Chance me for CA School

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Immgrants, In-State Public
I really like the State so I will probably attend a University here.

College list: UCB, UCLA, USC, Harvey-Mudd, UCSD, UCSB, UCD, UCI, Pepperdine, local CC

Intended major: econ, econ, econ!

GPA: 3.84/4.45

UC GPA: Unweighted: 3.9, Weighted Capped: 4.17, Weighted Uncapped: 4.57;

FYI My school usually accept 30ish kids to UCB, 20ish to LA, and 20ish to USC
Average admit to UCB and UCLA have a Weighted Capped of 4.2 or above (Weighted Uncapped not listed) A lot more variation for USC

SAT: test blind

AP: 9th: Chinese (5), Human Geo(3)

10th: Euro(5), Computer Science Principle (4)

11th: CalcBC (5), Chemi(3), Macro econ (5), Psych (5), US history (3) Physic C( score canceled)

12th: Multi Calc(community college), Micro Econ, Stats, Gov, Physic 2,

2 college classes at UCLA one B+(Curve) and one A

EC:

1)founded an organization to help immigrants and international students.

2)founded a partnership with a South African nonprofit to help SA students.

  1. tutor at school social science center

4)family responsibilities, parents are not fluent in English

5)volunteer 4 years with a none-profit, presidential bronze

6)Summer internship in 2019 summer

7)summer program at UCLA(2020summer online)

8)4 years member of the school chapter for an investment-related club. Earned a state competition bronze, awarded another club title.

9)Treasurer at Mu Alpha Theta, joined junior years.

9)4 year of Band(actually hurt my GPA a lot lol)

The essays are good. I would consider pretty unique. Got an essay coach as well

Thank you very much for reading it. Any response and comment are appreciated!

2

I will only cite the UC statistical data since these schools will be even more unpredictable this admission cycle due to going test blind. You look like a qualified and competitive applicant. With your school’s track record for admission to the UC’s, your chances are probably higher than posted however, you state that the average UC capped weighted GPA at your school is 4.2 or higher, your GPA although close is still below your schools average.

I am listing the CA admit rates first followed by the overall admit rates (CA, OOS and International for comparison).

Freshman 2020 admit rates based on Capped Weighted UC GPA and Not Major Specific for California students (3.80-4.19):

UCB: 16%

UCLA: 6%

UCSD: 32%

UCSB: 38%

UCI: 27%

UCD: 46%

UCSC: 81%

UCR: 91%

UCM: 99%

2020 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:

UCB: 14%

UCLA: 8%

UCSD: 39%

UCSB: 40%

UCD: 55%

UCI: 38%

UCSC: 82%

UCR: 90%

UCM: 97%

Econ is becoming impacted/selective at many of the UC’s. Consider UCLA/UCB as a Reach schools, UCI, UCSB and UCD as HIgh Match/Low Reach. Best of luck.

3

Really appreciated your insights! Just ranting but my Capped GPA would be 4.22 if I haven’t submitted my grade from a summer program(thank you very much for your comment on the other post as well). It’s really stupid cuz I could have not reported it as it’s from a summer program.

4

BTW what would consider as a reach/match/safety? I always assume reach is under 10% chance, match is from 20%-70%, and safety is anything 70% or above… could you clarify what would you consider as reach/high match/low reach please? I am just really confused and clarification is really appreciated!

5

If the summer course is an a-g course or UC transferable, you have to report it. If it is neither, then it will not be calculated into your UC GPA and will not make a difference.

My definition of a Match is >50%
Safety >70%
Reach <30%

Variations in-between these for High Match/Low Reach etc…

6

It’s from UCLA and they were legit classes I took with freshman and sophomore. However, I am just not sure cuz the program did specifically said that it won’t be considered as a part of your high school grade. It’s too late to do anything anyway:)

BTW I did apply to a ton of other T30 like USC, CMU, and UVA cuz I thought they are match …
I understand that you said UCB and UCLA will be reach for me, but are they like super hard reach that is “Unreachable”? If that the case I applied to way too many reach and not enough match…

Also, I figured that I should be posting it on the Megathread. New user oops

7

It is difficult to gauge this year due to the test blind policies for many schools. Your HS track record for UCLA/UCB admits are good so they are “Reachable”. As a CC poster, not an admissions officer, I do not see the whole application picture so yes you do have a chance at all the schools, but there are no guarantees. Your safest school on the UC list is Davis where Econ just became an Impacted/Selective major. Community college is your backup, but I really do not see any safety other than a CC.

8

Got it:) I am just really anxious and nervous waiting for the decision. Keep thinking that I am throwing my chance to any decent colleges away because I aimed too high. Take UCs for example, I have no ideas the acceptance rate drop this dramatically for gpa lower than 4.2

For safety, I got schools like Pepperdine, UW, and CSU. I assume they are safety so I didnt mention them. I think I should have applied to more T40-T50 as my match whereas I applied to majorly T30 as my match. Not familiar with the process and a lot of mistakes.

Thank you so much for your patience. A poster like you on CC really makes this community great and helpful to us highschool students!

9

I am not that familiar with UW and CSU, but as an OOS applicant, these may not be safeties. Pepperdine is probably close to a Safety as long it is affordable.

Best of luck and it should be very interesting to see the decisions for this year. Please update once you have all your decisions.

10

In your opinion, is my profile competitive for those T30, and will I have a decent enough shot at those reach?

Thank you very much! And I guess it will be pretty interesting once the decisions are out

11

How to do compare to your fellow classmates in terms of GPA, HS course rigor and EC’s?
You are a competitive applicant but so are most of the applicants applying to these schools. With acceptance rates in the teens or below for many of these schools, very few applicants have a decent shot. I think you would have the best shot at UCB out of your Reachy Reaches. Please prove me wrong.

12

I just wanna first clarify what I mean by a decent shot, It seems to be a bit of misunderstanding.IMO a decent shot is equivalent to a good chance to get in. By decent shot I mean that my profile could be review in the holistic review process: it’s at least average, within the mid 68% of applicants. I want to be the average applicant, at least qualified for admission, so my chance to get in would be more subjective than objective. More dependent on the AOs but not the fact that my grade/EC provided me to be incapable.
I am fully aware of the fact that admission to those schools is difficult, especially considered that my profile is not great.

In terms of GPA, my school doesn’t rank. But I estimate myself to be in the first decile according to the school report(which only provides decile distribution) as of now. Again, I am an immigrant and my parents can’t speak English. I made many mistakes along the way due to a lack of knowledge. I made some huge ones in the 9th grade and got a bunch of Bs. Otherwise, my cumulative GPA would be much better. In the range between 4.66-4.83. My course rigor is hard except in English. I took all of the ap offered at my school with the exception of Lit, Bio, Enviro, and Art APs.

13

Assuming definitely affordable:

Safety = 100%
Likely 90-99%
Match 60-89%
High match 40-59%
Reach < 40%

If affordability depends on a merit scholarship, the assessment must be based on the scholarship, not admission.

14

For Pepperdine, is the religion (including required convocation / religious service attendance) desirable or acceptable to you?

15

I am an Agnostic but I am actually quite interested in their religious things. My neighbor is actually an assistant professor at Pepperdine and I tour around Pepperdine with her once. The campus seems pretty great and the people seem pretty nice.

16

I see. I guess classification for reach/match/safety varied by person lol. Really appreciated your input!

17

You could get a head start on learning religion at virtual services and other religious programs:

18

Ty for the info. I will check it out

19

Thank you so much for your patience. Really appreciated your advise!

20

No Problem. I know this is an anxious and difficult time as you wait for the decisions. Just know that most students “bloom where planted” meaning that regardless of where you end up, if you are motivated, you will succeed.