Applying to a few ucs: UCI, UCLA, UCR, UCSD
Chance me!
GPA: 4.3 weighted, 3.8 unweighted
UC GPA: 4.1 (qualified for top 9 percent)
SAT: 1200
SAT Essay: 21
Intended Majors: English, Creative Writing (Humanities)
First Choice School: UCI
Awards and Honors:
Principal’s Exemplary Honor Roll:
Maintained 3.5-4.0 Grade Point Average throughout semesters (9-11)
Creative writing competitions won prizes
participated in national contests at princeton
Community Service:
Beach Cleanup and Field Science
Participated in beach cleanups/Field Science events (11)
(15 hours)
Local library Summer Reading
(44 hours)
Mayor campaign (50 hrs)
Extracurriculars:
President, Creative Writing Club (11)
President, Future American Leaders Club (9-11)
Vice President, Veteran Support Association (11)
Member, Key Club (9-11)
CSF
Piano (8 years)
Board member of historical association
(22 hours)
Other:
First generation college student
First gen american
Currently no income
Family issues/circumstances (loss of parent)
Family headed by single mother
Armenian minority descent
could you please give your opinion? @Gumbymom
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:
UCB: 12.6%
UCLA: 11.7%
UCSD: 38.7%
UCSB: 53.6%
UCD: 56.5%
UCI: 52.1%
UCSC: 75.7%
UCR: 90.1%
UCM: 96.1%
2018 UC capped weighted GPA averages:
UCB: 4.23
UCLA: 4.23
UCSD: 4.16
UCSB: 4.13
UCI: 4.13
UCD: 4.11
UCSC: 3.96
UCR: 3.81
UCM: 3.71
2018 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT:
UCB: 1360-1540
UCLA: 1340-1540
UCSD: 1300-1520
UCSB: 1270-1500
UCD: 1220-1480
UCI: 1230-1490
UCSC: 1210-1450
UCR: 1130-1380
UCM: 1020-1280
Since I posted all relevant UC statistical data, your GPA is competitive but your SAT is low for your target school UCI. UCI admits into the University first then into the major. A UCI acceptance could go either way. UCR is a Match. UCSD a slight Reach and UCLA is always a Reach.
Remember your overall application will be considered so your EC’s and essays can help really your chances. Hopefully you have a safety school or two also on your list and best of luck.
Thank you for posting the statistics. However, it bothers me that scores play such an important role in college admission. Seems like a disgrace to hardworking students from underprivileged backgrounds and experiences. I guess the education system in America solely focuses on accepting students from high-income families that are able to afford sat prep programs that boost their scores to the 90th percentile. There is a lack of logic here that cannot go dismissed.
UC’s in general tend to be more GPA focused than test focused which is an advantage for you. Each campus determines how much emphasis they put on each part of the application. For UCI, they have in the past focused more on a high GPA so hopefully the 50/50 chance based on statistics will be in your favor.
Be lucky that you are in the US where grades can be considered for entrance into a university. In almost every other country, test scores or in many cases, entrance to a top university boils down to one test that a whole nation takes on the same day.
Exactly, if you were in any other country, it would be your 1200 and that’s it. Here your have top 9% ELC so you are guaranteed admission to a UC, your first-gen status and essays that can help. And the kids that take test prep are pretty hard working too and their GPAs are also 3.8-3.9 uw and 4.3 capped.
The idea is that the education system cannot reject an applicant that has faced adversities because the student truly deserves an opportunity in achieving prosperity. I understand how some students are simply rejected because their stats are too low but it is highly unjustified to reject an applicant SOLELY based on scores regardless of what country. When I say reject an applicant, I am specifically referring to the disadvantaged students attempting to fulfill their parent’s or their own dream of making it big: attending a good university. There has to be an equality in granting or considering the challenges faced by disadvantaged groups of students, who have obviously dealt with difficult experiences faced by few within the school population.
There are many free ways you could have prepped for the tests. There are many free tests available on websites, as well as resources from places like Khan Academy. Your local library would have al the necessary books for prep as well.
3.8 GPAs are not created equal and the test scores are one facet, a major one, that helps determine your ranking so to speak when comparing with others. At a school like UCI with over 100K applicants, over 70% of the applicants will be rejected and I’m sure a good number of them are also perfectly ready for UCI also.
Not sure why you are complaining so vociferously, because the UCs’ admission policies tend to look favorably on applicants who overcame adverse or disadvantaged situations. UCs also do not weight test scores that highly relative to high school record for frosh admission (at least partly because they tend to reflect SES, but also because they are not as strong predictors of college performance as high school record), and do not use other criteria that skew admission toward higher SES (e.g. legacy). UC financial aid for students from low income families is better than in most states. The result is that the percentage of UC students with Pell grants (approximately bottom half family income) is generally higher than at similarly selective state universities in other states. For example, 42% of UCI students get Pell grants, compared to 32% of all college students. CSUs and community colleges offer additional college opportunities at low cost for California residents.
Be glad that you live in California, not a state like Pennsylvania, where the in-state public universities are largely unaffordable to students from low income families.
I agree with your post. I was just upset about how scores could play a big role in the admission process, in which some applicants have more to offer than what is represented by their SAT or ACT scores.
id say 60/40 against for UCI.
Apply broadly so you have options when the time comes