I am a current junior at a very competitive high school in CA, and I’m just wondering if I have any good chance at top UC’s such as LA and Berkeley. Also, I would appreciate some insight on chances at Davis, Irvine, or SD.
Here are my stats:
UW UC GPA: 3.66
Weighted UC GPA: 4.33 (honors not weighted, AP’s weighted as 5.0)
SAT: 1450 (690 reading, 760 math, 19 essay)
Eligibility in Local Context (ELC)
ECs:
-Speech and Debate (9-12)
-Treasurer of Speech and Debate club junior year and vice president Senior year
-Founded and President of Latin Club
-Internship over summer: developed biotechnology
-Guitarist and lead singer of a band
-part of the board of directors of a national organization
-Lacrosse (11-12): JV and Varsity with about 4 hours of practice per school day during the season
My biggest concern is that I have a low unweighted gpa. However, my schedule is very rigorous and I go to a very competitive school. Also, every year of Lacrosse I have gotten concussions, which I could possibly use to explain my low gpa performance?
Thanks!
The UC’s calculate 3 UC GPA’s which are weighted differently then your HS GPA. Below is a link to determine which HS courses are weighted by your HS, just type in the name of your HS here and all UC approved weighted/honors courses will have a yellow star. The UC’s use only 10-11th grades for the a-g courses.
https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist
Input your 10-11th grades and the # of honors points here to get your UC UW GPA, Capped weighted UC GPA and Fully Weighted UC GPA.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Please post all three.
Intended major?
I intend on doing some major in college of l&s
UW: 3.66
W: 4.33
Weighted and Capped: 4.0
Your odds based on your GPA for either school is around 20-30%. Which is a reach. The best thing to do is to take the SAT over again and see if you get get 1500+.
You’re close to being a match for Irvine and Davis with your current stats.
Some UC statistical data and admit rates based on the UC Capped weighted GPA and not major specific. The more competitive majors will have lower admit rates and require higher Stats. Even within L&S, some majors have GPA requirements in the pre-req courses before you can declare.
2018 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 1%
UCLA: 2%
UCSD: 7%
UCSB: 8%
UCI: 7%
UCD: 14%
UCSC: 33%
UCR: 49%
UCM: 82%
2018 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 10%
UCLA: 9%
UCSD: 34%
UCSB: 38%
UCD: 41%
UCI: 38%
UCSC: 70%
UCR: 84%
UCM: 95%
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
UCB:
Division (L&S, CNR, CoC, CED, CoE) matters for admission selectivity.
Within CoE (but not the other divisions), major matters for admission selectivity. Changing majors within the CoE after enrolling is not guaranteed, unless one is CoE undeclared.
Note that L&S admits students as undeclared; admission to capped majors (e.g. CS, economics, psychology, ORMS, statistics, art practice, and a few others) is by college GPA in prerequisite courses (and portfolio for art practice) after attending for a few semesters.
UCLA:
For the College of Letters and Science, the applicant’s major is not considered during the review process. UCLA only guarantees review of an applicant’s first-choice major.
We typically do not admit to the alternate major
I’m about ranked 30/599 (huge school size). Will these colleges consider that or do they just look at the gpa numbers?
The school will definitely compare you with others at your school who are applying. Historically, how many in a given year are accepted and % of accepted?
Considering how you are a resident of California, i think you should definitely apply and see what they think of you at ucla and uc-berkeley. You have some very good points of interest on your resume, but i would definitely suggest that you retake your SAT as many times as you can because you are limiting yourself with a 1450 (even though it’s an amazing score!). I would consider applying to uc-davis or uc-irvine, which seem to be much more realistic schools within your reach. If you are interested in any out of state schools, i think you might have a shot at the university of washington, which is a very highly regarded school.
Also, I would highly highly highly advise against you claiming that your low GPA is a result of the concussions on your college applications. Although you may be right, colleges will see this as an excuse which will instantly hurt your chances. I would also avoid using the excuse that you attend a competitive high school to explain any low points on your resume, as most people will say they attend competitive high schools 
as others capture above, that’s pretty unlikely. You are a match for UCSC UCR and SDSU.
Apply broadly and good luck.