<p>Alright, so, I've been a long time lurker of these threads, but I've never made an account so I decided I might as well if I want to start getting chanced. I am mainly looking to be chanced for UCSD because that is my dream school, however, I am also looking at UCLA, UCI, UCD, UCSC, UCSB, and SJSU. Any chancing would be greatly appreciated; thanks !</p>
<p>NOTE: This is the lengthy overview; condensed version is just below it.</p>
<p>Ethnicity: Asian-American</p>
<p>Grades: <- shows an upward improvement in GPA; Does this help me in any way?</p>
<p>Course - 1st Sem. Grade/2nd Sem. Grade</p>
<p>Freshman Year (Did my worst this year)</p>
<p>Honors English - B+/B+
Chinese 2 - B-/B-
Health/Geography - B+/A-
Honors Alg 2/Trig - B/B
Honors Biology - A/A
PE - A/A</p>
<p>Sophomore Year </p>
<p>Honors English - B+/A+ (dropped in regular English second sem. because of trouble with teacher)
Chinese 3 - B/B-
Geometry Honors - A+/A-
Chemistry Honors - B+/B
AP Euro - A/A
PE - A/A</p>
<p>Junior Year (This is where I really shined)</p>
<p>AP English - B+/B+
Chinese 4 - A-/A-
AP Calc BC - B/A-
AP Environmental Science - A-/A
Physics Honors - A-/A-
US History - A+/A+</p>
<p>Senior Year</p>
<p>Digital Photography 1
AP Gov't/Econ
Architecture 1
AP English
AP Statistics
AP Physics B</p>
<p>Unweighted GPA (10th/11th grade only since I'm talking about UC's) - 3.66
Weighted UC GPA (8 semesters) - 4.00</p>
<p>SAT Tests:</p>
<p>SATI - 2140: 800 Math, 640 CR, 700 Writing
SATII - Math II - 780; Physics - taking in November, but will get AT LEAST 700 so we'll say 700 as a safety</p>
<p>AP Scores:</p>
<p>AP Euro - 4
AP Environmental Science - 4
AP English 11 - 4
AP Calc AB - 4
AP Calc BC - 4</p>
<p>Will be taking AP Statistics, English 12, Physics B, and Gov't/Econ exams later this May.</p>
<p>Family Background:</p>
<p>Asian-American
Neither parent went past high school education
Brother is currently at UCSD as a Freshman</p>
<p>Service Learning Hours: 220; will be around 250 when apps are turned in.
160 hours - helping at a Chinese summer camp for little kids
60 hours - random volunteering here and there
Incoming 30-40 hours - aiding friends in their Eagle Scouts project (photographer - will explain significance later)</p>
<p>Extra Curricular:</p>
<p>Boy's Tennis Team Freshman thru Senior year; Varsity Junior and Senior
Captain of Tennis Team Junior Year; Senior year - To Be Decided
Historian of Interact Club 2 years
Vice President of a club at school Senior year
Outside Sports: Soccer for 6 years as well as swimming for 3 years.
LINK Leader for 1 year
Volunteering at local hospital - 3 months
After-school Math Tutoring for students - Junior & Senior (2) years</p>
<p>My School:</p>
<p>It is not exactly competitive; however, my class is extremely competitive. For example, in my class there are at least 40 students who took Calculus BC before their Senior year. Around 15-20 took it Sophomore year and the other 20 took it with me Junior year. Every one of them has also gotten 4 or higher on their AP exams.</p>
<p>Personal Statements:</p>
<p>I am trying to make my personal statements as attractive as possible and geared toward UCSD because that is my dream school.</p>
<p>For the first prompt addressing the world I come from, I have written a rough draft about the gaming world as video games have played a major role in my life. Video games have taught me how to balance my life between work and play, how to be dedicated toward a single goal (make my name known) and persevering to achieve it, and how to network myself to others in order to get further in life.</p>
<p>The second prompt is about photography which has been a MAJOR role in my life. Photography has been an interest of mine since I was 10 and I have been influenced greatly by photography. In my personal statement, I talked about how photography has influenced me to strive to share my visions of with the world (I am planning on going into architecture/engineering).</p>
<p>I generally tried to stay away from the essays about being a first generation Asian-American and the troubles that come along with it as it is so overplayed; however, my brother did get in writing that as his personal statement. Do you think I should switch my first personal statement or leave it as is? It is definitely the weaker one of the two.</p>
<p>CONDENSED:</p>
<p>I really wanted the best chance I could get so I included everything in detail; however, I am sure some people don't want to bother with such a long wall of text so I'll break it down into a very simplified version here !</p>
<p>Grades:
Upward trend since freshman year: 3.33 -> 3.5 -> 3.5 -> 3.66 -> 3.66 -> 3.83
Unweighted UC GPA: 3.66
Weighted UC GPA: 4.0</p>
<p>SAT:
SATI - 2140; 800M,700W,640CR
SATII - 780 Math II, 700 Physics</p>
<p>AP Scores:
Taken 5 total APs, receiving 4s on all of them. Will be taking 5 more AP tests this year.</p>
<p>Family:
Parents never went to college; brother currently freshman in UCSD</p>
<p>Hours:
220 total hours. 160 from some summer camp for little kids, 40 from friends' eagle scout projects, 60 from random events from Interact</p>
<p>ECs:
Tennis team 4 years; Varsity Junior Senior
Tennis Captain Junior year (maybe Senior year)
Soccer - 6 years; swimming - 3 years
LINK leader
Volunteer at Local Hospital - 3 mo.
VP of school club; Officers in two other school clubs
Tutored math after school for 2 years</p>
<p>School:
Not a bad school, but not a great school. Very competitive class.</p>
<p>Personal Statements:
Please just read the lengthy version for the PS. I believe it is important in my application.</p>
<p>-END-</p>
<p>Thank you for everyone who even bothered to read that leeeeeeeeeeeengthy summary of my application. I am really nervous about UCs because I have heard of friends with great stats who get rejected from mediocre schools. I know many will say I'm a shoo-in for certain schools, but I really REALLY REALLY want UCSD (as you can see). Thanks for chancing me !</p>
I would love it if I was in Irvine/Davis for sure because they are both good schools. </p>
It would be GREATLY appreciated ! Thank you !</p>