<p>Residence: Out of State (Hawaii)
GPA: 3.9
SAT: 2030 - 630CR, 740M, 660WR (7 essay)
SATII: Yet to be taken
APs SCores: AP Bio - 5, AP English - 3, AP Computer Science -4</p>
<p>Course Schedule
Junior Year: World History, Spanish II, AP Biology, AP English, AP Computer Science, Calculus
Senior Year: Psychology/Sociology, AP English, AP Calculus, Physics, Spanish III, Newswriting, General Art, Advanced Accounting</p>
<p>EC: Very weak, only participated in Track & Field and Cross Country. I take care of my grandparents (87 and 85) for I have lived with them since I was 1. </p>
<p>Awards: Also very weak, I've only received the "English Student of the Year" award twice for my school. I have the AP Scholar award as well.</p>
<p>Will my ECs hurt my overall chances of getting into UCSD? And is there any way I can emphasize the fact that I've had to take care of my grandparents? My grandfather had prostate cancer, which he has recovered from recently, and my grandmother has rheumatoid arthritis and relies on my assistance in shopping, paying for bills, and even filling up the gas. </p>
<p>Also could you point out any areas of particular improvement that I may need to work on to be accepted into this school? Thank you :].</p>
<p>Write the best damn personal statement that will make them cry. My EC was pretty weak also, really low GPA (3.6 weighted), horrible SAT (1720), etc etc. So, I guess for me, they looked quite a bit at my personal statement.</p>
<p>Your stats are decent at this point but make sure you take 2 SAT IIs (one being Mathematics IIc). Also have both scores at 700+. The good thing is that UCs go by a point system and ECs don't factor in too much (only about 30% I hear). All you have to work on is finding good teacher/counselor recs and writing an awesome personal statement. It might be harder/easier depending on what major you pick too. The science (biology, bioengineering) majors are more selective. </p>
<p>Also, JBN, seriously? Did you have major personal struggles that served as a hook?</p>
<p>And yeah, SD has several impacted majors which are more selective.</p>
<p>Is the 3.9 your UC GPA? If it is, I'd say you're almost in -- but not definitely. Pretty slight reach. Depends on your SAT II's, essays (not taken too much into consideration), and how they like your EC's.</p>
<p>Thank you for your thoughtful responses. As I see it, I'm apt to do well on the SATIIs, perhaps scoring in the 700s. The personal statement seems to be in my favor as well, since I have a fairly intriguing family background. However, I was wondering whether I should risk taking the SATs again. I scored 2030 after taking an SAT prep class, using it as more of a test of my capacity rather than a full effort. I believe I can do score higher, but the thing is I'm not sure if I should leave a date for the SATIIs in case I do score lower than expected. Will my fairly mediocre scores in the SATs be a major consideration for my chances of acceptance?</p>
<p>I think the only reason it would be a "slight reach" is because you're out of state.
I'm from California and I got in SD with less than what you have.
My GPA was 3.9 and my SAT was 1820. My EC and awards were weak (more so than you). My SAT II was very very (emphasis on the 'very') poor. Since we apply before senior year, I only had 2 AP scores to offer. US- 4 Physics- 3.
Given your family situation, I think you have good foundation to write your first UC prompt (something about family shaping you as a person).
My personal statements were profoundly flippant (silly euphemism for stupid). I wrote about socks and dogs. </p>
<p>"Waking up one morning, I found myself entrusted by my aunt to take care of her puppy for the day. I already knew how the day was going to go. I will forget to feed it; I will take a nap and drown out all the whines of anger until they coalesced into a single unrelenting howl. My aunt will come home, wondering whatever happened to her pet, and I will sit her down and tell her in twisted mirth not to worry because all dogs go to heaven." < --- an excerpt of aforementioned abomination. </p>
<p>Yea, what I'm trying to say is that a story about your grandparents will be more than sufficient to kick my dog's butt. </p>