Chance me for UCI, UCLA and UCSB?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

Hi! I’m currently a senior who is nervous about college decisions. UCI, UCLA and UCSB are my target (and maybe reach schools?). Below are my stats/activities from high school :slight_smile:

Background Info

Female/Asian/Hispanic
Upper Middle/Middle Class income
very competitive school (ranked 2nd in county, top 50 in california)

UCI Major: Ecology
UCSB Major: Physiology
UCLA Major: Sociology

ACT: 28 (ik this is kinda low for UCs :frowning: but i took it twice and got the same score so)

UC GPA: Uncapped/weighted: 4.45, Weighted/Capped: 4.18, Unweighted: 3.82

Grades*
During first semester of sophomore year, I had almost straight B’s due to difficulties at home. However, I managed to get straight A’s for second semester sophomore year and all of junior year (mentioned this in the additional comments section).

APs

Biology (4), Chemistry (3), Microeconomics, Government and Politics, English Language, French Language

(Besides AP’s I have taken 8 honors classes)

EC’s/Work/Volunteering/Awards

Girls Lacrosse (varsity, MVP, captain, JV, athletic awards), Rock Climbing, Academic Decathlon (competed at regionals as a junior team member), Fashion Club (Co-Pres), French Club, Yearbook (on leadership board as business manager), Babysitting, Chem/French/English tutor for local company, helped remodel a house during the summer as a paid job, National Honor Society, French National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, California Scholarship Federation (sealbearer), Volunteering at YMCA (165+ Hours), Volunteering at local library (20+ Hours)

Essays

I’d say 9/10, all are very personal and show growth/things that are important to me. I worked on them for months and had lots of peer edits so they are well polished and I’d say my best work.

2

Based on the UC data below, none of the schools are targets. UCI/UCSB would be High Match/Low Reach schools and UCLA a definite Reach school. I am not saying you do not have a chance at all these schools but hopefully you applied widely and other Match/Target and Safety schools on your list.

2018 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 10%
UCLA: 9%
UCSD: 34%
UCSB: 38%
UCD: 41%
UCI: 38%
UCSC: 70%
UCR: 84%
UCM: 95%

2019 UC capped weighted GPA averages along with 25th-75th percentile range:
UCB: 4.23 (4.15-4.30)
UCLA: 4.25 (4.18-4.32)
UCSD: 4.16 (4.03-4.28)
UCSB: 4.16 (4.04-4.28)
UCI: 4.13 (4.00-4.25)
UCD: 4.13 (4.00-4.26)
UCSC: 3.96 (3.76-4.16)
UCR: 3.90 (3.69-4.11)
UCM: 3.73 (3.45-4.00)

25th - 75th percentiles for ACT composite + language arts
UCB: 28-35
UCLA: 29-35
UCSD: 26-34
UCSB: 26-34
UCD: 24-33
UCI: 24-34
UCSC: 24-32
UCR: 21-30
UCM: 18-26

3

you are a strong applicant for all of the UCs but, LA, B and SD are so popular, they are probably a reach. Strong essays may do the trick though. You will probably get into the rest but, there’s some subjectivity to the process so I wouldn’t be surprised if you were rejected by one or two of the others.
good luck.

4

@collegescaresme32 . . . I would just like to add that if you get admitted to all of your UC choices, don’t sacrifice the things in which you’d want to major by attending, say, UCLA.

Sociology at UCLA for those admitted from high school is declining in popularity, and
a subset who do major in it, do so because they’re trying to keep their grades really high for law school or even dental or pharmacy school (not so much med school).

There’s another subset within this group who choose soc because they are indirectly funneled to the major as it is one of the least rigorous majors at the University, so it becomes a question of eligibility for them. Your stats are too good for this. But your options are open to change if you were to get in.

On the other hand, soc from the community-college subset is really popular at UCLA – for these students, it is the most popular major – but this is because they just want to get into UCLA. So consequently, the average gpa from cc to UCLA for soc is ~ 3.8 or a bit higher, and they similarly are using the major as a preparatory for L and some are even using it for M-school.

So the essence is I have my qualms about anyone who wants to major in soc. There are so many incredible majors the UCs offer.