Hello guys!
I am a rising senior and I would like to know my chances at some California Colleges!
Here are my stats:
UC GPA: 4.11
Unweighted GPA: 3.70
Weighted GPA: 4.22
10-12GPA: UW 3.81 and a W 4.41
ACT Score: 33
My Freshman year GPA was a 3.4UW and a 3.7W my Sophomore year was a 3.64UW and a 4.21W and Junior year was a 4.0UW and a 4.67W
As you can see my grades have gone up in both UW and W as time goes on.
I am a pretty good essay writer, and have a couple teachers who would write very good letters for me. Furthermore, I have quite the amount of out of school activities that I think will beef up my resume.
Here are the colleges I would like to apply too in California:
UC Colleges: UCI, UCSD, UCSB, UCB, UCLA
Cal State: Cal Poly SLO
Privates: Chapman, USC, LMU
Prospective Majors: Business Admin, Econ, Marketing.
Please put them in Safety, Match, Reach order?
My counselor told me that I have an “upward trend” and due to the fact that my gpa is really only low because of my freshman year, I should be fine with a slightly lower gpa, but I am not sure.
Live in CA or not? It’s much harder to get into UCLA and Berkeley if you’re OOS. Since you’re asking only about UCs I’ll assume instate. Your UW and ACT score are definitely good enough to make you be in the upper test of in state bunch, but remember that you should have ECs. UC apps ask a lot about ECs (from experience), so you should have ones that include volunteering and sports etc.; the upward trend is a definite help, they like seeing that growth. Any hooks? If not, it’s not really an issue, you have a good chance. If you’re OOS, you have an O.K. chance. Your GPA may be low among OOS and your ACT isn’t staggeringly high to compensate, but if you’ve got good rigor in your courses, you’ll be good
@mellamousted Sorry, forgot to say that I live in California. My ECs are very good, my mom is really good friends with a top college counselor who told me my ECs are really good and will 100 percent help my app, I don’t want to go to in-depth on the forums though. I don’t have any real hooks other than that I have a 504 which I guess is a hook? I am Asian so I think getting in may be a little bit harder to get in. Also here is a quick note regarding my grades. Without my FIRST semester of Freshman year my GPA is a 3.81 and a 4.40. I think the reason was because I moved from New York to California and didn’t really “belong” so it was a hard time adjusting, but I am not sure if colleges with care about that. I started to pick backup after I adjusted and made some friends and my grades have gotten nothing but better ever since.
I don’t think a 504 is a hook…
A 504 is not a hook, it’s a plan that helps you achieve your educational goals. It appears you are successful in school by your grades and activities, so the plan is working. Colleges look to see if you can be successful in college based on your past education. It’s not a hook.
Your race should not matter to a public school in California. For private schools, they can do what they want, but I don’t think many care that much anymore. Diversity sort of works its way out in places that are diverse.
Yeah I don’t know what a hook is lol.
I got it for my ADHD, so I didn’t know if that did anything. the plan is helping me out so much! What do you guys thin k for these schools in terms of match/reach/safety. @twoinanddone and @Emsmom1
I would add San Diego state as a Safety for Business Admin/Marketing and UCR since they have a well respected Business school.
UCLA/UCB: Reach
USC: Low Reach
UCSD/SLO: High Match
UCSB/UCI: Match
LMU/Chapman: Low Match.
You are a qualified and competitive applicant. Best of luck.
ur ACT 33 and UC GPA 4.11 are definetely good for these schools.
UCLA- reach
UCB- reach
USC- reach
UCSD- high match
UCSB- high match
SLO- high match
UCI-match
Chap- low match?
LMU- low match?
as said before u should apply to UCR and SDSU with good biz schools and you have a high acceptance chance.
Which of these choices do u like the most?
Cal and LA are hard, but you can get into all the others.
@Gumbymom I looked at USC’s freshman profile and it says that they admit students with an average 3.84 GPA however my GPA would be around there without just one bad semester, also my ACT score is in the top 75% I know the school is competitive but I thought because of how strong my Junior year was getting a 4.71 and a 4.0 with 5 AP classes it could make up for that one terrible year. USC is my number one choice, and I think I can get my ACT up to a 34 or 35. Anything you can recommend to get me in atleast High Match/Match territory?
I know the major I am applying for a USC is pretty competitive so that is why I was looking at maybe applying to major in Public Policy at USC which is a less competitive major and still is something I am very interested in. My one semester of freshman year I had more B’s than I had for the rest of my high school career combined. Also if I do get all A’s in the first semester of senior year that can bring my GPA up more, and show that the one terrible semester was just a fluke?
I concede that USC could be a Match to High Match with a Public policy major.
@Gumbymom is there anything else I can do to raise my chances to make it a solid match for USC Public Policy? It seems as if my GPA is slightly below average and my ACT is right around the average mark (32s and 33 seem to be the average)
BTW my schools admissions to USC is about 20% acceptance rate. Last year a kid with similar stats as mine (3.68 and 33) got into Public Policy at USC he has a large upward trend similar to mine as well.
If you have some significant EC’s with leadership and compelling essays, then that is all you can do at this point.
SDSU and CSULB have outstanding Biz programs, you should definitely add both to your ap list.
This is just based on my experience.
I’m pretty sure you can make it in UCI, UCSB, and UCSD, maybe, as your GPA, test score, and ECs are way better than mine (Well not for GPA, mine was like 4.08)
As for UCLA and UCB, I don’t know; You have a chance, but they are always tricky enough to reject those who are seemingly qualified…Good luck!