<p>Hi i am a sophore attending a competitive private high school in california. i did average freshman year and beginning of sophmore year; now it hit me that i have to work harder. i pulled every grade up this quarter and i now have a 3.4 =/...i'm not in any honors classes. i'm working hard to be moved up to harder classes next year. i'm on newspaper starting next year and i am taking the math II c's in june. im working hard to improve my GPA. my goals are UCLA, UCSD, UC BERKELEY (brother attends there), UCDAVIS, or any other UC. Is there anything i can do in order to get into these colleges? ive been on jv tennis since freshman year, i am learning the guitar and im going to start volunteering at the hospital. Do you have any suggestions on anything I can do?! </p>
<p>please help me</p>
<p>Dunno. I know a guy that got a 2360 on the SAT and got rejected, not even wait-listed from UCLA. He had a nice GPA too. Dunno man. Personally I think UCs are overrated, that's why I'm getting the hell out of Cali.</p>
<p>UCLA is getting insanely harder every year. It's even soo hard inside, sticking it to the curriculum.. </p>
<p>Since you're in a competitive private school in CA, i think a 3.4 from there differs a lot from a public school, although it might be well known. It might be better if you show some type of an upward trend. </p>
<p>Do you go to one of the following?
Cate, Thacher, Harvard Westlake, Dunn School, Webb School, Stevenson?</p>
<p>it's pretty hard to tell what adcoms want from each student as years change.</p>
<p>UCLA, Berkeley and UCSD might be a reach because the UC system only takes the weighted GPA from sophomore and junior year. UC Davis and UC Irvine would be realistic to aim for. As of now, UC Santa Cruz and UC Riverside seem like good matches.</p>
<p>what if i score high on the SAT's and increase my gpa?</p>
<p>You will need to increase your GPA a lot. And score fairly high on SATs. Most of these schools, especially UCSD, are numbers based. Although LA and Cal are slowly becoming more selective and focusing more on essays and ecs. Look at your schools records would be the best bet. How did people with similar stats from your school fare this year?</p>
<p>I heard acceptances weren't so good into ivies, not quite sure about the UC's. I don't want to settle for Irvine or Santa Clara, do you think i still have a chance into UCLA or UCSD? is there anything important i should do over the summer? im taking an sat II class starting tomorrow to prepapre me for sat IIs in june but my friends tell me it was difficult and that i should maybe wait till october to take them. but since i am in pre-calc this year would it be wise to take it now, or wait till october?</p>
<p>i think you have a shot at anything below UCLA, UCB and probably UCSD.</p>
<p>UCD, UCI and UCSB, which are all ranked the same, are doable.</p>
<p>so an absolute no UCLA UCB and UCSD?</p>
<p>lostincali:</p>
<p>UCB/UCLA: Reach
UCSD: Slight Reach
UCI/UCSB/UCD: Match
UCSC/UCR/UCM: Safe Match</p>
<p>does siblings in a college help in anyway?</p>
<p>Nope. Not at the UCs, anyways. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>what should you do the summer before junior year?</p>
<p>You're getting into the foggy part of the application: essay and EC. I don't think any of us can tell you what you should do with your summer, after all, for most students, the secret activities that top colleges are looking for are still a mystery. </p>
<p>But it's a well accepted assumption that colleges want you to do community service and take on leadership roles (i.e. organize a local charity auction). You also have the option to take classes at a local community college to pad your GPA, but I advise against this. From experience from my local community college, their courses are generally not as rigorous or indepth as AP courses. Plus you should probably take advantage of your summer doing something you enjoy.</p>