HI, I’m currently a senior nervously waiting for college acceptance letters. I applied to all UC’s except UCLA and Berkley. I’ve only gotten into Riverside so far. Santa Cruz is my top choice and I’m ripping my hair out waiting for them to send me a decision. I was hoping some of you guys can tell me my chances of getting in so I can either stop hoping so much or stop worrying so much.
UC GPA: 3.27 (Low I know )
ACT: 29
AP Classes: US History (4 on AP test) AP European History (3) Stats (Taking it Currently) Econ (Current) Government (Current) Biology (Current)
Extracurriculars: 4 years of Band and Marching Band, Section leader in Band, Varsity Badminton for 2 years, 3rd language I took at Sunday School for 3 years, and Piano for 7 years.
Other notes: I know that my GPA is pretty low but I’ve been having an upward grade trend since Freshmen year (I started working a lot harder after I saw my freshmen year grades.).
I’m really hoping that my ACT and Essay outshine my low GPA…
It really depends upon what UCSC will put on more emphasis on your test scores or GPA. Unfortunately, the UC’s weigh GPA more heavily since it is a better reflection of your academic abilities over a period of 3 years versus the tests scores which is a 1 day sitting. An upward trend in GPA is always helpful so like I said it could either way. Only a few more days to know the answer and I always love it when I am proven wrong.
@Niting, I am sorry to hear of your denial. Believe me, I would prefer to be wrong in all of my chancings. A few things I have learned about college admissions, is that many times it is a crapshoot and you really have no idea how or why you are accepted or rejected. I spent alot of time with my son’s in helping them research their chances at many of the colleges and the one take away that I found was that you need to pay attention to the common datasets from each school and see where your stats fit into the overall picture. They targeted schools where their SAT/ACT and GPA’s were at or above the 50th percentile for at least 5-7 schools on their list. They did pick a few reach schools where their Stats were around 25th percentile but my older son was accepted to 7/10 and younger son 6/10 schools. There are always the unknown factors such as essays and EC’s and how these will be reviewed.
I know you have been accepted to UCR which is a very good school, despite all the criticism the school receives. Both sons have many friends that attend UCR and they are very happy with their choice. Good Luck to you and you still need to hear from UCI. There is still a chance so be hopeful…
@Gumbymom Yeah I was pretty upset at first but eventually calmed down. I guess I’m mostly mad that 2 of my friends with basically the same scores got in (different majors though: business and psychology). But I started thinking about my next steps. I guess I can hope for UCSB and UCI, but I should expect the worst. I think I can also try appealing. I got a 3.8 weighted with 3 AP’s last semester and can get a decent recommendation letter, do you know the chances of getting an appeal? Otherwise I guess I’ll just go to Riverside and work hard to get into a decent Medical school.
-Thanks for all your help though!
Unable to find any statistical info regarding how many appeals were accepted last year, but very few waitlisted were accepted in 2014.
You have nothing to loose by appealing and everything to gain. An upward trend in GPA should help. Good Luck and you still have a good choice with UCR which opened a Medical school recently and will set aside spots specifically for UCR students.
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