CHANCE me for UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI, USC, UPenn (ED)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Okay, so I’ve just received my first C in high school, so I’m really worried about college because I’ve always set my sights on UCLA and Berkeley. But now I don’t know anymore. Please if anyone could offer reassurance, that would help a lot. I am an in-state student in California.

Rank: 4 out of 900
GPA (w): 4.54
GPA (uw): 3.77
Race: Asian
Gender: Male
Planned Major: Economics
Languages Known: English, Vietnamese, Spanish

Grades: (1st Semester/2nd Semester)

Freshman Year:
English Honors I: A/A
Algebra 2/Trig: A/A
Accelerated Biology: A/A
Spanish 2: A/A
Advanced Music Honors: A/A

Sophomore Year:
English Honors II: A/A
Precalculus Honors: A/A
Chemistry: A/A
Spanish 3: A/A
AP European History: A/A
Advanced Music Honors: A/A

Junior Year:
AP English Language: A/A
AP Calculus BC: B/B
AP Biology: B/C
AP Spanish 4: B/A
AP US History: A/A
Advanced Music Honors: A/A

Summer College Courses:
Microeconomics: A
Intro to Sociology: A

Senior Year Courseload:
AP English Literature
AP Statistics
AP Physics C: Mechanics
AP Environmental Science
AP Computer Science
AP Macroeconomics/AP Government
Advanced Music Honors

SAT Score:
Critical Reading: 630
Mathematics: 720
Writing: 800

SAT II Math Level 2: 780

Taken each AP Exam of every AP Class I’ve taken (3 on European History)
But I’m pretty sure exam scores should be: AP English Language (5), AP Calculus BC (4), AP Biology (3), AP US History (4), AP Spanish (4)

Extracurriculars/Volunteer Work:
Marching Band (9th grade - ongoing)

  • Saxophone Section Leader (12th)
    School Concert Wind Ensemble (9th grade - ongoing)
  • Principal Oboist (10th grade - ongoing)
  • Soloist (10th grade - ongoing)
    District Honor Band (11th)
  • Second Chair Oboist
  • Soloist
    Asian Culture Club (11th grade - ongoing)
  • President, Founder (11th grade - ongoing)
  • Currently raising funds for schools in Cambodia
    Vietnamese Student Union (9th grade - ongoing)
  • President (12th)
  • Activities Chair (11th)
    Asian Culture Festival Contest Team (10th grade - ongoing)
  • Intern Lead (12th)
  • Volunteer Coordinator (11th)
  • Event Lead (10th)
    Asian Culture Festival Marketing Team (11th)
  • Social Media Team Member
  • Translation Team Member
    Film Festival (11th - ongoing)
  • Public Relations, Guest Relations (11th)
  • Had the opportunity to interview a film producer
    County-Wide Vietnamese High School Alliance (9th - ongoing)
  • Internal Affairs (12th)
  • Treasurer (11th)
    Cancer Research Foundation (10th - ongoing)
    National Honor Society (11th grade - ongoing)
    Freshman Tour Guide (Summer after 10th, Summer after 11th)
    Vietnamese School Teacher Aide (11th - ongoing)
    Vietnamese School Flag Ceremony Performer (9th - ongoing)
    Assistant Basketball Coach for Recreational Center for Children (summer after 10th)

Awards:
Highest Prestige Award for Instrumental Music - Nominee
Asian Culture Festival - Certificate of Appreciation
Vietnamese School - 3rd Place of Graduating Class (9th grade)
Congressman Certificate of Recognition for Vietnamese Student Union Volunteer Work

2

You should be fine for all those colleges except UCLA, UC Berkeley, USC, and UPenn (ED). That’s a lot of APs for senior year BTW.

3

UC GPA? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

4

My capped UC GPA is a 4.08, but that GPA only counts 8 semesters of Honors.

5

It’s practically impossible for you to not make UCI; I know someone who got in with a SAT score below 1900. As for the better colleges you asked about, my friend told me about someone with an F going to Berkeley so there’s some hope. Also, your major isn’t bio so your C isn’t that bad.

6

Wharton would be difficult (for obvious reasons) but I believe you could probably get into at least one of either UCB, UCLA, or USC.

7

Hmm… What about NYU Stern as my ED choice instead? This upcoming fall, I would likely be serving as the Contest Team Director, and we deal a lot of with marketing, finances, publicity, and sponsorships. Would that count as the “business experience” and with my stats, is it likely for me to make it into NYU?

8

@Chancemeporfavor not true. at all. I had a 2170, 3.86 UW, 4.2 UC GPA and got waitlisted and denied for neuroscience…

9

2300 SAT, 4.10 W GPA, 8 AP’s (almost all 5’s)

I was still rejected from UCI haha (last year), but that was likely because I had two C’s, as well as two D’s, in AP Calculus and AP US History (though I did get 5’s on both AP tests) in my Junior year. Sadly, UC’s do not factor in the senior year, where my GPA improved by a lot with a 4.60 W. It also did not help that my school had a lot of UCI applicants – most did not have as high SAT’s and GPA’s, but they were not as ‘risky’ (did not have any C’s and D’s like I did).

Your stats are pretty competitive, but maybe try to raise your SAT a bit (though I personally feel the GPA is by far more important than the SAT). The C could really make or break your chances though, considering there are many many other applicants with flawless transcripts. I’d say UCI, UCSB, and UCSD are very likely; the rest may be slight reaches. But good luck!

10

Think Stern had an 11% acceptance this year so it’s even harder to get into than Berkeley

11

ya Stern is quite hard to get in. make sure you like NYU’s campus and student body. I chose UCB over Stern xD

12

@qwertyzxc @yoyohi Hmm… would applying to Stern as a Marketing concentration help me though? I have lots of experience within that area. I just don’t know how much my C would be factored in… My 10-11 UW is 3.77, but my 9-11 UW is 3.83. I recently took the ACT too; if it was 32+ would that also help? What else can I do to raise my chances for Stern? It’s super appealing to me now; I’ve been to New York City a couple times because of family and I loved it there.

13

I doubt Stern cares too much what major you apply as. The issue is that even if you have amazing grades your SATs are low for the school. You have a 1350 (M+CR). Stern 's 50th percentile score is 1470

Yes ACT 32/33+ would definitely help