I always struggled with school, never getting an A in an academic class until 9th grade, getting only a 3.1 and a 3.3 (No Honors offered until sophomore year in our town) because of troubles with catching up with material from 6th,7th and 8th grade and I this year (Sophomore Year) i did much better as a got a 3.7 uw and a 3.85 uw and my plan is to get a 4.5 weighted each semester. So my question is, what colleges should I apply to. I am almost confident that I can get a 4.5 weighted because i got this 3.85 uw without hardly trying and the classes (just got the textbooks) are very interesting to me, especially APUSH. So my question is, what colleges should I apply to? I live in California and fit the UC application very well and this whole college thing is new to me, as I had no clue that there was over 1000 colleges in America, so are there other schools that won’t care about my shitty freshman year? Please let know thanks
I am also a White Hispanic, with a complicated, somewhat difficult life story, overcoming many things so that might be apart of it
First, congratulations on your upward trend in grades. Such improvement is impressive, and will be noted by admissions committees. That said, not all schools take into account freshman grades, so the weaker first year may not be a huge barrier. The UCs look at your freshman year but don’t “count” them… so you should be OK, especially with that major improvement.
Admissions to the UCs is heavily driven by GPA and SAT/ACTs, so don’t neglect preparing for the SAT/ACT as you try for that ambitious GPA next year. There are lots of books, online programs, etc., to help you.
A big factor in selecting a college is money. Have you discussed what your family can afford? Would your family be supportive of you going to college (far) away from home? Have you visited any college campuses and if so, were there ones you like more than others - and if so, why?
Most advisers will say students should apply to three kinds of schools – a “safety” (a school they know is affordable and where their grades/SATs are in the upper percentiles of admitted freshmen) – a “match” (where their grades/SAT are similar to those of admitted freshmen) and a “reach” - selective, competitive schools. The UCs are increasingly hard to get into, with Berkeley and UCLA the hardest, and “a reach” for all but the tippy top students.
Cal state schools are also good, and they’re less expensive. If money is an issue, consider community college with a transfer admission guarantee (TAG) to a UC of your choice.
Start exploring schools by studying their admitted freshmen profiles to see where you fit in. You will find this information on schools’ individual web pages. Check out some college search engines - such as the ones on this site, princetonreview, or collegeboard. They will give you suggested schools you can easily explore online.
And… post lots of questions here. CC is a wonderful source of information and support.
Good luck!
@katliamom Thanks so much for your kind words and help! What else would help with UCs besides academics, thanks
For the UCs, the most important factors are grades, test scores, class ranking and class rigor. ECs tend to be much more important for the more elite private schools.
You need to determine your UC GPA by end of Junior year to get a idea of your chances at the UC’s. Intended major plays a significant role in UC admissions especially for the competitive majors like Engineering/CS/Biology/Psychology etc…
Work on getting some test prep for the ACT and/or SAT. Check out the UC website for current Freshman profiles so you know what should be your target stats (aim for 50th percentile or higher). The 2017 Freshman profile stats should be available in August.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/uc-freshman-application-data.pdf
UC GPA posted are capped/weighted:::
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79:
UCB: 2%
UCLA: 3%
UCSD: 6%
UCD: 15%
UCSB: 14%
UCI: 13%
UCSC: 59%
UCR: 78%
UCM: 92%
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:
UCB: 14%
UCLA: 14%
UCSD: 44%
UCSB: 54%
UCD: 58%
UCI: 65%
UCSC: 85%
UCR: 94%
UCM: 96%
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 4.20 or above:
UCB: 42%
UCLA: 54%
UCSD: 87%
UCSB: 85%
UCD: 91%
UCI: 94%
UCR/UCM: 98%
Look at the CSU’s as well. Use the next year or so to find UCs and CSUs that you love that are not named Cal and UCLA.
A high SAT or ACT score will back up your improvement in grades. Expect to take the test(s) several times if you don’t receive the score you want the first time. Aim for the 75th percentile of the colleges that you are interested in attending.
College pricing has very little to do with sticker pricing, you should always run the NPC for each university to see what your cost of attendance will actually be.
I will have a 4.21, so that looks good