Chance me for UCLA???

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
1

HI,

Please be HONEST and chance me! I’ve been so worried about this…
So I am from an average public high school in California. I am the top 14% of my class. I am an Asian immigrant and I was not in the US until my 10th grade. I was in a pretty competitive and hard high school in my homeland and so my GPA in 9th grade is horrific(2.1 or sth)(although I heard this is not important). My 10th grade schedule was very weak because I was a new immigrant and my counselor assumed I can’t handle hard classes. So, she gave me the easiest classes and I didn’t realize my schedule sucks until it’s too late to change. I didn’t have much extracurricular activities in my 10th grade for the same reason. Now, although I think I did what I could do, I still don’t have strong extracurricular activities. I seriously think that my 10th grade is going to lower my chance a lot!

information of me:
My classes in 10th grade (weighted/unweighted GPA:3.91):
1st semester-2 period of ESL class, drawing, World history(i had this class in 9th grade it was a retake), PE, geometry
grades: straight A’s
2nd semester:
switched to regular 10th grade english class, everything else remained the same. Since regular english class is an one period class unlike ESL class, I had an open period and became an TA.
grades: As except B for english

10th grade Summer: Algebra 2 in community college
grade: A

My classes in 11th grade (weighted GPA: 4.33, unweighted GPA: 4.0)
American Literature, Japanese 2 (not my native language/my third language), AP physics, AP 2D studio Art, US history, pre-calculus
grades: straight A’s in both semester

11th grade Summer: online classes: -college and career -health education
grades: A for both

Classes in 12th grade will be:
AP Calculus AB, AP Japanese, AP Psychology, European Literature, Economics/Democracy, Physiology

SAT & AP scores:

SAT 1: 1280 (english:600, math: 690) (going to retake)
SAT 2: did not take any

AP 2D studio art: 5
AP Physics: 4

Leadership roles:
Vice president of a school club(11th grade)
Secretary of a program outside of school (11th grade)
President of a program outside of school (12th grade)

Awards:
-two city-wide art award and one school-wide math award

Extracurricular:
-volunteer in community services for about 200 hours a year (working with seniors-bringing them on field trip and hosting fun activities with them)
-participant of youth advocacy program(12 grade)
-japanese culture club member (11-12 grade)
-being one of the core organizing member of a community fair (11th grade summer)
-school campus TV crew member (9th grade) (I am thinking if i should take this out because it’s too long ago but i thought this might add a little variety to what i do because i spend most of my time volunteering)

Things that I did but not really sure where to put in the application at all:
-helped writing grant for my program and successfully funded for $4000
-helped in planning field trip involved in over 90 seniors
-participated in city beautify project about beautifying a street wall with Mosaic art
-in charged of, planned, outreached and gave technology literacy classes for seniors

Thank you so much!!!

2

First calculate your UC GPA (capped weighted) and Fully weighted.

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Intended major?

You want a capped weighted UC GPA in the 4.2+ Range. Your SAT score is way below the average, think 1400+ for the best chances.

I would take some SAT 2 subject tests to enhance your application. You have good EC’s and have accomplished much since moving here, but GPA and test scores are what is going to get you an acceptance and those have to competitive.

UCLA Freshman profile for Admits 2017:

GPA and test scores of middle 25%-75% students

High School GPA (UC capped weighted): 4.13 - 4.31
ACT Composite Score: 30 - 34
ACT English Language Arts : 28 - 32
SAT Evidence Based Reading & Writing: 640 - 730
SAT Mathematics: 640 - 770

3

Is that your uc gpa? If so, a 4.3 is strong. Retake your SAT though. In your essays, make sure the fact you immigrated to the country in 10th grade is very clear as this will be taken into account.
Finally, obviously you should apply to other UC’s, CSU’s, and private universities.
Have you run the NPC on UCLA, UCSC (would be a safety), SDSU, and a private like Occidental or LMU?

4

Thank you for the replies!

My UC GPA is only 4.12…

I don’t know what to major in yet…but i’m planning to apply to something in the college of L&S. I put Actual science down for now, would that be a competitive major?

I am retaking the SAT but I really don’t have much hope of getting anything over 1400…For SAT ll, due to the different syllabus in my homeland, I did not learn most things(but A LOT of things out of US syllabus lol) in basically all subjects except Math…The only ones I have the confidence to take are the Math 2, japanese, and maybe Physics if I self study the uncovered things. Which of an okay physics score(abt 600) and a perfect language test score help better?

Yes I will apply to other schools! I’m planning to apply to all UCs except Riverside and Merced and some CSUs nearby my city. I don’t know what private colleges to apply to tho…My family is low income and the tuition of most private colleges scared me already…Any private school recommendations?

5

UCLA of course, is a reach for all. Have matches and safeties. Your guidance or college counselor should be able to help you identify colleges for your list to ensure you end up with at least one acceptance. If you don’t make it there for college, you can always consider grad school. Good Luck!

6

Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:

UCB: 14%
UCLA: 14%
UCSD: 44%
UCSB: 54%
UCD: 58%
UCI: 65%
UCSC: 85%
UCR: 94%
UCM: 96%

If you want to have UC as a Safety, consider UC Santa Cruz or Riverside. You should be good for all the Cal States except for possibly Cal Poly SLO (depending upon major).

Some Private school suggestions would be Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, University of San Diego, Occidental, University of the Pacific to name a few.

I would run the Net Price calculators on some of these schools and see what kind of cost estimates you get. You may get some decent merit/need-based aid.

7

I agree with @MYOS1634. Definetely write about your recent immigration to the US in one of your personal statements, so that admissions officers understand your situation. However, do not write a personal statement that is full of excuses. Write about how your immigration to the US made you a better student and a better human being. Also, try to get at least a 1400 on the SAT to be competitive and a 1400+ to be very competitive. If you believe you can do well in any subject test, definetely do them! I got accepted to UCLA this year and I went from a 29 on the ACT, to a 30 on the ACT, and finally a 32 on the ACT. I reported on my application that I was going to take subject tests during the month of December, but I decided not to send them after taking my subject tests because I felt like I did not do well. Also, make sure you work really hard on your personal statements because that is a key aspect of your application. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me!

8

Run the NPC on Occidental, Pitzer, Pomona, Chapman, St Mary’s. The first three “meet need” and the other two offer merit aid for good stats.

9

It is really not looking good. You may have a chance if you’re applying for a not-in-demand or non-competitive degree/major.

10

If you really want to go to UCLA or a decent school, and you are truly smart (your english seems good for immigrating for less than 2 years?), I would just go to community college for 2 years, academically destroy your competition, and transfer to UCLA or another high UC. Best of luck… I know your situation is hard. I don’t know you, but if you’re actually smart, a few more years to perfect your english and getting used to the country, and proving yourself in CC would be good and cheaper as well.

11

It’s been a while but I just remembered that I posted this back then Lol. Thank you everyone for chancing me! I retook my SAT and got 1380 + took ACT and got 31 after posting. I did get rejected from UCLA(as expected, duh). The arguably best school I got into is UCSD(which I commited to!) and waitlisted at UCB(yet to find out my results(which is why I’m lurking on CC again haha).

12

I do definitely think that if you’re in a less competitive major you have a high chance. UCLA is a school that considers factors other than GPA (not to mention if you have a valid excuse for one low GPA year with an upward trend, schools tend to understand). If you ignore your freshman year, you’d fit in pretty well. Your higher grades put you up a lot.

13

@joanofdarc lol thanks for chancing. This is kind of an old thread, I ended up getting rejected from UCLA. Now I’m a freshman at UC Berkeley.

14

@Lenk123, hope you are enjoying it so far. Congrats!