Chance me EA USC and UCLA

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics: southeast asian male (cambodian, not sure if that’s a URM), no hooks

Residence: Southern California

Income Bracket: Upper Class

Type of School: Competitive public high school (UC/USC feeder school)

Intended Major:

Business/Econ

GPA:9th grade - really really depressing

10th grade - 4.1 weighted (took a couple passes since I was going through some stuff over covid)

11th grade - 4.41W

12th grade - fairly confident I can achieve a 4.75W with my current classes

Rank: school doesn’t do it

Courseload:

9th grade - AP Human Geography

10th Grade - AP Environmental Science, AP Euro, AP Computer Science Principles, CP English, Geometry

11th grade - Ap Art History, AP CSA, APUSH, CP English, Algebra 2

12th grade - AP Seminar, AP Econ/Gov, AP Psych, AP Stats, Earth science honors

Scores:

Test optional

ECS:

Owned and operated online dropshipping business that has done ~$20k in revenue and $7k profit so far

Helped my parent’s business. Pretty much helped them do accounting, data entry, fill out forms, and also have done more complicated stuff like network the office and create an online website used to generate leads for them. Also helped manage office during Covid/after online school (when their business was struggling) which led to a dip in my grades

Interned at very big real estate company that usually only has college interns doing research and marketing

Founder/president of my old middle school’s chess club (also play chess and am fairly high rated online but have never played official over the board games)

Traded stocks/ other financial derivatives

Proficient in Python, Java and a little Javascript

Volunteered for nonprofit that helped teach kids overseas how to code

Treasurer of my school’s hack club

YEA - Participated in organization that teaches you how to start and run a business

MUN - Only did this for 2 years and dislike it now tbh

Mock trial - Only did this for 1 year and didn’t like it so I stopped

Awards: (kinda depressing)

Honor Roll

NHS?

Received award in business competition
Mun Awards but didn’t really pursue it after 2 years so not sure how significant it is

Notes -

  • During my 10th grade year my parent’s company was struggling so I had to help them which made my grades dip a bit. Going to write an essay about how I grew from it and going to write about it in the additional info section.

  • Upward trend. From freshman year to senior year my grades have improved drastically each grade. I think I can get a 4.75 senior year which probably will work in my favor for schools that consider senior grades (;( for the uc’s)

  • I think my academics are lacking a bit with 10th grade and being test optional but I think my ec’s can make up for it a little bit since the online business one is kind of unique and shows initiative i think?

Chanceme at

UCLA(dream school)

USC EA (other dream school)

Ucsb

Berkeley

Ucsd

ut austin

rice (I don’t think I’m good enough for rice tbh lol)

pomona (don’t think I’m good enough for this either)

claremont mckenna

Thanks all in advance

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The UCs are test blind.

You are upper income but have your parents given you a budget ?

I think it’s fair to say you have a fine background but all the schools are reaches. What are your matches and targets ?

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Pepperdine, LMU, UCD, Santa Clara University.

No, I plan to take out loans and apply for scholarships to pay for college.

Also, I’m not sure why but USC really likes my school. We’ve got like a 30% acceptance rate to USC and I’ve got around the same GPA as the average admit.

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What are your UC GPA’s? (UW, Weighted-capped, Weighted-uncapped) GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub If you want an undergrad business program, add to Irvine and Riverside to your UC app.

The statement about paying for school with loans and scholarships is a little concerning. Most significant scholarship money comes from the schools themselves. And you can only take $27K in loans, total over four years, in your own name; any additional would be parent loans. You need to have a discussion with your parents about budget and acceptable amounts of debt.

You might take a look at Emory - it has a good business school with an undergrad business program, and does not consider freshman grades. But, it’s in the same cost bracket as the other expensive private U’s you’re considering, which could be too costly.

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USC is $85k a year. What can your parents contribute? Are the willing to co-sign loans? What are these scholarships? Will you receive any need based aid? USC is not generous to wealthy families who don’t want to pay. Is your public high school filled with lots of full pay kids? Or they actually Trojan Transfer kids? You need a solid play to pay for it. Vague scholarships ideas, particularly for private schools, are a bad idea especially without test scores.

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Sorry for the confusion, it’s a combination of them helping pay for it and loans and possibly scholarships if I can get them. I believe most of them are full pay.

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Yeah, sorry for the confusion, they’re going to help out but I’m also going to take out loans so it’s going to be a mix of the two. As for my UC gpa accounting for only 10th and 11th I believe it should be 4.25 although I think I can increase my cumulative GPA with senior year but unfortunately, UCs don’t look at senior grades. Thanks for the recommendation for Emory but I’m mainly looking at California schools.

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Why did you stop after Algebra 2 and take Stats instead of Pre-Calc?
Do you have 12th grade English? Foreign language?

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Tbh math isn’t my forte and stats fascinate me more than pre calc. There’s also the added benefit of beefing up my senior gpa. My 12th-grade courseload is AP Stats, AP Econ/Gov, AP Psych, AP Seminar, Earth Science Honors, and 12th-grade English. Keep in mind that my school set the max # of aps in 1 year to 4 so I’m maxing out on my school’s limit.

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Oh, I missed the math part - so no pre-calc. Yes, they’re not likely to happen. At top schools today, many have Calc AB, etc. and some beyond. And you’re going to have to take at a minimum business calc. And Econ - likely even harder stuff.

Sorry but guess what - for 95% of us getting business degrees - where you go - I’m not convinced is that important. I base that on working for 3 major corporations - where we have Vanderbilts working for U of West Georgia, etc. -…that’s prominent. When I lived in So Cal, our leader was a CSULB - yet we had a UCB, several UCLAs and SDSUs, etc. We even had a Stanford - but she was the admin (English major who didn’t want to move up, etc.) So forgetting where your classmates go - trust me - get a good education - where - not so critical short of the tippy top schools.

As for loans, you can only take out $27K over four years. THe government smartly limits them to protect you. Why would you take out more (parents co-sign) - you can get a “business” job from basically any school.

Is there a discipline in business that you’d like? Or you say Econ - which is not remotely close to business - it’s a liberal art.

What’s your overall unweighted GPA? You could score merit. Do you have a test score even though you said TO? If so, what is it?

You should look at schools that will take someone without pre-calc first off. Or a school that allows stats instead. Note - you want to find a school that isn’t as quantitiative.

So you’re not going to get into UT Austin - I’d kill it. A great substitute - for many of your schools as an example - would be Arizona - Eller is a fine school and an easy admit.

You’re not going to get into Rice - but U of Denver Daniels School would be a fine sub or school of that level.

You should check into WUE schools.

Bottom line - keep your cost down - it sounds easy to take out loans - but then you’re beholden to them for many years - and you’ll realize there was no reason to take them to begin with. So if you don’t get into a UC, you might look at CSU schools as well.

Miami of Ohio is another fine one you might look at - Farmer School is excellent.

Good luck.

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You are going to have an uphill battle getting into any highly selective business program. Math rigor/grades are incredibly important to admission to business schools. Most business schools will want to see precalculus at the very minimum. Knowing you had the opportunity to pursue higher math and that you chose a math elective (statistics) instead won’t help your cause.

I don’t know enough about California schools to venture a guess on your chances. If your high school is indeed a feeder school for your top choices, your guidance counselor can probably give the most realistic odds at admission. She will know if others with your profile are often accepted.

In general, though, your ECs can’t compensate for your academics. Don’t look for them to “make up” for a weaker academic record. First and foremost, admissions officers are looking to admit students who they believe will excel academically at that school. ECs can help when they have more academically qualified applicants than spots, but academic rigor/performance is the number one consideration.

My 2022 is at a mid-tier business schools, which has been very impressive to me. I attended a T10 business undergrad and have an MBA, and I am blown away by the programming, counseling, and access this school provides. The curriculum is also very current. It’s probably ranked 40+ places lower than my own undergraduate program, but I have no concerns about it.

Because your high school is a feeder school, I would apply to those reach schools, but I would look at the rest of the list to create more balance. Look at the kind of mid-tier school that my 2022 attends and you will see that it has all the same clubs, classes, and opportunities that your reaches have. Not only that, but I bet if you look at who recruits there, you will be surprised at how similar that list is to the list at your reaches.

Go somewhere will you will be at the top of the heap and where they might be interested in investing (time and money) in your entrepreneurial pursuits. As an aspiring business major, I am sure you understand ROI and debt, and realize the precarious financial position you would be putting yourself in if you are overleveraged as an undergrad. You should save those financial resources for starting your business or for applying to a top MBA program.

Good luck!

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I re-read and noticed this comment. While this is encouraging, check with your guidance counselor to see if your profile/GPA is also similar to the business admits from your school.

Some majors, like engineering, CS, and bio, tend to have a higher bar for admission. Business is the same way, especially for an affluent majority male.

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Try this calculator for all 3 UC GPA’s since all 3 are considered.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

I agree that the lack of Pre-calc could be an issue since you do not want your first exposure to Calculus to be in College and does show a lack of HS rigor in the Math area.

Here are the admit rates based on the Capped weighted UC GPA. Competitive majors such as Business/Econ will have lower admit rates than the overall rates posted.

Campus 4.20+ 3.80-4.19 3.40-3.79 3.00-3.39
Berkeley 30% 11% 2% 1%
Davis 85% 55% 23% 10%
Irvine 60% 31% 14% 1%
Los Angeles 29% 6% 1% 0%
Merced 97% 98% 96% 89%
Riverside 97% 92% 62% 23%
San Diego 72% 25% 2% 0%
Santa Barbara 73% 28% 4% 1%
Santa Cruz 91% 81% 46% 9%

I do not see any true safety schools on your list and if Business is an intended major, where are UC Irvine and Riverside on your list? Both have respected Business Schools

Best of luck.

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What do you mean by UC feeder school? Do you know if you are ELC for the UCs?

I’m looking at the public schools that feed into USC and trying to figure out which schools have a 30% admit rate. Check with your guidance counselor to make sure that your perceptions are correct and that your rigor and course load is on par with those admitted.

Are you playing chess while in high school? If so, focus on that rather than the middle school club.

Please calculate your exact UC GPA. You can find an easy calculator here. GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

All of the CSUs offer undergraduate business degrees. Look here to see where the business programs are impacted. Which is your local CSU? Those from local service areas receive priority into impacted majors over those from outside the local service area.

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Regarding “UC Feeder school”, this is a misnomer. There may be some schools that have a higher than average admit rate for some of the UC campuses, but there is no UC Feeder school in the truest sense.

You can check the UC admit rate and average UC GPA for your HS using this link: Admissions by source school | University of California

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Please have a specific conversation about the specific amount you know they can pay. Assuming you can add $5k with personal loans. Find out if they will co-sign loans. And then figure out your budget. Please do not have vague ideas of scholarships and merit. You’d need to find an entirely different set of schools for that plan.

Also, maybe you focused on GPA protection instead of rigor and I think it may hurt you.

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