Chance me at UC Davis [CA resident, 3.96 UC recalculated GPA]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics
Current High School Junior

  • State/Location of residency: In-state (SoCal)
  • Type of high school *: Public California High School
  • Race*: Black/ Pacific Islander- I know the UCs are race blind.

Intended Major(s)
Political Science.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted UC GPA: 3.7
  • UC Weighted and Capped GPA *: 3.96 (I know, I wish it was better.)
  • Class Rank: Not used

Coursework
Sophomore year: AP European History. Received an A both semesters- 4 on AP test. Honors Humanities (the course was unweighted)

Junior Year: AP Human Geography, AP English Language. Received A’s for these courses all year. Scores yet to come in. Will also be enrolling in 2 community college courses that relate to my intended major.

Senior Year: I will be taking AP Gov, AP Stats, and AP Environmental Science

Awards
Girl Scouts Silver Award (2020)
California State Seal of Civic Engagement (2023)- 3 recipients in entire school district that year
California Legislature Assembly Certificate of Recognition (2023)
Beyond the Curve International Film Festival Award of Excellence/Official Selection (2022)- A film I made was showcased and selected for this international film festival
Official Selection of the “Pride Film Fest” (2022)- International Film Festival

Extracurriculars
Volunteering: 60 hours at a local dog rescue- how I got my Girl Scouts Silver Award
Internships: I received an internship with the city of San Diego library systems producing Media Work
Clubs: District Film Club (2020-2021)
Teen Producer’s Project (2019-Present)
School Mock Trial: (2021- Present) I am the lead prosecution attorney
Writing Tutor at my high school (2023-Present)
Member of school Gender and Sexuality Alliance- (2021- Present)
Member of school equity and inclusion task force- (2022- Present)

Work Experience:
Assistant Film Camp Teaching Artist- (2023)

College Preparatory Programs:
I am part of a program called CollegeBound. I am likely going to be the senior class president for this program.
It is a program that specifically equips African American high school students in my district with the resources they need to attend college. This particular program is partnered with the University of California System, I have met UC chancellors and decision-makers through this program. I have a good relationship with a UC Davis admissions officer because of this program and over the summer I will get to briefly meet Chancellor Gary May of UC Davis, per his invitation to do so.

Essays/LORs/Other
Ranging from strong- very strong.

Additional Circumstances:
Significant upward trend from my sophomore to junior year. 8 B’s sophomore year (yikes, I know) only 1 in my junior year.
There is a reason my sophmore year was so difficult and I will write so in the additional comments section of the UC application.

If you want to read that additional comment draft. I used all characters available:
" My sophomore year gpa does not reflect my academic capabilities. That year I struggled to feel safe at school. Black students make up only 2% of the entire student body there, which made it hard for me to feel supported. That year, district efforts to diversify were under constant attack by community members- simply put- I felt unwelcomed. I also struggled with severe anxiety and panic attacks following 3 separate schoolwide evacuations caused by bomb and shooting threats. I was not proud to receive so many Bs that year, however, I take pride in the effort I made to achieve academic success despite these hindrances."

Okay so I know I don’t have the strongest gpa, but there is an upward trend.
My junior year gpa is a significant improvement from my sophmore one. 3.6ish —> 4.3ish

I know the UCs don’t consider Freshman year, but that year I had a 4.0 uw/w gpa. My senior year I am anticipating all A’s for the first semester, again I know the UC’s dont calculate that into their capped gpa, but they still will see it on my transcript.

I know in previous years students at UC Davis with a gpa ranging from 3.70-3.99 only have a 20% acceptance rate, but with my explanation and upward trend, do I have a higher chance than that?

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Maybe. How good is your relationship with your high school guidance counselor - I’m assuming that is the person who will be writing your cover letter? The reason that I ask about it, is that it is usually better if the “explanation” of hardships/challenges faced come from someone other than the student. I can see how it would be stressful to be the only black student in most of your classes, and the stressor of your generation is a totally warranted fear of school shootings.

Honestly, your achievements look pretty good, and that upward trend is very nice. Your coursework shows some rigor in the humanities - that’s good too. Your ECs look good, too.

You want to use your essay space to showcase you - your hopes and dreams, your goals, something special and engaging about you that will make the ad comm want you. It’s always better if the explanation of challenges faced comes from someone else; in this case, the guidance counselor. Try scheduling a meeting with him/her, and ask them how they would feel about somehow putting this in their cover letter, rather than you writing about it.

Another issue is that college counseling services are overwhelmed with students suffering from anxiety and depression. Colleges are also wary of being blamed if a student self-harms. For this reason, revealing a personal history of anxiety and panic attacks may not be in your best interest. Maybe your guidance counselor can say that struggling with being the sole black student in many of your classes was challenging in your sophomore year, but you overcame it by embracing your identity via (insert your many wonderful ECs here). A reference to the stress that all students face having been exacerbated by several schoolwide evacuations for threats, without mentioning your own panic attacks, may be something that you can weave into your essays.

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I very much sympathize. I also strongly caution you to be careful with what you say here. It could end up doing far more harm than good for your application. If you want to talk about this, focus on how you OVERCAME these challenges, how this fortified your resilience, with the reassurance that you are now a much stronger person for having experienced it. Otherwise, some AOs are going to worry about how you will handle the pressures of college life and whether you’ll be a liability.

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You have very strong EC’s and good rigor - I would say you definitely have a chance, but I think that your PIQ’s are going to be the thing that makes the difference for you.

I echo the wisdom that has been shared here, and would suggest you do NOT discuss your struggles with anxiety OR try to reason out the grades - in fact, my student was given the explicit advice NOT to try to explain anything about grades and rather to focus on all positive aspects. This is not to say these things are not important to you, but as @worriedmomucb points out, you run the risk of the AO seeing you as a potential liability when what you really want them to see is how much of an asset to the campus you will be!

Search the threads and you will find the qualities that UC Davis is looking for (can’t remember off the top of my head) and see how those match up to who you are and what you have achieved. Then focus your efforts on fabulous PIQ’s that will show UC Davis all the good that is you. Good luck!!

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I seem to recall that Davis really likes to see collaboration - so that might be a good quality to focus on in you PIQs, ECs where you were part of a team or where you helped others - and it looks like you’ve got quite a few good ECs to demonstrate that.

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Congratulations on overcoming some challenges and embracing your passion for the EC’s. UC Davis considers 3 UC GPA’s: Unweighted, Capped weighted and Fully weighted so please calculate and post your Fully weighted UC GPA.

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Below is some information in regards to UC Davis core values and mission to help with your PIQ essays. Remember that if you are applying to more than UCD, you really cannot tailor your PIQ’s to each campus but it gives you an idea of what they value in an applicant.

Our core values:

In serving our students and accomplishing our mission, we value

  • Community
    • We nurture connections and build community by practicing kindness, sharing openly with each other, and honoring diverse ideas, beliefs and lived experiences.
  • Exploration
    • We encourage exploration to cultivate curiosity, inquiry, discovery, creativity, and purposeful change.
  • Integrity
    • We hold ourselves and each other accountable to display integrity in our language, behaviors, and actions.
  • Growth
    • We are committed to sustainable growth that centers equity, inclusion, and innovation.

Our mission:

Undergraduate Education advocates for diverse educational experiences that promote inclusive learning. Ultimately, we serve students by aligning resources with opportunities to foster curiosity, engaged citizenship and academic success. We work collaboratively with faculty, staff, and students to achieve these goals.

Our priorities:

  1. Increase academic success for all students, thereby closing persistence and achievement gaps; and
  2. Cultivate undergraduate students who have discovered and developed their unique talents, and, as a result, can tackle their generation’s most pressing challenges.

Below is the UC admit rates of 2022 (2023 will be available in January/February 2024) to see how you compare. Remember these are overall and not major specific.
2022 Admit rates based on the Capped weighted UC GPA.

Campus 4.00+ 3.70-3.99 3.30-3.69 3.00-3.29
Berkeley 17% 3% 1% 0%
Davis 58% 20% 5% 2%
Irvine 35% 10% 3% 0%
Los Angeles 13% 2% 1% 0%
Merced 97% 97% 95% 85%
Riverside 95% 83% 42% 17%
San Diego 37% 8% 1% 0%
Santa Barbara 41% 8% 3% 0%
Santa Cruz 69% 45% 16% 4%

Politician science is one of the top 10 most applied majors at UC Davis with 872 students enrolled as of Fall 2022 and the 3rd most enrolled major in the College of L&S.

Best of luck and please apply widely.

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UCs do not use counselor recommendations.

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