What are my chances of getting into USC, UC San Diego, UCLA, or UC Berkeley with no AP classes? My school does not offer them, BUT we have a middle college program. I get to take any class we want at this community college across the street for free, so I’ve been taking any and every class I can ranging from core classes to criminal justice. By application time next year I’ll probably have 33-36 credits. I am also part of our Health Sciences/Biotechnology program. Through that, I’ve been able to shadow in the NICU and gain insight from med students. I am also going to spend this summer as an intern at OHSU. I also have lots of volunteering under my belt, as well as leadership activities.
I’m hoping this stuff is enough for me because I’m not the best test taker. I only got a 24 on my ACT, but that was without studying and not being fast enough. My English teacher told me that I write at the level of a sophomore in college at the very least, so I’m hoping my essays will be amazing since I’m planning to start them now (I’ll be applying this fall). Also, I am studying like crazy for the SAT.
I know I’ll have stellar recommendations (one from the PhD I will be researching under), the community involvement, the volunteering, the extra curricular activities, and the grades are all there. I just get nervous because my GPA isn’t higher than a 4.0 and I don’t have amazing test scores. I have had a difficult childhood and a very bad junior year, so I plan to write some heart tugging essays about how it has all made me the driven person I am now.