<p>Here is a spreadsheet based on the documented UC Davis admissions formula. Enter your stats and conservatively estimate additional points for the other factors. Remember that the admissions committee seems to have fairly specific rules and thresholds for assigning points - president of a club may receive half points but secretary might get nothing. Add them up and compare to a very rough estimate for the cutoff to be admitted. If you are well above (250+ points above) the cutoff estimate, consider yourself to have very good chances (safety). If you are well below (250 or more below), unlikely to be accepted (reach). If close, cross your fingers.</p>
<p>The cutoff will be different for various majors and of course higher for out of state applicants. The estimate here is a general value for majors such as English.</p>
<p>The various factors are judged by some rubric that is not fully documented externally. For example, how much of a GPA increase from 9 to 11th grade would qualify an applicant for the 250 points? A .4 increase is probably not enough - you have to guess if a 1.0 increase is sufficient.</p>
<p>My assumption is that the admissions system assigns points to all applicants, the applicants are sorted by total points, and then the committee will assign a point cutoff for each group of applicants that gives them the total number of acceptances they want to have. Thus, each year’s pool of applicants determines the cutoff, along with the school’s intended number of acceptances</p>
<p>this might be a stupid question. but for the 35 classes of a-g requirements, how exactly do you get those numbers?</p>
<p>Because in my school we take about 6 or 7 classes throughout the school year, so would a class be counted through the full year, or is it counted through semesters, or some other breakdown?</p>
<p>rider730: So let me see if I understand. UCSD values volunteer service but UCD and UCSC don't? Of course, one does not do volunteer service to be "rewarded" but isn't it something schools should value as part of "real world" exposure and service?</p>
<p>The apparent illogic of admissions decisions, particularly with the UC system, is caused by the choices each campus makes on the factors it will use and the relative weighting of each. </p>
<p>That is why we see many reports of students accepted into some schools and rejected at others, but the accepting school is 'higher ranked' in the UC system than the rejecting one. </p>
<p>If you chance someone (or yourself) based on stats, you can be way off because of the predominance of these other factors in admissions decisions. That is, someone may falsely believe school A is a safety and school B is a reach, but only get accepted into B.
That is not to say that GPA and std tests are not important, but only as a portion of the whole. </p>
<p>GPA and SATs comprise about 2/3rds of the 14,250 points possible, but they have less effect than that suggests. Why? Because one generally needs a 3.0 minimum GPA to apply to the UCs and even the worst SAT test session would earn the minimum 200 points per test. Thus, the minimum for stats is 4000 points, just for breathing and applying (ignoring ELC and eligibility by examination). </p>
<p>Going from this minimum to the maximum points possible with perfect SATs and the highest GPA, one would earn only 4500 more points. The non-stats portion of the UCD formula account for 5,750 points. You can earn points for non-stats factors that are make you the equivalent of a perfect 4.5 GPA and 2400 SAT student, and then go well beyond.</p>
<p>But a person with a 4.5 GPA and 2400 SAT would most likely already be ELC, gauranteed automatically admission, and would probably want to go to Stanford or something equivalent anyways?</p>
<p>Hey, this is pretty interesting.
I have a quick question though.
If I am VP of NHS, would that qualify me for getting 250pts?
Because if it does count, I'd have 8000 points, if not I'd be below the 'cutoff'
Applied undeclared.
Thanks!</p>
<p>You might want to post a PM to UCDadmissions, a member of the adcom for Davis, who might give you their view on this.</p>
<p>Did you clearly state that you held the VP role in NHS as part of your application or in the essay? If it is not obvious from the application, you might need to use this as the basis for an appeal if the worst comes to pass.</p>
<p>Hey, thanks for that suggestion.
I mentioned my vp position in the application, with details on exactly what events I coordinated. I think that's enough...
I wasn't too worried about getting in, but I now I'm a little anxious.
Ugh.</p>
<p>3.78 uc gpa = 3780
33act+750+720= 3670
Total semesters of a-g courses including senior year (42-35=7) = 350
VP of NHS = 250
Total: 8050
I should get in right?
I really hope so, Davis is my #1 choice.</p>
<p>How would you convert your ACT score so you can use it on the spreadsheet? I understand I would still have to add in my 2 SAT II's, but my ACT was better than my SAT, so I'd like to know the conversion factor</p>
<p>Another concern: How does the A-G course multiplier work? Say I have 39 a-g courses. would it work like:</p>
<p>A) Just the number or courses above 35 multiplied by 50, in this case 4x50 = 200? or</p>
<p>B) All of your a-g courses maxed at 35, so since 39>35 for this case I would get the full 1000 points</p>
<p>I'm thinking it's A, but my mom insists that it is option B. could someone clarify?</p>
<p>Also, would Captain of a varsity sports team qualify me for at least partial points on the leadership part of the score sheet? I was captain of the football team for 3 years and the track team for 1 year.</p>
<p>According to the UCDavis explanation UC</a> Davis: Admission Criteria it is number of courses above 35, times 50 points per course above 35, with a cap at 1000 tho few will ever need to be capped since that would be for someone with more than 55 a-g courses taken over four years.</p>