A
H Human Anatomy A, A
Modern Civ A, A
Spanish II C, B
(Community College)
Computer Science _, B

Junior:
AP Comp Sci B, A
AP Lang & Comp A, A
AP Physics A, A
AP Psych A, A
H Pre-Calc A, C
(Community College)
US History A, _
Spanish 1 & 2 , A
Political Science _, A
Social Psychology, A
Astronomy _, A
Biosci106 _, D (Retaken to C)

Senior Schedule:
AP Stats
AP Lit
Ap Environmental Science
AP Calculus BC
(Community College)
Econ201
HIST112
Theatre110

Volunteer Service: 210 Hours during junior year
EC: CSF (Soph, Junior, Senior) / NHS (Junior, Senior) / Cross Country and Track (Soph)
Job experience: None
Letters: 8/10 , 8/10

Very impressive upward trend from freshman year up until the last semester of Junior year… 4 APs, 1 honor, and 3 Community College classes at the same time was too much, I ended up failing biology at the community college and received a C in Honors Pre-calc…

I burned out at the very end of the Junior year… Did that mess up all my hard work? Will I be able to make up for it if I submit the first semester of senior grades with straight As? Thank you

2

UC GPA? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Other than possibly UCB’s Animal Health what Agricultural majors do UCLA and UCSD offer? Do you mean Environmental instead?

Look at UCD and Cal poly SLO for Agriculture

3

@Gumbymom

I used the calculator and I got:

Unweighted GPA: 3.69
Weighted GPA: 4.41
Weighted and Capped GPA: 3.97

I don’t think the GPA itself is bad, but the problem is the C and F I received on the last semester of my Junior year. The F was retaken but I still received a C… Do you think the admissions would let that pass because of my rigor during Junior year?

And sorry about the confusion with the majors. I added Agriculture there because my dad and I was just talking about it and I was considering it. I will look at different colleges for agriculture. But what would my chances be if I majored in Psychology? What if I majored in a more impacted major in engineering or in the medical field?

4

You still have a UC GPA within range for these schools. Your test scores are above the average. Your EC’s and essays will definitely come into play for your chances but UC’s tend to be very GPA focused.

UCLA/UCB are always a tough admit. UCSD is not far behind, so with your UC GPA below the averages, they would be anywhere from a High Match to Reach.

Do you have any other schools on your list? UCD/SLO would probably match schools if you are going with an Agriculture major, a High Match for Psychology.

Psychology is a very popular major so it can be competitive just due to # of applicants applying. Engineering would be even more competitive so I really do not see any solid match schools out of any of the schools listed.

You need to apply widely and I would add UCSB/UCI/UCSC and UCR to your list. You might also want to add a few Cal States as safeties.

Good Luck.

5

Thank you for your input. Would it be possible to apply for a less impacted major and change it to psychology or some other major?

6

It is not a good idea to apply to a less impacted major, unless you plan on studying that coursework for four years. Some schools have a strict procedure for transfer of major. You shouldn’t apply to one school assuming that you will get into an impacted major later. You might not be happy with the results.

Colleges know the tricks and they don’t like students trying to “game” their system. The reason for the limits on students, within majors, is that they cant overwhelm the current professors with more students. The ratios would be too much. As a student, you would want to have access to your professors. If the numbers are too high, they wont be made available to you.

Apply to your major at the onset. Apply to multiple schools that have that major.

7

@“aunt bea”

What do you think my chances are then?

8

Depends on the major and the school.
I would apply to UCSC, UCR, UCM, AND Santa Barbara.
Also, you should think about some of the Cal States.

9

@“aunt bea”

I see, if I applied for environmental science at UCLA and UCSD, would I still have a low chance

10

UCSD admits to the University first, then into the major, so you need to meet UCSD standards first. UCLA’s Environmental Science major is in the College of Letters and Sciences which does not admit by major (similar to Psych). Both will still be a tough admit but worth an application. If you really want to pursue Environmental Science, UCD is one of the top schools in the country for that major and you would have a solid chance at an acceptance. Older son is a 4th year Environmental Science and Management major if you have any specific questions.

Which is more important, getting into a specific school (UCLA/UCSD/UCB etc…) or the major?

11

@Gumbymom is so right! If you’re interested in agriculture, apply to UC Davis! It has a much better agriculture program than UC Berkeley and the others. I believe it’s #1 in the country for that.

12

@emory323 @Gumbymom

Wow, thank you so much for the advice. I will definitely be applying for agriculture or environmental science at UC Davis.

The major should always be more important than the school, but I’m one of those students who find the “brand name” to be important for my self-esteem. I know I shouldn’t praise the brand name too much but I have been dreaming about attending UCLA ever since I was a little kid.

Any more help would be appreciated

13

@NoPass

“Any more help would be appreciated.”


[QUOTE=""]

You need to carefully determine what you really what to study in college. UCLA is not well known in agriculture; I don’t think you can even study that there.

[/QUOTE]

“I’m one of those students who find the “brand name” to be important for my self-esteem.”


[QUOTE=""]

UC Davis is a ‘brand name’ school in the fields of animal science and agriculture. If you tell people you turned down UC Davis for UCLA to study agriculture, people will look at you funny.

[/QUOTE]

“I have been dreaming about attending UCLA ever since I was a little kid.”


[QUOTE=""]

May I ask why?

[/QUOTE]

In a nutshell,

Agriculture? UC Davis!

Psychology? UCLA!

14

@emory323

Hahahaha okay thanks for all the answers

I don’t know why I always dreamed about attending UCLA, I guess I just had a lot of friends who desperately wanted to get in UCLA. I moved to California from South Korea and I feel pressure to get in a competitive college because my dad works his ass off so that I can study in the US instead of in South Korea… I guess subconsciously I always wanted to feel that sense of accomplishment, and I thought that I would be able to feel proud and fulfilled by saying, “I studied hard and got into UCLA, the college that everyone else wants to get into”.

But about the majors, you are absolutely right. I will apply Agriculture for UC Davis and maybe some other major to UCLA just to see if I get accepted (I will probably not attend UCLA). I might even attend CSUN for an Accounting program. I was also interested in business and I heard accounting and business is linked pretty closely.

If anyone has some advice for the field of accounting, it would be sincerely appreciated. My plan right now is to finish up 6 community college classes right now while im a Senior in high school in order to meet the requirements of a paid internship. Once I graduate perhaps I can attend CSUN for accounting while working on the internship I got from the other community college.

15

@NoPass I feel you! I’m also an Asian whose parents moved here to give me a better life. In the Asian community you are under a lot of pressure to get into a good school because your parents worked so hard to provide for you etc. Many lower UCs and all CSUs are kind of frowned upon :frowning: (not saying I think theyre bad, just the general vibe) and many parents will feel disappointed. I don’t know why, but community college is even more frowned upon :’(

16

@gene167e7 @NoPass

UC Davis is not a “low” UC. Just because the acceptance rate is slightly higher there doesn’t mean it’s not as good as UCLA. Your parents sound a little intense haha because almost every parent (yes, including Asians) I’ve spoken to regards UCD highly. I guess I can understand the CSUs and UCSC/UCR, but UC Davis? Wow.

17

Check the new rankings released for top universities in the world, you will find UCD is ranked above UCSB and UCI.
Although I find fault with most school rankings, it does indicate that UCD and UC’s in general are great schools overall.