Hi, currently a senior who’s applying to UC Berkeley and Los Angeles.
35 on ACT (32 Math, 35 English, 36 Reading, 35 Science, 9 on writing)
UC GPA- 3.82 (3.89 cumulative) with 4 AP’s taken in total from Freshman-Senior year, all in history and English classes. I do the worst in math and science classes, and my ACT also shows that. I got 5’s on both AP Euro and APUSH in my Sophomore and Junior years respectively.
Some EC’s: Concertmaster of a district audition only orchestra, founded an ultimate frisbee club at my school, participated in some other clubs.
My essays are pretty good imo. Let’s just say that they’re solid essays for the sake of standardization.
What are my chances of making UC Berkeley and LA? Keep in mind that I come from a top ten high school in my state and it is fairly competitive at my school. There are many more at my school who have better GPA’s and more AP’s, but very few who have better ACT scores. I’ve also read their essays - they aren’t amazing.
UCs are very GPA oriented. Your UC GPA seems to be low for top UCs.
As stated above, UC’s are very GPA focused and high test scores help but do not make up for a lower than average GPA or HS course rigor. EC’s and essays can help, but GPA is king.
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:
UCB: 12%
UCLA: 14%
UCSD: 39%
UCSB: 49%
UCD: 52%
UCI: 57%
UCSC: 83%
UCR: 90%
UCM: 92%
UCB/UCLA will be Reaches unless you have some extenuating circumstances which would account for your GPA and lack of HS course rigor in comparison with your fellow HS classmates.
Your ACT is definitely your highlight of your application. However, your GPA is below average for both UCLA and UCB. I’m assuming you are not a STEM major and pursuing a humanities major. In that case, your essay has to honestly be 15/10 (it has to be freaking amazing).