Chances? UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, USC? Thanks!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I currently go to a high school in California, and intend to major in Computer Science. I was really unmotivated academically sophomore year, as you can tell.</p>

<p>Overall:
GPA: 3.92 (weighted/UC)
SAT: 2220 (760R 740M 720W)
Ethnicity: South Asian
Gender: Male</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
AP European History: B+ (3 on AP)
Honors Chemistry: B+
PE (required): A
Honors Algebra 2 Trig: B+
French 2: B+
Honors English: C+</p>

<p>Junior Year:
AP Calculus AB: A (5 on AP)
AP Chemistry: A (5 on AP)
AP Physics B: B (5 on AP)
AP English: A (5 on AP)
AP Stats: A (5 on AP)
French 3: B </p>

<p>Yeah I know, I really screwed up sophomore year. That C+ really kills me whenever I look at my transcript. Those B+s were all around 88ish-89ish percent too... that actually drove me to work hard junior year. My physics teacher gave a crazy amount of difficult homework, so that sort of explains the B in the class. </p>

<p>To make things worse, my ECs are not all that great:
-2 years JV, 1 year Varsity Badminton (2nd year varsity this year)
-Volunteered 50 hours at the local library, in the computers section. Helped to make sure that they were running correctly and that visitors were using them correctly/helping them.
-Joined a couple of clubs at school, but they do not matter much.
-A bit of volunteer hours here and there, but they are not that important really. Hours total to around 90.
-Taught myself programming in my spare time, and have learned: C/C++, C#, Python, HTML/CSS, JavaScript. However, PHP+MYSQL would be my real strength.
-Held a paid internship at a software development company which caters private clients, for two months during the summer of 2011. I was involved in the actual coding and worked alongside a couple of other interns. Our workload was comparable to that of the actual employees of the company. (40 hours/week)</p>

<p>NO leadership positions in any club, unfortunately...
Yep, that's basically it. I really wish I had done more for my ECs, maybe should have run for leadership positions, but I can't change that now.</p>

<p>Anyways, I'll be applying to the following:
UCs (cal, ucla, ucsd, ucd)
USC
Carnegie Mellon (Do I even have a chance? Would love to go here though)
A couple of other safeties
Should I apply anywhere else...?</p>

<p>tl;dr: Bad sophomore year, good junior year, below average ECs with no leadership.</p>

<p>So, what do you guys think? All feedback GREATLY APPRECIATED! Thanks!
Oh, and let me know if you need to know anything more!</p>

2

<p>UC Berkeley - low reach
UCLA - low reach/high match
UCSD - match
UC Davis - low match
USC - low reach/high match
Carnegie Mellon - low reach</p>

<p>you don’t need to add anymore safeties unless you want to. this list is about right for your stats.</p>

3

<p>Alright, thanks redteabag! I’m going to try to write some stellar essays about my programming EC. But to be honest, I would be perfectly happy at UCSD.
I’ll also be applying to UIUC, do you think I have a good chance of getting in there?</p>

<p>Also, any other opinions? My lack of leadership really worries me.</p>

4

<p>Do you know what your unweighted GPA is?</p>

<p>Berkeley and UCLA reaches. Carnegie Mellon, UCSD, and USC are low reaches. UC Davis is a match.</p>

<p>Good luck! :)</p>

5

<p>USC is not a UC and does not use the UC GPA, they use UNweighted GPA, and USC will include your Freshman year in calculating your GPA (though they give consideration for strong and steady improvement).</p>

<p>For 2011, the average UNweighted GPA of accepted students at USC was 3.8
The middle 50% of SAT scores for accepted students was 2020 - 2240
<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/1112/USCFreshmanProfile2011.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/1112/USCFreshmanProfile2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Your UNweighted GPA for soph and jr years appears to be 3.27
6 X B = 18
4 X A = 16
1 X C = 2</p>

<p>= 36 GPA pts / 11 classes (PE is not included) = 3.27 UNweighted GPA. Would your freshman year lower or raise that figure? (Again, USC will use your first three years in calculating your UNweighted GPA.)</p>

<p>You are in the middle 50% of USC applicants with your strong test scores and in the bottom 25% of applicants in terms of GPA.</p>

<p>Your best course of action is to get very strong grades the first semester of senior year and send them as soon as they are available, and to add some matches and safeties to your reach-heavy college list. Good luck.</p>

6

<p>Hey Redteabag, I was immediately intrigued by your post since you stated that your intended major is Computer Science and I haven’t seen many others who want that degree. </p>

<p>First off you should definitely apply to UCI; it would definitely be an easy reach/match for you (between UCD and UCSD in the difficulty range). It has its own computer science building separate from their engineering program which I like. </p>

<p>I am also intending on getting a computer science degree but I do not know any OOP languages (except for HTML which I am a bit rusty in now) so I’d say that experience would put you ahead of the game. You should self study for the AP Computer Science exam, I’ve heard its quite easy, but it tests you in Java, not Javascript (I assume you know the difference) so you should learn it. </p>

<p>Your SATs are quite good, so that is a big plus.</p>

<p>UCB: Low Reach
UCLA Low Reach
UCSD Reach/low match
UCD match
USC Low reach/high match </p>

<p>I’d appreciate if you chance me back.</p>