Hey everyone!
College is often a topic that get me very worried. I really want to get into a good university but I’m not sure if I will due to my grades.
Some school I have in mind are: USC, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine and Cal Poly SLO. Stanford was always my dream but now it feels like too much of a dream and never a reality.
My major would be business.
I am currently a junior. My GPA is 3.8 for 10-11. My 9-12 GPA is 3.5. This is without my second semester of junior year, in which I obtained a 4.0 GPA.
However, I have always taken honors and AP courses and challenged myself.
The first time I took the SAT I got a 1240… I retook this June. I am waiting for my score. I also took the ACT which I’m waiting to be scored.Other than my grades, I am very very involved in school and my community.
I recently got appointed at the Associated Student Body Activites Commissioner. I love being involved in my school and being able to make events happen for students! I also have a very good relationship with the school principal and have worked on many topics with him.
I am also in Future Business Leaders in America. I love FBLA so much that I couldn’t only be a member. I decided to run for California Central Section Secretary and I got it!
A year ago, I cofounded a youth organization that gives youth a space to exercise their voice through activism and community healing. We have preregistered over 3o00 people in our community, marched alongside 30k people for environmental justice, bee the first group to stand up to our school board, challenge the system, and much much more! I also served as President of the School chapter for my junior year.
I have also phone banked for a city council client and continuously worked with him one city issues. We are currently planning for a LGBTQ march in our community.
I guess my overall spike is in leadership. I love standing up for a change and making a difference. I love to not only be a leader but to create other leaders. I take charge when needed and I pick others up when needed.
I’m not sure if I have such strong academics but I really picked myself up from freshman year’s 3.0 to junior year where I have a 4.0.
Having a broken home was a big factor in my grades as well. I’m not sure if I should talk about this in my application.
What do you guys think my chances are at each school?
Hi BigDreams19! I will preface by saying that the college admissions process is holistic. This means that they take into account several factors when determining whether or not to admit a student. Some of these factors would be GPA, SAT/ACT scores, AP/IB scores, background, type of school, etc. With that being said, you are applying to academic institutions, so a strong academic record is definitely priority. Your extracurricular activities are astounding and you seem to be an astounding being as well. However, I would focus on raising your SAT score a fair amount (schools that you are applying to are looking for SAT scores at least above 1300), and raising your GPA (which you seem to be doing) to have a better chance of admittance. On a timeline, you don’t have much time to improve your academic record before application season, but I implore you to try your best to write stellar essays and showcase your academic strong suites.
Congratulations on your academic accomplishments and commitment to your EC’s.
Calculate your UC GPA based on your 10-11th grades for the a-g courses and post the Unweighted, Capped weighted and Fully weighted GPA’s.
SLO uses 9-11th grades for their GPA calculation and admits based on MCA points. For the GPA, plug in your 9th-11th grades into the same UC calculator and your SLO GPA will be the Capped weighted.
MCA point calculator: https://mca.netlify.com/
You will be ranked by major and MCA points. SLO does not admit holistically but stats based.
I see no safety schools on your list so start by finding 2 before focusing on some Match and Reach schools.
Once we have your new SAT score and calculated GPA’s please repost for help in finding some good fit schools. Also what is your college budget?
@Gumbymom I don’t have a budget! My parents are paying for wherever I go as long as its a good school. For safety, I was thinking UC Merced and CSU East Bay?
There are many good schools were you have a solid chance for an acceptance but with a UC GPA of 3.8 and an SAT of 1240 currently, UC Riverside would be a Match school and has a well respected Business program while the rest of the UC’s, SLO and USC would be Reach schools. UC Davis does not have a Business major only Economics and Managerial Econ. UC Merced has Management and Business Econ
SLO’s Freshman profile for Business majors are as follows:
Average SLO GPA: 4.12 SAT: 1410
USC Freshman profile:
Average Unweighted GPA: 3.9. Average SAT: 1466
2018 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 10%
UCLA: 9%
UCSD: 34%
UCSB: 38%
UCD: 41%
UCI: 38%
UCSC: 70%
UCR: 84%
UCM: 95%
CSU East Bay would be a good safety. I would target UC Merced, UC Riverside, CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona and San Jose State. Slight Reach schools would be San Diego State, Loyola Marymount and Chapman.
Reach schools would be the majority of the UC’s and USC.
Try and get your counselor to corroborate to your story of a broken home. Your chances for UCS and such are probably pretty good. For Stanford your stats + ecs aren’t terrific but they are very good. People get lucky. Write fire essays and apply anyways.
Essays can positively or negatively impact your chances for many schools, but the UC’s tend to be GPA focused. A compelling essay can tip the scales. Apply widely so you will have choices in the end.