Chance my son for UCs/CSUs [3.93 GPA, 4.21 WC GPA for UC, CS/E, ME, or data science]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics

US Citizen
California, Bay Area
Charter High School
Male, ORM

Intended Major(s)

Majors: Any Engineering major (Not decided but Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Data Science)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores(Roger Hub UC GPA calculator)

Unweighted GPA: 3.93
Weighted GPA: 4.21
Weighted and Capped GPA: 4.21
Class Rank: School doesnt rank
ACT/SAT Scores: Not taking ACT/SAT

2 Bs in 10th Grade and rest are A grades.

Coursework
** For Cal Poly SLO
7th: Advanced Math, Spanish 1A
8th: Algebra 1, Spanish 1B

*10th

AP Computer Science - 4
English
Chemistry Honors
Geometry
Principles of Engineering - Honors
Spanish3
World History

*11th

AP Lang and composition - 3
AP Physics - 4
AP Psychology - 5
Civil Engineering and Architecture - Honors
Pre-Calculus
US History

*12th

AP Calc BC - Self study
AP Chemistry
AP English Lit & composiiton
Computer Integrated Manufacturing - Honors
AP Government and Policitics

Awards

Eagle Scout

Extracurriculars

Scouting Regional and District Leadership
STEM Camp (Assistant Coach 2 Years)
Various Service Projects in Scouting (70 Hours Per Year)
Foodbank Volunteer

Essays/LORs/Other

Essays 8.5/10(Hope to be)
LORs 8-9/10 (Yet to ask)
Cost Constraints / Budget

Ok for UC and CSU’s

All UCs except Riverside (Not sure about ELC eligibility but DS is confident that he’s within 9%)
Cal Poly SLO, Cal Poly Pomona, SJSU

Safety
UC Merced
UC Santa Cruz

Rest are all reaches or high targets.

I got excellent feedback for DS23 who is now at UC Berkeley as an EECS major. I need same help with my other son.

He’s Ok to do study at a community college for 2 years if nothing works out and then transfer to an UC(TAG or not).

He does not want to go outside CA and prefers staying close to home (Looking for admission to SJSU, UC Santa Cruz, Berkely or Davis).

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Since you’ve been to this rodeo before, I think you will recognize the need to have clarity about the primary major of interest. The admit rates widely vary across majors as you know.

What is his UC weighted and uncapped GPA? Berkeley COE primarily cares about the uncapped GPA.

Generally speaking he is in the ballpark but it’s hard to pinpoint chances.

UCB - the weakness I see is the lack of Calc advancement. I think UCs prefer AP classes taken as part of the high school curriculum.

SJSU and CalPoly - the 2 Bs might hurt but it will also depend on which subjects he got those Bs.

With SJSU, be very strategic about the major you pick. I think he is disadvantaged for CS unless you are in the LSA, but if he has As on math then applying to a COE major could help. In other words, Soft Engg in lieu of CS.

Essentially, I think major selection is going to make a massive difference and it would be helpful to have that conversation now with your son.

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I added all 3 GPAs but here they are:

Unweighted GPA: 3.93
Weighted GPA: 4.21
Weighted and Capped GPA: 4.21

2 Bs were in AP CS and Principles of Engg Honors

Kid has not yet decided, and I am asking him to finalize his choices by October 1 when applications open.

He was unfortunate not to have Pre-Calculus Honors in his 11th Grade and had a clash with AP Chemistry & AP Calculus BC in Senior year. He chose to take AP Chemistry at school and self-study AP Calc BC. I thought, this will be a positive thing as he’s trying to get the maximum Calculus course available at his school (will try to explain same in his UC App).

SJSU - will be CS(3440) or CE(4680). His Math GPA is 4 and his score is: 4744(taking his Unweighted GPA)

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Which one is the fully weighted GPA inclusive all AP honor classes? Is it the same as the weighted capped GPA of 4.21 based on the 8 semester points cap?

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I calculated using 9 & 10th Grade AP/Honors courses only. He had 7 extra points for AP/Honors in 9 & 10 grades.

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Recalculate using only 10-11 classes. AP/Honors classes from 9th don’t count towards the UC GPA unless they were taken in the summer after 9th grade.

SJSU is also only 10-11 but CalPoly will use 9-11.

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My bad, I meant to say I used 10 & 11th Grades only.

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For CP SLO he’ll need capped and weighted including 9th. If it’s still 4.21, that’s right at the 50th percentile of the CENG. the thing is, all the majors you’ve mentioned will the the ones above the 50th percentile. Unless you live in SLO county or north of Gaviota in SB county, CP would be a reach for those majors.

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AP/Honors classes are weighted in the UC GPA Calculation for 10-11th grades only. 9th grades are reviewed for completion of a-g course requirements and rigor but not included in the GPA calculation.

I will post some CS/Engineering admit rates for the UC’s and CSU’s that I have compiled below. You can see how the admit rates vary between Engineering disciplines and he will have to decide a discipline although a few UC’s offer Undeclared Engineering (UCB, UCLA, UCM) and Cal Poly SLO offers General Engineering.

2022 CS admit rates if available

Campus CS
UC Berkeley 2.9%-L&S updated 2023 EECS-4%
UC Davis No data but estimated <20%
UC Irvine 5.8%
UCLA 3.8%
UC Merced 85%
UC Riverside 36%
UC San Diego No data but estimated <10%
UC Santa Barbara No data Historically 5-6%
UC Santa Cruz 60%
Cal Poly SLO estimated 9%
Cal State Long Beach 54%
San Diego State 40%
San Jose State 31%

Engineering 2022 admit rates

Campus Mechanical Eng Electrical Eng
UC Berkeley 7.3% 4.5%
UC Davis Extrapolated <30% Extrapolated <50%
UC Irvine 15% 25%
UCLA 5.5% 13.2%
UC Merced 90% No data new major 2023
UC Riverside7 56% 79%
UC San Diego Extrapolated <20% Extrapolated <25%
UC Santa Barbara Extrapolated <25% 29%
UC Santa Cruz N/A 42.5%

Some Cal States admit rates:

Campus Mechanical Eng Electrical Eng
Cal Poly SLO estimated 19% estimated 49%
Cal State Long Beach 50% 44%
San Diego State 50% 45%
San Jose State 61% 82%

2022 CS admit rates if available

Campus Civil Engineering
UC Berkeley 16%
UC Davis No data but <30%
UC Irvine 23.6%
UCLA 8.0%
UC Merced 91%
UC Riverside No major
UC San Diego No data but <20% Structural Eng
UC Santa Barbara No major
UC Santa Cruz No major
Cal Poly SLO estimated 38%
Cal State Long Beach 51%
San Diego State 48%
San Jose State 64%
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I am unclear about the SJSU CS score. If his 10-11 capped GPA is 4.21 then that would give him a score of 4.21*800 = 3368. How did you get to 3440? 3440 was the threshold last year and unless you are in the LSA area, then you need a 4.30 for an admit.

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I believe they may have used the Math GPA Impaction value in addition to the base score. CS is not in the College of Engineering, so the Math GPA score is not used.

@smbayguy

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CS(3440) or CE(4680) are the impaction thresholds for SJSU for 2023…

His score is 4744(3.93X800+4*400)

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400 points x Math GPA- Not used to calculate the CS Impaction Threshold. Only for Engineering majors.

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You are right as CS is not in College of Engineering.

This makes him in range for CE and not for CS.

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In your son’s case, Mech E will be a shoo in at SJSU and CE should be likely. I think CS may be out of reach and SE might be touch and go. Given the admit by major process, I would pick ME or CE to be safe.

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Unfortunately SJSU is not guaranteed to consider second choice major. So you have to be careful whether to apply CS and take a chance …

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Why is he self studying Calc BC and not taking it?

Why UCs and CSU - is it a cost thing?

Because, for example, you could do a UNR on WUE or U of Arizona at $30K off - so about $10K tuition - and both would be safeties - as a back up.

And if he does engineering, U of A is strong. I think UNR is solid too.

It would give you low cost safeties (if cost is why you are staying in state) - to at least then not to have to worry about - what if I don’t get in - and not have to go to community college. He may be ok with it but I would think deep down inside would want that experience.

Good luck to him.

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I think he has a very low cost high quality CSU already in SJSU which would be a safety for ME, CE, and Data Science. If I was OP I wouldnt worry about being shut out.

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Just letting them know - and I don’t know the reason for UCs and CSU - but if it were cost or even distance, there’s others that could work $ wise and be quick admits. That’s all.

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His school offers both Chem and Calc BC at same time and you need to choose one. He loves Chem and wants to take it at school.

He already completed Cal BC from Kha Academy over summer (He got tons of h/w to complete before they sent the school schedule). I don’t want to force him to drop something he loves (Lot of people told him AP Chem is tough and he doesn’t need it, but he was firm on that).

As far as UC/CSUs only, he wants stay close to home (vegetarian, very picky eater and too attached to his mom’s cooking).

I need to have a long conversation with him on college selection. His brother will be home from Cal on Saturday and maybe he will open up to him on his choices.