First time posting...but I need some serious advice...bombed 2nd semester Junior year

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I just started my senior year and I've been a pretty solid student for all of high school EXCEPT I totally bombed my second semester junior year.</p>

<p>Freshman: 3.7 UW (No AP's)
Sophomore: 3.6 UW, 3.7 W (AP Chemistry, 4 on AP test)
Junior year First semester: 3.7 UW, 4.3 W (4 on AP English Language, 5 on AP Statistics, 4 on AP Environmental Science, Honors Pre-calculus)
Junior year second semester: 2.9 UW, 3.3 W.</p>

<p>Junior year grades:
AP English: A, B
Jazz band: A, A
Honors precalculus: B, C
AP Statistics: B, C
AP environmental science: A, D
US History: A, A</p>

<p>AP tests: Chemistry: 4
Statistics: 5
Environmental Science: 4
English Language: 4</p>

<p>SAT: 2090</p>

<p>As far as extra curriculars, I'm a good varsity cross country/track runner. Not gonna get recruited unless I improve a lot this year which I guess is possible since I've been working hard at it, but basically I'm a good athlete at my school but not much more at this point. I take jazz band pretty seriously, I play gigs around town frequently with various jazz trios that I play in. I'm in a few clubs, I helped start 2 of them. I haven't done any significant volunteer work.</p>

<p>What does this second semester junior year do to my application? I was looking at mid level UC's as a starting ground just like everyone else but now I have no idea where to start. I do have excuses for the sudden drop by the way but I won't go in to great detail about them. If my excuse was that my house burned down, what would my situation look like? If I struggled with depression, what would my situation look like? If I was just lazy, what would my situation look like? Are CSU's even out of the picture at this point?</p>

<p>I think my first semester junior year shows what I'm capable of and I plan on explaining that in my app.</p>

<p>I would really appreciate some advice on this. Just some honest opinions because I'm totally lost at this point. Thank you.</p>

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<p>House burning down/depression would be acceptable. Lazy means you are a bad student not fit for the college.</p>

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<p>Personally, I’d go against trying to come up with some excuse to explain why you performed badly your second semester of Junior Year.</p>

<p>Admissions officers aren’t stupid. Telling a college that a collapse in your GPA was caused by your house burning down actually sounds ridiculous. The admissions officers aren’t cold, but most of them are likely aware that any decent high school would be willing to make accommodations for students who have experienced debilitating events of such magnitude, and that a grade drop that is so significant is likely due to your squandering of any aid given by your community and school.</p>

<p>Claiming depression would likely be even worse due to the recent college shootings that have occurred in the past few years. If you actually tell the admissions officers that you experienced a semester-long depression, you’re literally putting up a warning flag asking for them to put you through an extra screening process, which will likely involve a call to your school counselor, since a single mentally unstable student is a legitimate danger on a campus.</p>

<p>Additionally, any excuse you come up with would probably have to align with whatever your teachers and counselor write on their recommendation letters, which could cause serious problems down the road.</p>

<p>To put it simply. Don’t come up with an excuse unless it can be verified.</p>

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<p>I’m not saying I would make up an excuse. I do have an REAL excuse but I don’t want to explain it here and it’s not really the point. My question is, assuming I do have an excuse, how much is that going to make up for in my application? Should I just completely rule out a school like UCD or UCSB? Do those become reach schools now? etc.</p>

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<p>bump…please I really need some help.</p>

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<p>somebody…anybody…</p>

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<p>That jazz thing sounds like a really good angle to work- I think as long as you take challenging senior classes and do well like you have in the past, you should be ok</p>

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<p>What is your UC GPA?</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/q-and-a/calculating-gpa/index.html[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/q-and-a/calculating-gpa/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>What kind of advice are you looking for? Some UC’s give points for overcoming adversity, byut you have to demonstrate you overcame it. There’s nothing to do no but put together a good application, and maybe retake the SAT’s. Apply to “mid-UC’s”, but also include UC safeties, for you, that might be like UCR and UCSC. The most competitive CSU admissions are affected by where you live, and Cal poly SLO can be harder than the mid tier UC’s.</p>

<p>2010 Freshman profiles
<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/campuses/files/santabarbara.pdf[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/campuses/files/santabarbara.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/campuses/files/davis.pdf[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/campuses/files/davis.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>The GPA info I provided was calculated using standard UC scoring guidelines so my overall UC GPA is like 3.71. Colleges will see the dismal Junior year right? Or do some just look at Total GPA?</p>

<p>The kind of advice I’m looking for is basically where I should be applying. You think I still have a shot at the mid-tier’s, then? I also had some east coast colleges in mind but now I’m thinking I should just not even apply because I wouldn’t be able to get into any of the really good ones and there’d be no point in traveling to just an average east coast school. For example, I was getting a ton of mail from NYU and they even offered to waive my application fee. But I think they’re just basing that off my test scores or they want me to apply so they can decline me and decrease their acceptance rate. Would I have a shot at NYU? Should I just stick to California schools because of my recent grades?</p>

<p>And thanks for the replies!</p>

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<p>I don’t understand about the UC GPA. Above you list </p>

<p>Sophomore: 3.6 UW, 3.7 W
Junior year First semester: 3.7 UW, 4.3 W
Junior year second semester: 2.9 UW, 3.3 W.</p>

<p>That comes out to 3.71? Did you see if jazz band is an approved A-G?
<a href=“http://www.ucop.edu/doorways/[/url]”>http://www.ucop.edu/doorways/&lt;/a&gt;
If so, I think the odds are still in your favor for mid tier UC’s, and it surely can’t hurt to apply. I don’t know about NYU. If you are looking in California, check out Santa Clara for unis, and Occidental for LAC’s.</p>

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<p>I included my freshman year in the UC GPA. Is the UC GPA only 10-11?</p>

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<p>“Is the UC GPA only 10-11?”</p>

<p>Yes. Where did you find the standard UC scoring guidelines?</p>

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<p>Nope, it is only 10-11.</p>

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<p>I found it one the UC site somewhere but I kinda skimmed it. I must’ve missed the part about it being only 10-11. So that puts me at 3.75.</p>

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<p>Does your school rank? Even if you’re out of CA, you can get into one UC if you’re in the top 10%.</p>

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<p>The 10% thing is if you’re top 10% out of all California students, not your high school. It’s this thing:
[University</a> of California - Admissions index](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/index.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/index.html)</p>

<p>And yes I made it by far. Basically that means I get to go to UC Riverside or UC Merced.</p>