I am a sophomore and California resident. My highschool allows you to graduate in 3 years. So by the end of Junior year I would complete my a-g requirements and graduate. UCLA is my first choice and I wanted to know what my chances are.
I am a South Asian female and here are my stats (subject to change)
SAT: (will take in June)
PSAT: 1460
GPA:
Overall: 4.18
Sophomore: 4.25 (only including first term grades)
APs:my school gives 4 classes in the fall then 4 classes in the spring, hence first and second term
Freshman: AP Human Geo (5)
Sophomore: AP Euro, next term>> AP Bio and AP Physics.
Junior plan: first term>> AP Calc ab, AP USH, AP Lit
Second term>> AP calc bc, AP Gov, AP Lang.
Extra curriculars:
HOSA member (Health occupation student association)>>silver medal
YLHC (young leaders in Health care)
Perry Initiative (girls interested in orthopedic surgery and engineering)
ExploraVision competition participant
President and founder of (STAR) Students Together Assisting Refugees
Academic Team JV captain
Organized blood drive with 106 donors
(CSF) California scholarship federation (publicity chair)
TedX speaker>>mental health
Masjid youth group leadership committee >100 hours
North County Health Services >100 hours
Planning to(hopefully):
Leadership position in every club
Honorable mention in ExploraVision
Summer Research internship (paid) at Salk Institute /or/ doctor shadowing internship at Scripps hospital
Volunteering with letters of rec at Satyana Institute (battered woman’s shelter in India)
Just fulfilling A-G requirements wouldn’t necessarily be grounds for admission. Many applicants have taken courses beyond the A-G min. My suggestion would be to finish your fourth year at HS especially if there are more AP classes you can take. Senior year schedule is a big factor in admissions. You would only have the gpa for sophomore year but no senior year planned courses and no junior year gpa because you apply before grades come out. That’s a huge disadvantage. If you wait til junior year grades come out then you’d be applying during your senior year so you might as well stay. I don’t see you getting in with just sophomore year “under your belt” since freshman year doesn’t count for GPA
One of my kid’s long time friends from K-11 finished up in 3 years of HS and she got into UCLA. I think UCLA just treated her 9th and 10th grade courses as her 2 years but I’m not sure. FWIW, my kid took the 4 year route instead, taking a bunch of APs and CC classes especially in 12th grade. He’ll most likely end up graduating in 2.5 or 3 years from college, so it winds up being the same period of time so to speak.
And one other thing, by having a free period in 12th grade, he was able to teach full time at a prestigious after school program which probably helped in his resume.
I see no advantage graduating early and many disadvantages. As stated by the above posters, you will not have a complete UC GPA since they use only 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation, you will have less HS course rigor which is Very Important in the application review and meeting the a-g course requirements is not enough. You are required to take 15 a-g course requirements (30 semesters) but if you look at the Freshman profiles for all the UC’s and especially UCLA, the majority of applicants have 50+ semesters of a-g courses on their application which is additional 10 courses beyond the minimum.
If you have exhausted all your HS course offerings, then consider Dual Enrollment at your local CC. Also having an extra year for EC’s will only strengthen your application.
You have very nice stats, but what are you planning to major in? The acceptance rates vary by majors. Overall, I think you have a good shot at stem/bio related majors.
@cbcbcb1 For Letters and Science majors Major is not considered in admission. Everyone is admitted undeclared with a pre major to help plan courses during orientation.
@10s4life@Gumbymom I have a friend who graduated last year as a junior and they got accepted to UCLA and UC Berkeley. They are currently attending UCLA. UCLA doesn’t really mention early graduates but UC Davis mentioned it and said on the UC application you “list your courses for the first two years of high school in the 9th- and 10th-grade columns. Leave the 11th-grade column blank and indicate that you are an “early graduate.” Also indicate that you are an “early graduate” as an additional comment in the Educational History section”. Since it’s for the UC application I assume it applies to all UC schools. For UCLA it was required to have completed 15 UC approved courses, 11 by the time you apply. By the end of my sophomore year I’d have completed 16 courses, 15 of which are UC approved so I meet the 11 course requirement.
@Gumbymom@10s4life by the time I graduate I would have taken 8 UC approved courses beyond the requirement. However, I’ll check with my counselor just to make sure about all of it.
@medigull Merry Christmas, one thing to keep in mind is a sample size of one person isn’t very reliable. Your friend isn’t the norm. You really are doing yourself a disservice by applying early with the information you have provided us. Typically an early admit would have an exceptional ability, talent, or is a recruited athlete. Your test scores are not extremely high for UCLA. Your gpa is also pretty low both as an uncapped and as a UC GPA. My professional opinion is to go through your senior year so you have a complete application. Most applicants have taken much more than the 15 A-G requirements. I’d also listen to @Gumbymom advice as she is a very reputable source on UC admissions as a whole.
Plus, weren’t you asking if you qualified for instate tuition since your parents pay taxes in Tennessee? One more year would possibly increase your chances of paying instate tuition.
So can you list all the courses will have taken plus all courses in progress and projected for next year? Also you only have a PSAT score, so until you get an actual SAT score, some of this speculation is moot. You have some solid EC’s so that will definitely be helpful.
I also agree with @10s4life that one sample point is not sufficient data to determine your chances. How do you compare to your friend that was accepted to UCLA and UCB?
If you are determined to continue with this path, you should apply but not officially graduate early until you have some acceptances in hand. You should keep your options open and if you are not accepted, then you could complete your Senior year and present a stronger application in the next admissions cycle.
@10s4life FWIW I ran into the mother of the girl who got into UCLA as an 11th grader today. She mentioned that her daughter had to submit all years of HS grades ie 9th and 10th grade grades as her 2 years worth of grades in the UC app. The daughter also did have a ton of additional a-g classes that was taken online during the school year and in the previous summers.
@ProfessorPlum168 that’s interesting to hear. It might be a special case but from what I know it’s pretty firm on the 10-11th Years. But I’ll check when I get back to work in January.
It seems to me like the OP has a free option here (or at least a very cheap one). If the OP’s goal is to gain admission to UCLA, then what is wrong in applying in the junior year and retaining an option to apply again in the senior year?
The OP has a rare gem of that opportunity. I.e., if one gets accepted (and will know that by mid march) then one goes. If one gets rejected, then one simply stays in high school and applies the following year.
The OP gains experience in creating a good application. There are little downsides to doing this.
Why is everyone advising against it?
I’m not sure if the OP gets a second chance. If she’s applying as a junior, the presumption is that she’s graduating from HS already. If she doesn’t make it, I think the next chance is 2 years later or 60 transferable college units, whichever comes first. Someone please confirm this.
If she does not graduate from high school after junior year, then it seems that there is nothing to prevent her from applying again in her senior year.
Are you completely certain that she would not be allowed to apply again as a freshman the next year? At least to me, it would make little sense to bar a prospective student from applying as a senior in that situation.
The best I can find is, UC is saying to not have more than one application per term. But, nothing in particular about a prospective freshman applying again after not graduating early as planned.
@ProfessorPlum168@gkalman The OP can indeed apply again the next cycle as a freshman. The reason why @Gumbymom and I were advising against it is that given the stats provided by the OP it is highly unlikely the student will get into UCLA specifically by graduating early. Mainly because the student has limited the A-G courses applicable to the transcript and GPA as only sophomore year will be on there since the OP is a junior. That coupled with a pretty average SAT and no standout extra curriculars that would warrant early “admission” is why I advised on waiting to complete junior year. With full GPA and a senior year schedule for more rigor, the OP stands a much higher chance of getting in. Senior year schedule is considered very important in the UC app. But there is nothing stopping the OP from trying again as long as the applicant has not taken any CC courses after graduating.