Hi, I am an upcoming senior. This June I took the SAT and I was surprised at what I got. Though I did study and took practice exams, I never thought I would do so well. Anyways, I got a 2310 ( 800 Math, 760 CR, and 750 Writing). My GPA however is a 2.8 UW and 3.3 W (I know really bad).
APs: Calc BC (5), Lang (5), Comp Sci (4)
I was thinking of going to community college before this test, but now I am thinking of trying one of the UCs. Could anybody tell me what my chances would be for the UCs? Maybe Riverside, Merced, Davis, SB, or SD?
My ECs (pretty weak) are:
Cross country
Track
Key Club
Oh and my intended major is chemical engineering.
You need to determine what your UC GPA is.
UC’s will not admit anyone with a sub-3.0 GPA.
No way would you get into Davis or San Diego. Maybe Riverside or Merced.
oh right. I have a UC GPA of 3.0
.
UC’s are very GPA focused. Even though you have an outstanding SAT score, your overall performance in HS (GPA) along with your rigor will be a huge determining factor in admissions. Do you have an explanation for the SAT mismatch? If you do, you could address it in one of your essays or in the additional comments section. I would focus on UCM/UCR/UCSC but UCSD is way out of reach with an average UC GPA of 4.13 along with an intended major that is impacted. You might want to consider UCSB or UCI, still reaches but could be possible. I would also include some Cal States such as CSULB, CPP and SJSU whom have excellent engineering programs.
Thank you for your input. I will look into those Cal States.
May I ask why there is such a big discrepancy between your SAT score and your GPA?
Sure. I had my mind set on Community College since the beginning of freshman year and I guess I just didnt push myself at all throughout high school. I mean I took a few APs to satisfy my parents, but now I regret it cause I might have been able to actually compete if I actually tried…
Community college might still be a good plan for you. If you never really pushed yourself in high school, it’s hard to say how well you would fare at a competitive college. At big universities like the UCs there isn’t a lot of hand-holding, and chemistry and engineering classes are rigorous. You could do worse than spend 2 years at community college finding out what it’s like to strive for all A’s, then transferring to a UC.
It should be easy to figure out whether you have a shot at this or that Cal State – I believe there’s a matrix that allows you to plug in your GPA and your SAT scores to figure out exactly where you stand.
oh cool I’ll look into that matrix! Sorry I’m just new to this whole college thing. I’ll consider my options before I go to community college, but it still sounds like a very good place to start.
Note that the UC and CSU application deadline is fairly early (11/30), so be ready to apply before then.
Realistically, with a 3.0 UC GPA, every UC except maybe Merced would be a reach. Note that Merced and Santa Cruz do not have chemical engineering (Riverside, usually the second least selective UC, does have chemical engineering).
CSUs with chemical engineering are Pomona, Long Beach, and San Jose. Your CSU eligibility index is 3.0 * 800 + 760 + 800 = 3960. http://info.sjsu.edu/static/admission/impaction.html indicates that the frosh admission threshold for chemical engineering at SJSU was 3400 for those who applied to start in fall 2015, though that could change this year for you, depending on the volume and strength of applicants.
For the community college route, you can use http://www.assist.org to check how well your local community colleges cover the frosh/soph course work in chemical engineering for your target UCs and CSUs. The transfer route generally involves preparing for transfer as a junior; your high school GPA and test scores are not considered by UCs and CSUs that you apply to transfer as a junior.