Chance me at any UCs, Cal Poly SLO, USC, UoP (safety)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi,

I just finished my junior year in high school and I’m considering majoring in either
mechanical engineering or cognitive science. I’m also considering other schools, but I’m focusing in-state for now.

Male, Asian, CA resident

Current UW GPA: 3.80
Current W GPA: 4.23
New SAT I: 1470 Essay: 8/8/8 (superscored)
ACT: None
SAT II: MathII 770, Chemistry 800
AP Courses: Chemistry (pending) Calculus AB (pending) I’m sure I earned a 5 on both
Senior year: English 12, AP US Gov, AP Physics, AP Stats, AP Spanish, Orchestra (with Honors credit)
Community College courses: Psychology 001 over the summer

Extracurriculars and volunteering/work experience…my main concern

Piano 10 years, played at several local recitals
School/youth orchestra (will be 4 years), principal player/section leader for a year
Spanish Club (2 years)
Red Cross (2 years)
Self-taught German (1 year)
Babysit and tutor my brother after school
Academic trip to Mexico 10 days (lived with host family, intensive studying of Spanish at university and
culture immersion) I feel like this is the strongest out of all my ECs.
Volunteering at local shelter since 10th grade (feeding homeless and providing clothes)
Will also volunteer at a science museum over the summer
Worked at dental office (filing and billings, but mainly talking with Spanish-speaking patients since the office is near an area with a lot of Hispanics/Latinos)
That’s all I can think of tbh

Other: I may apply for financial aid, and my dad also graduated from Cal Poly

In my opinion my extracurriculars may be a bit lackluster because they don’t really match my majors and there aren’t many ECs. I also have great ideas for essays, so those will slightly increase my chances of admission. Any thoughts?
Thanks!

2

I think with your stats you have pretty good chances at schools like UCSD, UCSB, UCR, UCM, UCD, and Cal Poly. The more “high-end” UCs and USC will want to see more ECs concentrated around your intended major or mechanical engineering and/or cognitive science, but your academic qualifications look pretty decent for them. They would still be reaches for you though; If you can retake the SAT, you may want to (your score is already pretty good) and aim for 1500+ but I do think that score is good enough for you to be competitive at these schools. If you have the time this summer, you might want to me a bit more involved in ECs related to your intended major. You may want to join your school’s robotics team or get an internship with some company; this will show your interest in and focus on the subject you intend to study. Overall, you seem like a pretty competitive applicant for most of these schools. Good luck! I would appreciate it if you could chance me back here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1995754-chance-me-low-gpa-rank-cornell-rice-wash-u-ucla-etc-p1.html

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UC GPA? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Post capped weighted and Fully weighted.
Also post CP’s GPA using the calculator and including 9-11th grades and capped at 8 semesters of Honors points.

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@Gumbymom I used rogerhub and I found that my weighted is 4.29 and capped + weighted is 4.17