Chances at UCLA Admission?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
1

<p>Hey everyone </p>

<p>Can you guys tell me how likely I am to get into UCLA?</p>

<p>By the way, I live in California and am low income, if that helps in any way.</p>

<p>I'm a senior at a prestigious high school ranked 3 in California in terms of academic achievement. Because grades are incredibly competitive, my school doesn't do class ranks. I'm also a first generation Vietnamese American and will be the first to complete high school and go to college in my immediate family.</p>

<p>Sophmore year:</p>

<p>AP World History B/B (weighted)
Physics Honors B/A (weighted)
English A/B
Geometry Honors B/B
Vocals A
Health Ed B
French A/A</p>

<p>Junior Year:</p>

<p>AP US History: B/B (weighted)
Chemistry Honors A/A (weighted)
Precalculus Honors C(PROBLEM)/B (weighted)
AP Psychology A/A (weighted)
French A/A
AP English Composition B/B (weighted)</p>

<p>GPA:
-3.5 unweighted GPA
-3.75 capped UC-GPA (but UCLA and UC Berkeley doesn't cap GPAs)
-4.1 fully weighted GPA </p>

<p>This GPA is throughout Sophomore and Junior Year. However, I have one C in precalculus honors because I was basically studying for 5 AP classes, two honors classes and a regular class, so that workload hurt my grade in that class, but I brought it up the next semester. </p>

<p>Nonetheless, I think that this C may decrease my chances by A LOT.</p>

<p>My SAT is 2170 (660 reading/720 Writing/790 Math).</p>

<p>My ACT composite score is 33 (35 English/33 Math/30 Reading/33 Science) with an 8 essay.</p>

<p>APS:</p>

<p>AP World History - 5
APUSH - 4
AP English Language - 4
AP Psychology - 5
AP Chemistry - 4 (I didn't take the class, I self studied)
AP Biology - 4 (I didn't take the class, I self studied)</p>

<p>Currently, in my senior year, my workload is:</p>

<p>AP English Literature
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics B
French Honors
American Democracy/Economics series.</p>

<p>SAT II's
Chemistry - 770
Biology - 690
Math II - 700
English Lit - 670</p>

<p>My extracurriculars are:</p>

<ul>
<li>Volunteer at Kaiser Main Hospital/Pharmacy every week (Junior/Senior)</li>
<li>California Scholastic Federation (CSF) life member tutor (junior/senior year)</li>
<li>Swimming for three years. (sophomore/junior/senior year)</li>
<li>Cross country (sophomore year)</li>
<li>Volunteered in Nicaragua to help/tutor poor children and spread hope to the community (junior year summer)</li>
<li>Public Relations Officer of club that sends money back to Nicaragua to fund education for kids. (senior year)</li>
<li>Tutoring little brother (in special ed) everyday after school (Freshman/Sophomore/Junior/Senior year)</li>
</ul>

<p>Personal Statements:</p>

<p>Background - On how I grew up with a mom who was constantly taking overdoses of pills and how I constantly worried about her health. However, she is gradually getting better, and so, I am driven to think positively in any circumstance now, regardless of how bleak. </p>

<p>Personal Experience - My volunteer trip to Nicaragua and my experiences with tutoring homeless kids and kids with special needs.</p>

<p>So, do I have any chance at all ? I know that since this is College Confidential, everyone has much higher scores/grades than me, but please give an HONEST answer in terms of admission.</p>

2

<p>Personally, I’d say that you have a pretty good shot at getting in.
The only real blunder on your stats is that one C, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it since everything else looks solid.</p>

3

<p>Yeah that C is gonna be why you don’t get in, if you don’t. I think you have a pretty good shot though, your SAT and ECs are awesome!</p>

<p>Sent from my MB855 using CC</p>

4

<p>sorry for reviving an old thread, but how do u even get a good SAT score like that? what classes did you take? cuz I have a 1900, and I really want to improve it. THanks!</p>

5

<p>Practice tests. And when you’ve taken enough, take more. Take the ACT as wrll. I did alright on my SAT but did better on the ACT!</p>

<p>Sent from my MB855 using CC</p>

6

<p>Thank you so much for your input guys. And tigerash, just use your best logical sense, not your knowledge. The test really wants to test to see how well you can think under time pressure.</p>

<p>Online practice tests and practice books really help!</p>

<p>Anyone else ? =)</p>

7

<p>heyyyy you will get in! :)</p>

8

<p>Lol oh just saw this hHaha.</p>

9

<p>thanks for posting! Anyone else chance me?</p>

10

<p>Hey, you chanced me so I will chance you back. I don’t know how much they factor in low-income/prestigious high school, but based on everything else, I would say you have a shot, but you are definitely not at all a sure thing. Your volunteer work and pretty strong SAT will help you and it could possibly offset your lower GPA. Good luck!</p>

11

<p>Yeah, the thing is, I heard UC’s count GPA a lot more, which is to my detriment. Ugh, college admissions come out really soon! I’m so nervous.</p>

12

<p>Yeah, I’ve heard that too. That’s bad for me as well as my GPA is at best average for UCLA, but my SAT is wayy above at 2270.</p>

13

<p>Anyone else chance me?</p>

14

<p>Op- how did you manage to volunteer in Nicaragua if you come from a low income family? Did you fundraise?</p>

<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>

15

<p>Gradee: Yes, I did fundraisers, including bake sale and car wash. But most of the money came from a scholarship (based on income). </p>

<p>The whole trip was about…3k-4k? (including plane tickets to and back). The scholarship covered everything but $600 which was easily fundraisable.</p>

<p>Have any idea on my chances? :P</p>

16

<p>Good luck! You are exactly who they want to be able to admit. Your lower grades are in math, but you got a 700 on your math II subject test, so they know you learned your math.</p>

<p>Here is the 2011 profile with “odds”. Note the maximum value GPA is out of 5.0</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof11.htm[/url]”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof11.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

17

<p>Thanks for the information. I do hope they consider my SAT II Math. Thanks for posting!</p>

18

<p>Cool, what organization did you go with? Also, what organization did you get the scholarship through?</p>

<p>I think you have a very good chance at UCLA. I know you’re worried about the C in precal, but it seems to be a one-time event that has been mitigated by other strengths in your application.</p>

<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>

19

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>you chanced me so I am chancing back…
I think you have a good chance esp. because of you are the first generation
to go to college… use it as a hook?
Your EC’s are great and varied to show that you have all rounded interest.</p>

<p>The only think that may cause an hindrance is your GPA, it may be compensated by the
fact that you go to such a competitive school… </p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

20

<p>@Gradee: I went with “Global Glimpse”, which is a non profit organization who searches for leaders and trains them to recognize and tackle global issues. They were also the organization that provided me with the scholarship.</p>

<p>@Cupid22: Thanks for your chance. Good luck with your admission too!</p>