Chances for Cornell, UCB, UCLA, UCSB, UCI, and CSU Fullerton/CSU Long Beach

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

This will be the second chance thread I’ve made, but my 2nd semester junior grades are pretty much set at this point. TItle is self-explanatory.
Race: Asian
Gender: M
State: CA, Irvine
Income: $200,000+ (single parent because of divorce, but my dad’s in China and is willing to send over money to pay)
UW GPA: 3.6 (freshman-junior)
W GPA: 4.35
ACT: 35 composite. 35 Reading, 33 Math, 36 Science, 35 English,31 Writing (subscores all 11)
PSAT: 1500/1520 (750 Math, 750 Reading and Writing), selection index 225
SAT II: Chinese 750, World History 790, taking US History, Lit, and possibly Math Level 2
Majoring in either Philosophy (1st choice), History, Political Science, or -possibly- English
Letters of rec. from English 3 H and AP US History teachers. English will be outstanding, but History will be just “good.” Possibly getting one from my band teacher, as we have a pretty good relationship, but I’m debating whether or not to since 3 letters is a bit excessive.

Seal of Biliteracy (Chinese)

Classes taken:
Freshman courseload:
English 1 H
Ancient Civ H
Chinese 2
Algebra 2/Trig H
Marching Band
Biology H

Sophomore courseload:
English 2 H
AP World History
Chinese 3
Pre-calculus H
Marching Band
Chemistry H

Junior courseload:
AP US History
AP Physics 1
English 3 H
AP Calculus BC
Marching Band
Chinese 4 H

Senior courseload (grades t.b.d.):
Marching Band
AP Psychology
AP Biology
AP American Government/Politics
AP Statistics
AP English Literature
AP Economics

E.C.'s:
Washington DC Cherry Blossom Festival (Marching Band)
Published several paintings in school magazine
350+ hours of volunteering, teaching kids art
Juror on Orange County Peer Court (giving “peers” sentences for using marijuana, e.g. community service and essays. I disagreed a bit with this, but I’ll keep my political observations to myself)
Participated in UC Berkeley Lincoln-Douglas Debate Tournament (went 3/3)
CSF Honorary Member

Extra Trivia/personal hobbies:
Sounds strange, but I love both STEM and the humanities. Even though my GPA’s downfall is calculus and physics, I loved building our physics projects (spaghetti bridge, catapult, energy cars, and a water bottle boat), and my calculus teacher’s discussions on how far calculus reaches in the STEM domain is pretty fascinating.
Discussing philosophy or history with someone, growing bonsai trees, having a pet turtle, watching anime, and making art have to be my biggest hobbies.

Alright, several questions:

  1. Chances from Cornell to CSU Long beach? (title question)
  2. My junior first semester GPA was mediocre, with 3 A’s and 3 B’s, but second semester looks like it’ll be 4 A’s, 1 B, and 1 C+. I’m trying hard to bring up my calculus grade (73.8 as of this moment), and even though I still have a quiz that determines 40% of my grade and the finals, which is 15%, I probably won’t do well enough on those even if I study. Our BC courseload is different from other BC’s; our teacher goes beyond AP testing material, as we did advanced techniques of integration pt. II and delta-epsilon proofs. At this point, I’ll have 2 C’s in my high school career, one in Precalc and one in Calc. It hasn’t brought down my GPA drastically to the point of no return, but how bad will it look to Cornell and the high UC’s?
  3. Do colleges see PSAT scores? Also, if I got a 1500 on the PSAT, should I take the redesigned SAT? My mom is discouraging me from doing so [I need to focus on coming senior grades and apps], but…

Thanks for reading!

2

You’re done with standardized testing. Your ACT is fine. Since you’re Asian (guessing Chinese based on SAT II?) and you didn’t get an 800 on the Chinese SAT II, I wouldn’t send that to colleges. Take the SAT Math II to show that you are capable in math, since your grades in math show otherwise.

Cornell/UCB may be long shots, but you should have no trouble with most other California publics, especially with that stellar ACT. Good luck!

Chance me back?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1893077-what-are-my-chances-for-duke-cornell-princeton-stanford-etc.html

3

You are an extremely competitive candidate for all the schools you have mentioned. It should be a breeze to get into all of your schools except Cornell, UCB, and UCLA. Those 3 schools are a bit more challenging but you still have a strong chance.

4

SJNccc: It seems like you’ve gotten enough feedback for your academic resume, so I just gave you some advice for essays. Bump? Also, repeating my question: is it worth the “risk” to take the redesigned SAT (out of 1600)? Comments appreciated.

5

@SomedayIwill
Thanks for the advice. I honestly wouldn’t take the new SAT since your ACT is already extremely high as it is. You don’t want to come off as a test-taking robot, especially as an asian applicant. Good luck and thank you for your essay advice!

6

Thanks for the advice (lol). I’ll deliberate some more, but I probably won’t take it. Also, since I forgot to post this and because I don’t think I can edit the original post, here’s additional information.
I plan to apply to Cornell ED. I’m also applying to USC as my sister transferred there, but does legacy only account for parents?

7

It looks like you will probably get waitlisted/denied at Cal State Long Beach and Fullerton ;-). Just kidding, wouldn’t be surprised if you get accepted at all. Cornell, UCB, and UCLA are the toughest schools on that list but you are still a candidate for admission at all of them.

8

@jbdrakee lol, love the humor. Thanks for replying! Could any Cornell attendees/graduates give me a pointer?

9

Bump - forgot I’m applying to Cornell ED.