Chances of getting into UC schools and possibly others

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Hello all,
I am a incoming senior in high school. My weighted GPA is about a 4.17 and my unweighted is a little more than 3.8. My AP’s throughout high school have been AP Chemistry, AP Calc AB, and AP Euro in my sophomore year. In my junior year, I took Calculus BC, APUSH, AP Environmental, and AP Physics C Mechanics. Senior year I am slated to take AP Physics C ENM, AP Stats, and AP Gov. I have passed all my AP Exams, not with straight 5’s though. I got a 3 on two of them, and 4s and 5s on the rest. I took the SAT twice, 1st time 1470, 2nd time 1480. Superscore max will be a 1490. I am NHS Secretary, and I have been in photography and robotics club for a while. I also did a bit of out of school speech/debate type stuff for a while, and I have won a few photography awards, its one of my big hobbies.
I’m curious to know my chances for the UC schools, and maybe some other schools such as University of Chicago, NYU, Georgia Tech, Cornell.

P.S- if you get a 3 on an AP Exam (lets say it was one of the harder ones) should you put it on your application?

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Btw I am a California resident in the middle part

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You have to calculate you uc gpa. And they only look at sophomore and junior grades. Your scores are good enough for all of them but the rest of your application will be important. I would report the 3 if the school you choose allows you to use a 3 for anything meaningful. I e credits or exempt you form a core you don’t want to take.

I am going to summon an expert for you on UCs.
@ucbalumnus

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@raees2001: Welcome to CC and I will comment on the UC’s.

For the UC’s you need to calculate your capped weighted and fully weighted UC GPA: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

The UC’s do not superscore so your 1480 SAT will be used which is competitive.

What is your intended major which can have an impact on your chances?

You have a leadership position and some solid EC’s. The UC’s do give credit for AP scores of 3 so I would report all scores that are 3 or higher.

Here are some 2017 admit rates based on the capped weighted UC GPA and not major specific:

Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:

UCB: 12.6%
UCLA: 11.7%
UCSD: 38.7%
UCSB: 53.6%
UCD: 56.5%
UCI: 52.1%
UCSC: 75.7%
UCR: 90.1%
UCM: 96.1%

Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 4.20 or above:

UCB: 42.7%
UCLA: 47.2%
UCSD: 84.2%
UCSB: 82.0%
UCD: 90.3%
UCI: 94.1%
UCSC: 92.7%
UCR: 97.5
UCM: 98.1%

25th - 75th percentiles for SAT:

UCB: 1280-1490

UCLA: 1280-1500
UCSD: 1250-1470
UCSB: 1210- 1450
UCD: 1190-1430
UCI: 1190-1420
UCSC: 1170-1380
UCR: 1090-1310
UCM: 1020-1230

Make sure you have some safety schools on your list and best of luck.

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If it’s a 3 in a class that is an important class in your intended major, I wouldn’t report it. For example if you are intending on being a Chem major and you got a 3 in AP Chem, it’s not worth it to report it.

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@Gumbymom Thanks for your info! I am not sure of a major yet. It will probably be some sort of engineering. Maybe mechanical, or computer science as a major

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@ProfessorPlum168 Let’s say you happened to get a 3 on Ap Chem, could chemical engineering still be a potential option?

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If you interested in pursuing Engineering, then the admit rates quoted will be lower due to the competitiveness of these majors at the UC’s. UCLA and UCB do state that AP scores are considered in their application review, but your SAT/ACT and subject test scores will have a greater impact than a 3 on an AP exam. Since AP scores are not required to be reported and only official scores need to be submitted to the school you eventually attend, you have leeway on what you want to report.

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It really depends on the school I suppose. There’s 3 things to consider when submitting an AP score 1) if the AP score helps your admissions application 2) does the score help you get credits and skip a class or 3) does it otherwise give you worthwhile elective or GE credits. If the answer is no to all 3 then don’t submit.

I don’t know about the other UCs but for UCB, 1) is probably no, 2) is definitely no and 3) UCB might give you credits for Chem 1A but it could be a void credit since Chem and Chem Engr majors are supposed to take Chem 4A as their first course. So for 3) it’s probably no as well.

Someone who is a Chem or Engineering major at UCB or other UCs can probably better answer the question.

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@ProfessorPlum168 gives you valid reasons to help evaluate if the AP score should be reported.

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You are a competitive applicant. Your stats are good and your ECs are decent. Write great essays, apply early decision to a place you like, and you could get accepted to any of these schools

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What are the decisions of early decision? @doorrealthe

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^I meant advantages

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there is no Early Decision for the UCs or CSUs.
EC - **Extra Curricular ** activities

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Edit- I also may be potential ELC, I got a letter saying I am at least in top 15% of my grade, possibly top 9

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As Gumbymom’s stats show, you should be able to get into some UC schools, but most likely not the most competitive ones. (However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the less-competitive UC’s - they still provide an education that’s in a league with many states’ flagship universities.)

You will also have options within the CSU system; you’ll just need to calibrate your targets based on the major you apply to.

What is your budget for going out of state? Does your suggestion of Georgia Tech mean that you’d be able to afford the ~50K/year that Georgia Tech would cost for an out-of-state student? I don’t think your stats are competitive for GT specifically, but there are some great schools in that price range that you would be competitive for, such as Colorado School of Mines which is fantastic for MechE and good for CS as well. If you would enjoy a close-knit STEM school with lots of gorgeous nature and cool traditions, it could be worth a look. But like GT, it doesn’t give financial aid to out-of-state students.

For more of a bargain price, there are some excellent engineering schools that are part of the Western Undergrad Exchange. With the WUE discount, there are some out-of-state flagships and other top state schools with excellent engineering that you can attend for less than the cost of a UC. These would include U of Nevada (both campuses), U of Utah (excellent engineering and CS), Colorado State, Washington State, and U of New Mexico. All of these have Honors programs that provide added perks.

But it all depends on your eligibility for need-based aid; if your Expected Family Contribution is under $30K or so, then you’d get a better deal in-state, or at a private U that meets full need.

Have you ever looked at Rochester Institute of Technology? In addition to great engineering and CS, they have one of the top photography programs in the country, including several science-specific tracks like Biomedical Photography, Photographic Sciences, and Imaging & Photographic Technology. It might be worth browsing the RIT site for programs of interest, as you’d be a competitive applicant there and they have amazing co-op programs and majors/minors that blend technology and the arts.

You have a solid record and would be well qualified for many schools, but it would save a lot of bad suggestions if you gave a little more information on your budget and financial aid eligibility, and the kind of settings you like. (Bigger/smaller schools, urban/suburban/rural, region, etc.)

Don’t worry too much about the AP tests. Colleges know that some AP classes are better taught than others. What it mostly means is that if you plan to take more chem in college, skipping into the second semester of the chem sequence based on your 3 AP score could be a bad idea, even if the college allows it. Better to lay a strong foundation than to crash and burn because of weak preparation. But if you major in something that doesn’t require you to continue in the subject, and they give you credit for the 3, take the credit and run! :slight_smile:

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@aquapt Why are you saying I wouldn’t be able to get into the higher UC schools?

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Probably because engineering majors are highly competitive, to the point of being reach for everyone at UCB and UCLA.

As noted by others, your UC recalculated GPAs and cost constraints are important in helping you make a realistic application list.

Also note that if you are not decided on major, some campuses may be more difficult than others to change to another engineering or CS major after enrolling.

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I’m just citing the probabilities. You might get into UCB or UCLA. But for engineering and CS at these schools, a 3.8UW (you haven’t posted your weighted/capped UC GPA but it’s bound to be lower than the 4.17 you posted, since only 8 semesters of weighting will count, out of the 14 semesters of AP’s you listed) and a 1480 SAT are not highly competitive. Odds are probably better for MechE than for CS, but it’s tough either way.

Further, the tippy-top UC’s are very “Type A” environments, and admissions tends to favor students who have been very “front and center” in leadership roles. You have some interesting EC’s, but secretary of NHS is not going to knock their socks off in terms of leadership. This is not criticism or “shade.” NHS saved one of my kids’ leadership question from total blankness too, and the other was secretary of something even more underwhelming. High school “leadership” can be a tiresome hoop to jump through. I happen to think it’s just as great to be a photographer as to be a President-of-Everything type person. All I’m saying is that if you’re “on the bubble” from a stat/transcript perspective, your EC’s are not going to shove things forcefully toward an acceptance.

That just leaves your essays. Do a great job on the Personal Insight questions, and anything could happen. I’m not saying you aren’t qualified. I said “most likely not”… not “no chance.”

And you did say you’re from “the middle part” of CA - so maybe that’s a bit more advantageous than applying with the same credentials from Silicon Valley or Orange County.

UCSD does things differently - they admit to the campus first and then to the major. So you’re fairly likely to get into the university, but you’re at some risk of not getting your first choice major. For SB/Irvine/Davis I think your chances are pretty good; for Santa Cruz they are very good; and for Riverside/Merced they are excellent. As Gumbymom says, just make sure you have safeties.

If you’re applying to Cal Poly SLO, look into the competitiveness of different majors as you decide which one to apply to. Computer Engineering, for example, has a lower threshold for admission than CS. My kid who had the same SAT as yours got into CS with a 4.3-ish GPA, but we knew people with slightly lower GPA’s who did not. It’s all a numbers game there. (FWIW, same kid was denied for A&S at Berkeley and waitlisted for CS at UCLA… got into UCSD but applied for CogSci, not CS/engineering, so we didn’t get to see whether that would have worked out or not.)

Likewise, for UChicago, your stats are right around 25th percentile. I think you can safely assume that the bottom quartile is populated primarily by “hooked” applicants - athletes, students who bring racial/ethnic/geographic diversity to the class, legacies, winners of national-level competitions and awards, etc. Again… their application invites a great deal of creativity, and perhaps you can impress them. Just know that it’s a serious long-shot. Cornell… you have to decide whether to try for engineering - lower odds - or aim for CS in A&S - slightly better odds - or consider one of the STEM majors in CALS. NYU and GT… outside of my direct experience.

Good luck; the whole idea of aiming high is to not expect to get in everywhere you apply. As long as you’re okay with that and crafting a balanced list, you’ll be fine.

TL;DR ^^ what @ucbalumnus said

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Ok thank you! And my school is in terms of trimesters, and one year of an AP course is supposed to be 1 UC semester… so wouldn’t all my classes go through? @aquapt