^^Perhaps californiaa is out of cheese. 
Our school has periods 1-6 and a zero at 6:42 am which offers only limited classes and is not an option for swimmers anyways. So my kids take 6 classes a year. And athletics is one of them. Yes, it is tricky getting in all the state and IB required classes. It required a couple of summer school classes.
I doubt there are more than a handful of students at UCB and UCLA who have gamed the system by only taking 4 classes per year.
If your student is a top performer sheâs doing what everyone else is doing, taking hard classes, being involved in ECâs that are challenging, working, enjoying high school, not trying to figure out how to take fewer classes and get into a top school without being prepared to handle the work
@twoinanddone, I doubt that those kids are even able to âgame the systemâ. As numerous posters on this thread have established, Cal and UCLA admit holistically and look at far more than the UC GPA (including all classes in sophomore and junior years and weigh as they like).
Basically, the OP seemed to have read stuff wrongly and then blamed Cal for not admitting students the way she wants it to.
Yes, there is. Recruited D1 athletes are not evaluated holistically by the admissions.
However they may be evaluated holistically by the coaches.
How is your advice different from âYou can move to a different country, if you donât like what America is doingâ.
<basically, the="" op="" seemed="" to="" have="" read="" stuff="" wrongly="" and="" then="" blamed="" cal="" for="" not="" admitting="" students="" way="" she="" wants="" it="" to.=""></basically,>
I read it correctly. I read the info from the UC web site. Apparently, UCLA and Berkeley are NOT using the formula that they publish. Apparently, there is another formula that they use. Apparently, the other formula is not communicated clearly by UCLA and Berkeley.
I want a fair game. Transparent rules and fair game.
@californiaaa: You want a fair game, have your son/daughter apply to the Cal states. GPA and test scores pretty much can predict if you get in or not.
UC does not represent the entirety of colleges in America. Depending on your kids stats, I could give you a list of schools where your child is pretty much guaranteed to be admitted. Short of having a felony conviction- there are hundreds of colleges which admit by the numbers, where you would know ahead of time if you were in or not.
You donât like how Berkeley does admissions? Apply to pretty much 42 of the 50 state flagships in this country and youâll know ahead of time if youâve wasted your application or not.
Barring a felony conviction. That makes things harder since virtually every college- even those that donât really practice holistic admissions- is going to consider a felony conviction.
It is completely transparent. Thereâs 3 gpaâs. Unweighted. UC weighted capped. UC weighted uncapped. They can use all 3 in evaluating an applicant. They also use other factors like test scores and ECâs. Isnât that pretty much what most schools do?
The issue is that even your child took all AP classes and got all As, he/she will not get the 4.42 GPA (average for Berkeley admits) because with the 6-period schedule he can get a maximum of 4.3.
The posters think that Berkeley uses a different6 formula that it published on its official website. Because the published formula does not make sense, it is mathematically impossible. Posters think that Berkeley is playing fair, but uses a different formula. Interestingly, nobody could point to a published reference that describes the ârealâ formula. The only official document presented is from 2010. And it does not answer lots of questions.
Apparently, it is impolite to ask college how it calculates GPA. Apparently, I need to have faith that colleges are doing the great job and not to ask questions.
<can anyone explain me how students manage to get GPA above 5? Iâve seen it in a number of scatter grams.
High schools can grade/rank anyway they see fit, including giving honors to PE classes. Some high schools have a 5.0 scale, or a 6.0 scale.>
I am looking at scatter grams. College admission scatter grams. Some GPAs are above 5.0. How is it possible? Do colleges put GPAs that they get from high schools or do they recalculate them? If they do not recalculate - then kids from 6.0 schools get an advantage. If colleges recalculate GPAs, then - what would bring the GPA to above 5.0 for Stanford, for example?
http://www.admission.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof13.htm
âFully weighted GPA
This GPA includes an extra grade point for all UC-approved honors courses (which include AP, IB, school-based honors, and transferable college courses) in which a grade of C or higher is earned. The maximum value possible is 5.00.â
Good lord. If you are sooooo worried about transparency, apply to one of the thousands of colleges in this country that admit based on SAT/GPA only. Done.
Are they not good enough for you?
The issue is that the OP is blaming UCB for her/his personal lack of understanding. Let me explain it in 2 steps.
- The below doc shows three different GPA - unweighted, fully weighted, weighted and capped GPA maybe used by UC and CSU, along with how to calculate each of them.
It also specifies that âUC Berkeley, for example, uses both the Unweighted and Fully Weighted GPA when looking at applicants.â
http://collegetools.berkeley.edu/resources.php?cat_id=51
- As explained in the above UCB published information, UCB uses both Unweighted and Fully Weighted GPA. Therefore we can assume that the "weighted GPA" posted on various UCB website means "fully weighted GPA" and NOT "weighted and capped GPA"
Of course not. However, it IS impolite to accuse a college when you donât or canât understand when the clarification is already published on the same site, but on a different page.
And you DO need to have a faith that colleges are not conspiring against you or actively trying to deceive you until reasonably shown, and not at the first moment you donât understand something.
It is also not very nice for you to insist same argument regardless of how many times others explained to you that and how you are misunderstanding.
I find this quite amusing. The OP has been railing as long as sheâs been on this site about how horribly unfair holistic admissions are and how they should all be âobjectivelyâ based on GPA and test scores. And now she is loudly complaining that her child is unfairly disadvantaged by simplistic GPA calculations that fail to take into account differences in high school policies on grading, courseloads and weighting. You canât have it both ways.
No, no you did not. You read what you wanted to read.
Adding back what posted last week:
Are these UC sources? If so, please post them. If not, then you are blaming UC for what a HS or service like Naviance does. Why is that UCâs fault?
@californiaaa: I would like to know which scatter grams you are referring to in your post.
Why donât you try this link: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/freshman-admissions-summary
You can find the acceptance rate based on UC Capped Weighted GPA by campus.
I am sorry, but that is ludicrous logic. There are thousands of college choices. It is far more like saying, âIf you donât like how HP computers work, buy an Acer, or a Dell, or a Sony, orâŠâ. Or even more broadly, âIf you donât like how Sears does business or their choices, shop at Best Buy, or Macyâs, or Nordstroms, or KMart, orâŠâ America is a country, you donât make that kind of decision in nearly the same way. Obviously a tiny percentage do change citizenship and residency, when allowed to by other countries. But the comparison is bizarre.