Coursework
No APs available at my HS
IB Diploma available, but I did not take any IB classes
Will have Associates Degree in Economics by HS grad
Will have completed IGETC by HS grad
9th: 2 College Level classes
10th: 5 College Level classes
11th: 8 College Level classes
12th: 6 College Level classes
Highest math: Calc/Analytic Geometry II
Highest language: Spanish 3
Awards
Lifetime Member, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society
Dean’s List at Community College
California Scholarship Federation Honor Society
Extracurriculars
3x State Champion in Judo
Captain of Varsity Football Team
Captain of Varsity Wrestling Team
Community Service
Weekly Food Distribution
Community Easter Egg Hunt for Youth
Work Experience
Coach for Flag Football Youth League
Essays
Solid essays
Cost Constraints / Budget
Under $40k/yr
Schools
UCLA
UC Berkeley
UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine
UC Santa Cruz
UC San Diego
Cal Poly SLO
San Diego State
You are clearly a very competitive candidate who is well qualified for every school on your list. However, as you know, the UCs can be very unpredictable, which makes them hard to “chance” beyond confirming that, yes, you are competitive for all schools. What would you consider your safety to be? UC Santa Cruz? That is the most likely one on your list. The rest will all be toss ups. Have you checked how many students from your school generally get accepted to the UCs? Either Naviance will have that information or you can check the UC site which breaks down applications and admissions by source school. That might give you a sense of your chances. Also, you say your school doesn’t rank, but when you submitted the UC application, did it indicate that you were top 9% ELC? That will give you a sense of your rank and if you cross that with the school-specific admissions data that could give you a better sense of where you stand. But again, the UCs are infamous for being unpredictable. I feel confident you will get in somewhere, and likely to a few of these schools, but aside from Santa Cruz, hard to predict where. Check the data I mentioned.
These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective).
Note: economics and business are also commonly more selective.
Note Cal Poly SLO uses 9-11th grades with a 8 semester cap for the approved Honor eligible courses.
SLO admit rate for Econ is estimated at 19% with a 25th-75th percentile SLO GPA of 4.08-4.25.
For the UC”s here are some admit rates for Economics:
UC Berkeley: 5.3% High Demand major
UC Davis. Does not admit by major but by College: 37.9% for Economics
UCI: 17.5% Economics/ Business Economics: 10.8%
UCLA: Does not admit by major but by College: Economics 11%
UC Merced: 78%
UC Riverside: 62%
UC San Diego: Estimated <25% Economics
UC Santa Barbara: Does not admit by major but by College: 32% for Economics (pre)
UC Santa Cruz: 44.7%
Thank you for the info! I checked the UC site and last year, 64 applied to UCLA, 6 admitted, 5 enrolled. 63 applied to Berkeley, 10 accepted, 6 enrolled. Also, yes I was notified that I’m in the top 9%. Do you think these numbers mean I have a good chance at UCLA and Berkeley?
You are definitely competitive, although both schools can be unpredictable so there are never any guarantees. Hopefully you put together the best application you could - I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Thank you for the info! I calculated my HS GPA. Weighted capped is 3.95 since I didn’t take any Honors classes at high school. I also took 63 units at community college and my weighted capped for those classes is 4.2. Do you think my chances are good?
