Hi! I’m getting a bit nervous about college, and would really appreciate if you all could lend me some advice about choosing schools. I’m currently a junior in high school and, so far, have set my sights upon the University of Washington, the University of Texas at Austin, Florida State University, UCLA, USC, and NYU. The last three are definitely a reach, but please let me know if I’d have a chance at any of them. Thank you so much in advance!
-GPA: 3.6 UW, 3.95 W (my weighted GPA should go up by the end of this year)
-SAT: 1290 (680 reading and writing, 580 math- but should go up as I have been doing much SAT prep)
-ECs: Speech & Debate, violin, taught myself guitar, ballet, multiple honor societies, songwriting (not sure if this counts as a legitimate or reputable EC, but it's something I've done for five years)*
-APs: Taken AP World (3 on the exam) and currently taking APUSH, AP Lang, AP Psych, and entering AP Comparative Gov next semester
-Location: Florida
-Race: Biracial
-Intended major: Political Science (In addition to the core classes that relate to my intended major, I've taken Law Studies, Criminal Justice (I and II, taking III next year), US Gov Honors, World Religions)
*My ECs are quite weak, but I intend on somewhat making up for them in my essay; I’ve lived in five countries and moved over eleven times.
Your GPA and test scores are below the 25th percentile for UCLA. UCLA does not consider race/ethnicity in their admission decisions. UCLA also does not consider Senior year grades in their admission decisions. Being OOS will make UCLA a High Reach.
UCLA Freshman profile:
GPA and test scores of middle 25%-75% students
High School GPA (capped weighted UC GPA): 4.13 - 4.31
SAT Evidence Based Reading & Writing: 640 - 730
SAT Mathematics: 640 - 770
SAT Essay: 16 - 20
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 was 14% last year.
Texas should be considered reach for non Texas residents. Also, it uses rank instead of GPA. It is a safety for Texas resident auto admit applicants (top 6% rank or some such).
UT, UW and the UC’s are public colleges that are funded by state residents. The OOS fees are usually high and not funded by financial aid. So you would pay full fees.
As an OOS student for the UC’s, your GPA and SAT scores are not competitive with in-state students.
Having lived in five countries and moved over eleven times, you are an interesting applicant, the kind of applicant Washington likes.
Your background and interests correspond with the programs offered in the UW’s outstanding Jackson School of International Studies and Department of Law, Societies and Justice:
https://jsis.washington.edu
https://jsis.washington.edu/about/
https://jsis.washington.edu/programs/
http://www.apsia.org/member-schools/
https://apsia.org/graduate-schools-programs/member-directory/member-profile/?schoolID=1377
https://lsj.washington.edu
https://lsj.washington.edu/lsj-major
https://lsj.washington.edu/lsj-minor
If you can get your GPA to trend upward through your senior year and apply your prep to improve your SAT, I think you will have a good chance of admission in a holistic review of your application.
Good luck!