Chances for admission into universities like UCSD and UCLA?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone,

Today I received back my SAT scores and I am not very proud of it.
This was my second time taking it, and the score dropped by 10 points.
My first SAT score was 1740, and this second one was 1730.
I feel very disappointed in myself, and it got me thinking about what my true chances are of getting into a good college.

I am currently a Junior, and reevaluating my high school years makes me kind of sad.
I was not very involved in anything, and although my grades were good for the first two years, it was mostly because I took easy classes.

Freshman year: 4.0 GPA (unweighted) for both semesters
P.E
Cluster English
Advanced Earth Science
Geometry
Spanish 3-4
AP Human Geography

Sophmore year: 4.0 GPA (unweighted) for both semesters
PE
Spanish 5-6
AP European History
English 3-4
Advanced Biology
Algebra 2

Junior year: 3.6 GPA (unweighted) for 1st semester
AP Psychology
AP US History
Honors American Literature
Pre-Calculus
Honors Chemistry
Graphic Design

My extracurricular activites:

  • A charity club: Involved for 3 years
    Secretary for 2 years
  • Korean pop club: Involved for 1 year
  • Volunteered at the library as a shelver the summer after freshman year,
    and I am planning to resume this year to tutor kids.
  • I am currently sigining up to volunteer at the hospital.
  • I am also planning to go work at a smoothie store this summer to save some money for college.
    I have around 150 hours of community service.

And that it pretty much it. I wished I could have been involved in more things,
but I did not really know much about the importance of clubs and ECs until last year and I really regret it.
My friend introduced me to this hospital internship program that is taking place this summer.
I wanted to sign up for it since I do want to get experience in the medical field, but I am not sure because I was planning to volunteer and work the entire summer.

Sorry if it was a long post and thank you for reading.
Any advice would be appreciated :slight_smile:

2

You’ll get in!! Honestly I had lower stats than you. I had a UC GPA of 4.2 and my SAT score was a 1750. If you do good on your essays, you’ll get in for sure. I got into UCLA and UCSD so yeah I’m sure you’ll get in for sure.

3

UCSD is probably a sure thing, but keep make sure to keep your gpa up. A lower SAT score is okay, but for UCLA, a higher UC gpa is like a requirement. However, there are always exceptions.

4

Your GPA is competitive, but you are below average in SAT for both schools.

UCSD last year’s average SAT was 2018 and UCLA’s was 2067. Yes, your GPA and SAT are only part of the application and EC’s and essays will factor heavily in your acceptance or denial, but you also need to realize that no UC is “a sure thing” so have a balanced list of schools that include several Safeties and definite matches. Take a look at the Decision threads from these schools this year and see how many super competitive applicants were denied or waitlisted. Good Luck.

5

saying that this person will get in is a bit of a stretch. Taking a look at your course work while good it looks to be a little generic aside from the 4 AP classes. SAT scores below the average for UCLA match for SD. I would say SD is a match but UCLA is a reach for you. People are underestimating how competitive it is to get into that school no way a sure thing.