I have a rather weird story, but something many people probably went through so I would like to get some opinions.
My sophomore year GPA was poor. I was very unprepared academically. Junior year has been a transformation. I have good grades (As and Bs) with probably one of the most rigorous courseloads in my school. I just started thinking about college this year.
My choice is to either AIM for a UC (spend time getting my SAT score over 1450) or be realistic because I have no chance of getting into one (3.1 sophomore+ junior year gpa)
I would like to know if anyone with a good SAT score and Low unweighted GPA have gotten into the top UCs such as Berkeley and Ucla. How…?
With a sub 4 GPA, it is really unlikely you will get into any UC but R, M and SC.
I’d suggest you open your mind to the possibility that a great education can be had at all 3 of those schools. I’d also add for most fields of study, Cal States often offer a better student experience and a richer learning environment.
Do your best this year see where you stand. If you wind up with the 3.1/1450 Fullerton, Northridge Chico, and maybe CSULB - and for some programs CPP - are all worth a look,
Top UC’s with a less than 4.0 Weighted GPA will be tough.
If UCB is your goal, then doing well at a CC for 2 years may be another option as a Transfer student.
As @NCalRent stated, do not discount many of the top Cal States or UC Riverside, Merced or Santa Cruz.
My son was in a very similar situation with ACT 30, SAT 1370 and UC GPA 3.55. He applied in a super-competitive major (Computer Science and Engineering). He was admitted to the local CSU and not a single UC campus, even though he was top 9%. CSU was not going to fill the bill because he is heading for an advanced degree.
He did great during senior year. He is very, very happy in small classes in the Honors program at our local CCC. He is saving a ton of money. If he continues to rock the house, he should be competitive to enter any UC engineering program as a junior. Best of luck!
My son attended a CC then was admitted to a wide selection of UCs. And we saved a boatload of money. Don’t discount the community colleges. He had maybe 40 students in his core classes, whereas if he’d taken those same classes at a UC, there would have been hundreds. Much more personalized and excellent professors - at least at our local CC.
I can tell you from personal experience that a cc is not a bad option at all. Many students, including myself were worried about the stigma of attending a community college, but every time I mention it, I get a very positive response, much like those in the comments above me. It will also give you a clean slate to build your academic profile so that when you do decide to transfer to a 4-year school, presumably a UC, you’ll have a much better shot at all of them. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to apply as a freshman as well. But, even if you only get into some of the UCs you want, I would recommend cc to save in costs and to transfer to the top uc you want to attend. This is obviously a personal decision that only you can make, but there’s my 2 cents.
I should mention the downside of transferring and that is that at a cc you do miss out on the 4-year experience, which is a regret that many people I know who transferred and graduated express to me and that I personally feel. In my opinion it is more valuable that I graduate from a top school, but if I had the choice to go to a school like UCLA, or wherever you really want to go, right out of high school I would have taken it. A cc is not a bad alternative however, and in many ways is the better option.