CHANCE ME FOR UCSD

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - San Diego
1

Hello! Would anyone be willing to chance me for UCSD? It is my dream school. I am applying as a computer science major by the way, so I think it will be a lot harder for me to get in.

ACT: 34
SAT Subject Test Math II: 800
SAT Subject Test Japanese: 800
SAT Subject Test Chemistry: 770
GPA: 4.00 (UW)
4.37 (W)
High School: Very competitive public high school (ranked top in California and in the country)
AP Chemistry: 5
APUSH: 4
AP Japanese: 5
AP’s I am currently taking: AP Calculus BC, AP Physics 1, APCS
Rank: My school doesn’t do ranks but my counselor said I am within the top 5-10% range :stuck_out_tongue:

Classes Outside of A-G:

  • Japanese School (9th, 10th, 11th grade; graduated; 9 hours per week)

Awards:

  • President’s Volunteer Service Silver Award (national award)
  • First Place, Japanese Speech Contest (regional award)
  • First Place, Japanese School Essay Contest (school award)
  • Grand Prize, California State Talent Competition (regional award)
  • Japanese Language Award (nominated by Japanese teacher; 9 students selected out of 125; school award)

Community Service:

  • School club (11th grade; collaborated on marketing campaigns for 4 events held to raise funds for Usher Syndrome research; assisted the club in raising overall $1,700; hours contributed toward President’s Award)
  • Local non-profit (10th, 11th grade; created and donated 21 handcrafted plush toys to be distributed to local at-risk children; hours contributed toward President’s Award)
  • Zero Waste Internship (12th grade; coded and designed infographics for school district’s Sustainability website; hours contributed toward President’s Award)
  • Boys and Girls Club (11th grade; volunteered at local Boys and Girls Club summer program; taught 30 second-grade students English and mathematics)

Job:

  • Treasurer (12th grade; entered information from checks, bank statements, etc. into QuickBooks and Google Sheets; developed organizational and soft skills)

Extracurricular Activities

  • School business club (10th, 11th, 12th grade; Marketing Director and Secretary; collaborated on marketing campaigns for 2 student-led companies; placed 3rd and 4th at national competition; 2 hours per week)
  • Orchestras (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grade; member of regular orchestra all four years; member of symphony orchestra for two years; principal second of regular orchestra in 11th grade; selected member of chamber orchestra last two years; 4 hours per week)
  • Violin (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grade; private lessons; 4 hours per week; participated in local church ensemble)
  • Piano (9th, 10th, 11th grade; private lessons; 4 hours per week)
  • School crafts club (10th and 11th grade; founder and president; led and organized weekly club meetings; taught students how to sew plush toys as a way to relieve stress)

Essays:

  1. Leadership in orchestra ensemble group
  2. My talent (ability to combine artistic and technical skills in bringing my ideas to life - talked about my Zero Waste internship)
  3. Educational barrier (shyness; how I learned to take steps out of my comfort zone by competing in Japanese speech contest)
  4. What makes me unique (personal experience I faced regarding prejudice when I was living in China)

Thank you in advance for your response! :slight_smile: Please let me know if I left any information out. I am writing this at 1:17 in the morning so I may have missed a few things here and there.

2

Also:
Classes: Top math classes, top science classes, top/honors English classes, regular history classes (school doesn’t offer honors history/social studies; I took APUSH; I chose to take regular Econ over AP Econ this year), orchestra all 4 years, Japanese 3 years, computer science classes 2 years, etc.

3

Anyone? :frowning:

4

You look like a competitive applicant but no CS related EC’s? Did you also select a non-capped major as an alternate?

Good Luck.

5

Your stats are very impressive! Clearly you worked very hard to get to where you are. I think your chances of getting into UCSD are extremely high. Actually, your profile is extremely similar to mine last year haha, and I’m currently studying CS at UCSD. For the record, I think you have a high chance at regents in addition, which will provide you with research experience (so you can get some CS experience with a professor early on!). If you applied, I suspect you’ll also get into Cal and LA, though I’m hoping you’ll still consider UCSD by weighing in the benefits and costs rather than just chasing name and prestige (which often occurs as a high school senior). Personally, I would look at which companies recruit at the school (basically equal for SD LA and Cal, like google apple facebook etc all come), the possibility for getting CS experience (SD wins by far in research exposure, but Cal has the advantage in SF startup culture, though you’ll need to invest in parking and a car). Difficulty of classes (go somewhere you can get a high GPA with extracurricular like research. Cal, for ex, is too cutthroat in that regards). Chances of getting internships and industry experience (Cal name carries more, but 4.0 at SD might seem more impressive than 3.5 EECS for example, though 4.0 EECS might seem more impressive than 4.0 SD, with all else being equal since projects and such obviously matter). In fact, many of my friends and I have already secured internships (and I’m a freshman) so it’s really just up to you being a go-getter. In the end though, you seem like an extremely bright and talented individual-you’ll succeed wherever you go (though as you can tell, I think it’d be awesome if SD had another super bright individual like you ;P). Feel free to message me further if you have any questions about UCSD.

6

@andyis Thank you so much for your very insightful comment! It’s great to hear that I have a chance of getting into UCSD, as UCSD is my top choice as of now :slight_smile: I was just wondering, but did you receive the Regents Scholarship as well?