<p>"UC caps the number of extra honors points included in a student's UC GPA from certified honors-level work to no more than four years or eight semesters. It is acceptable for students to complete more than four yearlong honors courses, but no more than four extra points will be computed into the GPA. Most students complete UC-certified honors-level work in grades 11 and 12, although some advanced students may be able to complete these courses as early as grade 10. The University limits the amount of extra honors points added to the UC GPA for honors-level work completed in grade 10 to no more than two years or four semesters." </p>
<p>If my child has taken 1 AP in 10th grade, 4 APs in 11th grade, does that mean he gets 2 extra points in 10th grade (1st and 2nd semester), 8 extra points in 11th grade (1st and 2nd semesters)? So by end of 11th grade, he already has 10 extra points. Will they will only count a max of 8 extra points? Or does this only apply to the Honors class, not APs or IBs. </p>
<p>For non-California high schools, only AP and IB courses are eligible, although it appears that not all IB courses are eligible. If IB courses at a non-California high school are involved, try to find the same courses in the California high school listings to see if they get honors points.</p>
<p>so even he has taken 5 APs so far, only 4 will be counted? and if he is going to take some more APs in 12th, those won’t be given extra points either, right?</p>
<p>UC/CSU applications are done in November; for the typical student applying as a high school senior, the senior year grades will not be available (although the student reports what courses are in progress). The student still needs to do well enough in senior year, as poor grades in senior year (or changing to a less rigorous schedule) can result in admission offers being rescinded.</p>
<p>While only 4 year-long AP courses’ worth of honors points will be counted in the UC/CSU GPA calculation, remember that UC admissions readers will see the list of courses and grades to date, as well as the in-progress senior year courses. Taking significantly fewer honors/AP courses than offered to the student may not look too good to an admissions reader.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for this information. I can understand it better now. </p>
<p>Just want to clarify one more thing – so usually the senior year grade (1st and 2nd semesters) are not used to compute the UC/CSU GPA even though they do look at it?</p>
<p>Correct. Senior year grades are only looked at to see if A - G requirements are met, and to confirm that the student did not slack off his/her senior year. </p>
<p>Most UCs don’t look at freshman grades either. </p>
<p>Transcripts are not sent to UCs unless requested. On the application, the student self-reports classes taken, grades received, and their planned courses for their senior year.</p>
<p>“Most UCs don’t look at freshman grades either.”</p>
<p>Actually, I’m pretty sure freshman grades are not factored in at ALL UCs. Everything I’ve read – and all the counselors and admissions officers have said – that they ONLY look at sophomore and junior grades. Freshman and senior grades are never factored into the UC gpa. If you get a supplement, then you report your fall senior grades (if asked), but that doesn’t change your UC gpa. It’s fixed after junior year. When UCs report admitted students’ average gpa, they don’t have some gpa’s with 10th and 11th only, and mix in some gpa’s with 10th, 11th, 12th. </p>
<p>^^Since UC asks for Frosh grades, they do “look” at Frosh grades in holistic admissions; what they dod with them is anyone’s guess. (In the dark ages, UC never asked for Frosh grades, so they truly did not “look” at them.)</p>
<p>Frosh grades are not included in the calculation of the “UC-GPA” which is used for eligibility purposes only.</p>
<p>However, even for CSUs which admit strictly by formula (as well as UCs), grades from 9th grade matter in that D or F grades disqualify the courses from meeting a-g requirements, unless the courses are repeated (or, in some cases, validated by completing higher level course work) with C or higher grades.</p>
<p>“Frosh grades are not included in the calculation of the “UC-GPA” which is used for eligibility purposes only.”</p>
<p>Well you could be right. I don’t know with certainty and I’m too lazy to dig into it too deeply. I’ve never heard of freshman grades being used for eligibility OR admission. And every admissions officer and counselor I’ve asked (or sat through their presentation) says the same thing. Straight A’s your freshman year will not save you, and don’t worry about low grades because those aren’t held against you either. Of course, if you write an essay about why your sophomore grades are low and point to your stellar frosh and junior grades, then they will probably look at frosh grades just as a way of verifying that your claim is accurate. In that case, your ESSAYS may get you in, but without the essay, your freshman grades won’t make an iota of difference. This is just my hypothesis based on the facts that I do know.</p>
<p>The only CA public I know of that considers freshman grades is Cal Poly SLO. There could be other CSUs, but as far as I know, all UCs do not.</p>