I am a senior in High School and I want to know if I have the slightest chance of getting into UCI…
My GPA isn’t very good…
Unweighted: 3.45
Weighted: 3.65
SAT (New): I only took it once and I got 1050 but I’m taking it again and I’m not going to add the 1050 score so that doesn’t matter…
I know 1050 is hopeless so I’m taking it again in October and November, hoping that my score improves. I’ve been studying a lot for it.
I have over 400+ volunteer hours from 3-4 places
I have a lot of awards
I did swimming and Taekwondo.
I heard UCs are very GPA picky so I’m terrified because I don’t think I’ll get in.
If I don’t get in my parents are going to start beating me again and I’m so scared of that. Last time I had to run away from home for a few days because I got a D in AP Biology (which I dropped) for first semester of Junior year…
Can someone give me some information and what I have to do to raise my chances…?
I really want to get into UCI…
sorry I just realized I posted this in the UCD section I don’t know how to delete it
First of all, don’t run away or be afraid of your parents. I go to UC Berkeley right now and honestly, it does not matter which college you go to. Either way, you will go somewhere to learn and study. Anyway, your stats are pretty low…honestly I would say have some safety and backup schools. You may get in, but there’s no guarantee.
Ways to increase chances: Have an awesome essay (doesn’t have to be the best thing you’ve written. Mine wasn’t, but try your best), take a rigorous course load senior year (your senior grades don’t matter as long as you don’t have any Ds). You could go for last minute extracurriculars. I started working senior year and put that on my application and I’m pretty sure it helped. Other than that, try to improve your SAT score. (I took the ACT and my highest score was when I took it in October of senior year. So you never know!). Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!
For UCI last year, based on UC GPA only, the number of Freshman admits (UC GPA range of 3.40-3.79) was 16%. This does not take into account the competitiveness of majors, test scores, EC’s and essays but you are correct that UC’s are very GPA focused.
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/freshman-admissions-summary
I suggest you apply but look at some more realistic options such as UC Riverside, UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz, CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona, San Jose State, San Francisco state to name a few.
@rosa1748 gives you some good suggestions on how to enhance your application unfortunately nothing can be done about your UC GPA, so finish your Senior year on a strong note.
Good Luck.
@rosa1748 Say if I did really good on my October SAT, do you think it would raise my chances of going to UCI? I’m literally feeling paranoid and terrified at the thought of not getting into UCI… People tell me other colleges are an option but to me… it’s really not…
There’s a personal reason for this that I prefer not to talk about but yeah,
UCI is one UC that likes high GPA’s and will be more forgiving with lower than average test scores. At the moment, it is a Reach school and bumping up your test scores will help, there is no way anyone can guarantee an admission. All you can do is present the best application possible and hope for the best. Make sure you have some solid Match and safety schools on the list. If UCI is your “dream”, there is the CCC route and you can TAG as a Junior level transfer. Meet the GPA and course requirements for UCI TAG and you are guaranteed an acceptance.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/tag-matrix.pdf
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/guarantee/
@jojochoco Yes of course a better SAT means higher chances! But overall, like mentioned above your chances are still somewhat low due to the low gpa. I hope you get in! If not, I hope it works out for you.
stats too low for UCI, honestly don’t think there’s much of a shot