Chance me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello! I plan on applying to schools like USC, Berkeley, UCLA, and maybe a few Ivies just for the heck of it. I would like to hear some opinions about my grades as I will probably be applying to these colleges.
9th Grade
Semester 1-
H English B
H Geometry B
H Biology A
AVID A
PE A
Native Spanish 1 A
Semester 2-
H English B
H Geometry A
H Biology A
AVID A
PE A
Native Spanish 1 A
10th Grade
Semester 1-
H English B
H Algebra 2 A
H Chemistry A
World History A
PE A
Native Spanish 2 B
Semester 2-
H English A
H Algebra 2 A
H Chemistry A
World History A
PE A
Native Spanish 2 A
11th Grade
Semester 1-
AP Spanish Language A
AP Human Geography A
AP Chemistry A
H Pre Calc B
English A
U.S History A
Semester 2-
AP Spanish Language A
AP Chemistry A
AP Human Geography A
Honors Pre Calc A
English A
U.S history A

12th Grade Classes
AP Gov/Econ
AP Biology
AP Psychology
AP Calculus BC
English 12
Ceramics

Cumulative GPA, including 9th, is 4.4
UW GPA: 3.833
10th/11th GPA
W: 4.46
UW: 3.87
Rank 4/412
My school doesn’t particularly offer too many AP/Honors Courses and many teachers are very tough which explains how a relatively low GPA is highly ranked in a big school.

AP Scores:
AP Chemistry- 4
AP Human Geo- 4
AP Spanish Lang- 5

EC: I know I really do not have too many, however I try to do things that involve me giving a hand to people I care about or the community in general since I really enjoy doing that and I genuinely feel that thats a part of who I am (considering it as a college essay topic)

-Church Religious Ed Program (2 years of classes+ events associated)

  • Church Volunteer (10th grade-present)
  • Union Rescue Organization Volunteer (10th grade-present)
  • Free Personal Tutor (10th grade- present)
  • Humanitarian Club (11th- Present)
  • MEChA Club (Hispanic Student Movement, Involves attending protests on key issues, 11th- present, vice president both years)
  • 2017 QuestBridge College Prep Scholar (Selective program aimed to guide high achieving low income students to top colleges)
  • College Bound Club (Club aimed at low income students, minorities, English learners. Purpose is to build a bond with them so that we can help guide them and make sure that they know that a college education is possible no matter their circumstanes. Co-founder/Vice President, 12th grade)
  • 2017 QuestBridge National College Match Applicant (Hope to get in)

Other Info-
Low Income
Hispanic
Both parents have less than a high school education, immigrants
Only other sibling did not graduate from high school, but ended up going to a local college
I live in California

ACT
23 Commposite :((((((((( (I wont even bother listing the sub scores, I was having a rough morning)

SAT- 1390 (will take again)
750 Math
640 English
Essay (7/6/7)
Could not afford to take SAT classes, so I did not have that advantage.
This is a very high score relative to my school’s students

Thank you very much for your time :slight_smile:

Colleges I intend to apply for (not including safety schools)
UCLA
USC
UC Berkely
Ivies (even though I know my stats arent competitive at all at them)
Cornell
Brown
UPenn
Yale or Harvard

2

For the UC’s calculate your UC GPA and post capped wighted and fully weighted UC GPA. Definirely need to bump up your test scores. Intended major will impact your chances.

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

3

I would say that you are currently out of reach for all of the Ivies. Cornell would be your best bet if you can get an SAT score greater than 1450.

UC Berkely and UCLA are your two best chances. Both had admissions rates of about 18 percent two cycles ago and being in state will help you. According to prep scholar, the 25th percentile New SAT at UC Berkely is 1330 so you are above that, and the 25th percentile is lower at both of these schools for in-state applicants.

USC will be harder as it is private but is still much more in reach than ivies.

Your Class Rank is awesome though! And if ur unweighted gpa is a 3.833 out of a 4.0 than it is not “relatively low” at all. This is a good GPA! And you course rigor and APs look good. Congrats on the 4 on Chem!

All in all I would say try to get a mid 1400 something on the SAT (shoot for 1450) and UC Berekley and UCLA will be good matches then, with doors for USC opening up as well, and Cornell potentially.

4

I would say that those B’s in 10th grade would hinder your chances a bit in any of those Ivies. I would like to mention that you have a chance of getting to UCLA or UCB becuase a senior from last year got into UCB with a 27 ACT and another person got into UCLA with a 1160 SAT. I PERSONALLY think it really comes to your essays becuase that really defines who you are and not just numbers. Your ECs are good enough and have shown that you’ve challenged yourself since the beginning of high school by taking the honor classes that were offered. Good luck on your application!

5

good GPA, good ECs, just try to get SAT up by self studying a lot.Try to get atleast 1500+ which is good for all ur listed schools/

6

You seem to be a bit like me in terms of where you stand in chances at colleges. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to apply to Ivy even as your SAT scores stand. I’ve known people who have lower SAT scores but got in. As far as UCLA and UC Berkeley go, I’d say those are target schools rather than reach schools. The Valedictorian of my school had a 1320 SAT score, 4.3 weighted GPA, and almost no EC’s but got waitlisted from UCLA. For my school 1320 is considered pretty high. You aren’t wasting your time with any of the schools you are applying to. Good luck with Questbridge, if you get in then the applications are free (except Harvard because it’s not a part of the program).

7

Hey guys, I just wanted to give more info on my goals. I took the SAT again and got 790 Math and 650 in English (1440 total). Im also planning on taking Math Lv 2 and Chemistry subject tests as i plan to apply to these schools as a chemistry or chemical engineer major. Any more insight on my chances as this major would be nice, Ill greatly appreciate it. -I also expect to get straight As this semester if that helps.