Do UC schools accept... / Chances!

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
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<p>To start off, I live in California :)</p>

<p>I’m a junior (three days into school) and my current schedule is as follows:</p>

<p>Anatomy (Honors)
Calculus (AP)
French III (Honors)
English III (AP)
Psychology (AP)
Art (Honors)</p>

<p>Although I am one to two levels above the typical math student in my grade, AP Calc is not right for me. It is extremely difficult (already!) and I am not “math-minded”, as I call it. I know I will not do well on the AP test and also will struggle to keep a passing grade in the class.
I was thinking about taking Calculus on an online course. I know I will be quite successful with that because I can study at my own slower pace. My cousin took this online course a few years ago, and was accepted into UCSD.</p>

<p>My main questions: Should I stick with the in-school course, or do the online one? And if I were to take the online one - do UC schools still accept such online math courses?</p>

<hr>

<p>I expect to receive all A’s in my current (junior) classes (depending on whether I do take that in-school Calc class, though. I will not do well in that.) I expect to pass my AP exams (4 or 5 on Psych, will pass the English one, and Calc is still pending though if I did take it, I probably would not pass).</p>

<p>I received straight A’s in all my sophomore classes throughout the year (4.8 weighted GPA, I was ranked number 11 in my class), which were:</p>

<p>English II (Honors)
French II (Honors)
Pre-Calculus
Chemistry (Honors)
World History (AP) [and received a 4 on the AP test]
Art II</p>

<p>Freshman year, I maintained almost all A’s - I believe I received a B for the last two semesters of math. I was ranked in the 30’s for my class. My classes were:</p>

<p>English I (Honors)
French I (Honors)
Biology (Honors)
Art I
Algebra II
Dance I</p>

<p>Senior year I plan to take these courses (is subject to change though):</p>

<p>English IV AP
French IV AP
Environmental Science AP
Art AP
Anthropology
Statistics AP [MAYBE]</p>

<p>I SHOULD get A’s in Art, Anthropology, Environmental Science, and French. In Stats and English I should get an A or B, hopefully. I believe I would pass all the AP exams.</p>

<p>Summerschool: I took the following courses in summerschool so far: Geography (A), Health (A), US History (A), Computers (A).</p>

<p>As for community service, this year so far I plan on working at the Children’s Discovery Museum, food banks, and working for a dog-therapy program (Is that the proper term? I mean taking dogs around to people at the hospital to cheer them up and such). I am also doing a fundraiser for a disaster area. I will do other things of course, but these are my plans for this year at least.</p>

<p>As for clubs, I am/was in French, National Honors Society, and CSF.</p>

<p>I am Caucasian. My essay should be very good if not excellent. My recs will be excellent. (Sorry, I’ve never posted one of these before, I’m just throwing in information that I think will help!)</p>

<p>Can you tell me my chances of getting into a UC school, based on the information given, as well as answer my online math course question? Thank you so much for your time!</p>

<p>(I did not yet take the ACT, SAT, or SAT II tests. I should fare alright on them though. Just estimate my chances based on what I’ve given you above, please. Thanks again!)</p>

<p>Also: I’m leaning towards UCSD and UCSB. If you can especially include them in your answers, that’d be lovely!</p>

2

<p>Are you serious? No replies?</p>

<p>:|</p>

<p>Thanks, people. Really.</p>

3

<p>well your grades are obviously really good. i wouldn't worry about your little calculus class problem; you have "rigorous" enough schedule as it is. lots of people get in without ever having taken calculus and some get in without ever taking pre-calculus. i don't know if they'll accept the online course; you should contact the individual schools about it. what if you just took regular calculus and not AP? i would say get rid of that AP class if you think you're going to do that bad in it. you're in excellent shape if you continue to get those A's your junior year. you're senior schedule looks pretty tough too; i think you could make it a lot easier on yourself. only thing you have left are the SATs! you'll definitely get into UCSB just by looking at your grades, but i'd want to see SAT scores to say the same about UCSD. i'd say you have a realllly good chance though. </p>

<p>oh, and freshman grades don't count in the admissions process; they're pretty much ignored. they don't ask for recommendations either.</p>

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<p>Ahh, thank you so much for replying!</p>

<p>Sadly, only Calculus AP, Statistics AP, and College Algebra are the only classes (that are after Pre-Calc) offered at my school =\ I WISH there was an Honors or regular Calc class.</p>

<p>Maybe College Algebra? Seems kinda cheesy though.</p>

<p>One thing though: It says in my little school handbook that for the University of California system, "Three years of math are required. Three years of math to include Algebra, Geometry, and Intermediate Algebra." Obviously I have taken those, but if I don't take Calculus this year, does that mean I will only have the two of the three required math classes? (I took Algebra II and Pre-Calc in highschool so far) I'm a bit confused on that.</p>

<p>Thanks again for your reply :D</p>

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<p>i from UCSD, by the way; just thought i'd mention that since you just posted in the SD forum haha.</p>

<p>that's a good question; i think you'd be fine if you didn't take calculus, but i'm not sure. i only took two years myself; i stopped at pre-calculus. you'll probably have a better chance of getting your questions answered in the SD forum than here anyway; someone over there might be able to help you out, but i would really call UCSD and ask.</p>

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<p>Quote: "Also: I'm leaning towards UCSD and UCSB. If you can especially include them in your answers, that'd be lovely!"</p>

<p>Pick UCSB Lexie, trust me you won't regret it. UCSD is the most the anti-social school in California. If you want great academics and an awesome social life, choose UCSB.</p>

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<p>Really? I've heard/read that, and it is swaying my opinion... Though it disappoints me, because UCSD is only about two hours from home and UCSB is much farther.</p>

<p>Thanks for your input! :]</p>

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<p>If Calculus (by the way, is it ab or bc?) is hard for you already, you will have to study a lot and get lots of extra help in the future. Simply put, the concepts just grow and grow to extremely complicated levels. However, I've seen people who struggle in it get through it with help, so I would not necessarily recommend you don't take it. Up until Calculus, I have always been a Math whiz, always getting high A's in math classes, but even I struggled a lot in Calculus, and so did just about everyone else in my class. From my experiences though, I would not recommend taking an online class. Taking any class online is hard because you don't get the support of a real teacher which you WILL want in a class like calculus. Learning a class like this on your own is a struggle, and teachers will help you with tips and focus on the important concepts. However, you may be different and possibly be able to succeeed independently, but in general, I don't see any reason to do an online class if your school offers it already (and the teacher is at least decent). My advice is work very hard or try a different class.</p>

<p>For UCSB/UCSD, you should definitely be in at UCSB unless you totally bomb your SATs. And with your strong grades, you should be fine at UCSD. Even with below average SATs, people I know have gotten into UCSD by merely keeping a good gpa (>4.0). UCSD uses a point system for admissions, where once u get a certain number of points, they admit you. The biggest factor in that system (and for basically all colleges), is your GPA, then your SATs. A score of at least 2000 on your SAT1 is always good for top UCs (speaking of which, with your grades why aren't you considering UCLA/Berkeley), but even lower scores are ok if you're strong in other areas (which you apparently are).</p>

<p>Overall, the advice I'd give you is not to overload your junior year. If you think you won't be able to pass Calculus, maybe you should consider something else. Taking AP classes is obviously good, but you don't want to do badly in any class. Some say a C in an AP is better than an A in a CP, but I don't think that's true. Since you already have a lot of AP/honors classes, they will already acknowledge you challenge yourself, and that C would bring down your GPA and look bad. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I'm not sure if UC's accept online courses, but I'd recommed that you take the in-class instruction. You'll have to take a math course more difficult than calculus in college and you might as well get used to it. Right now, I'm taking Calc in a lecture hall of 400 people at Berkeley. It's inevitable.
You might want to check the UC website to confirm your GPA. Not all honor courses are approved by UC's.
It's difficult to say your chances right now, because you still have to finish your junior year, which accounts for 50% of your calculated GPA. Freshman year GPA does not count toward your UC GPA. However, if you keep up your current trend of school grades, UCSD and UCSB should be no problem for you. I'm sure you can do more than decently on the SAT given your grades.
As for choosing between UCSD and UCSB, it depends on what you want out of your college experience and your intended major. UCSD has a very stong biology/bioengineering program and I don't know much about UCSB as I never really cared for it. Location-wise, they are both amazing. In terms of atmosphere, however, UCSD pales in comparison to UCSB. UCSD is often coined as the University of California, Socially Dead. Although I don't know this from first-had experience, I have many friends who have confirmed this.</p>

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<p>I seem to recall reading that the UC's count the 9th grade math class as one of the three required math courses, if you began the algebra/geom./int. algebra sequence in 9th gr. So if you've completed the algebra, geometry, etc. that UC calls for, you may not have to take the calculus class at all. (Otherwise, the rule would tend to penalize students who accelerated their math coursework into earlier grades, which seems unfair)</p>

<p>However, I would be sure to double-check this rule before changing plans. Also, I'm assuming you wouldn't be pursuing a math-related major that might require calculus (since you say you really don't like math).</p>

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<p>long as you are not planning on being a quant major (hard sciences, math or engineering), skipping Calc can be fine. The min math required for UC is Alg I, Geom, and Alg II. Classes taken in middle school do count to fulfill the requirement. Since you have completed precalc, you already have four year of "UC math" for application purposes. Taking AP Stats or College Alg is not cheesey at all.</p>

<p>The UCs do accept online courses, but I would not recommend you go that route. First, Calc is not that easy to self-study. Second, an AP course is known to be more rigorous. If you keep the class, I'd recommend a tutor if you can afford one. </p>

<p>Re: Davis and SD: depends on your junior year grades and test scores. Mostly A's and 660+ you are in easily at Davis (tho they may become more selective next year since so many kids enrolled this year). If you make elc, than Davis, SB and Irvine become near locks. SD is more of a numbers game - match at this point.</p>

<p>btw: UCs don't accept recs.</p>