<p>Hello. I am a father and was worrying about my son getting into college. I want him to make it to a good UC school but I don't know if his grades are good enough. Cal Poly and Santa Clara University would be alrigh also. I just wanted some of your opinions to see which schools he is likely to get in. Please, any advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Here are his grades.</p>
<p>10th Grade-
1st semester:
Trig/Anal Honors: A-
English 10: C+
World History: B-
Chemistry: A-
Intro to Computer Science: A-</p>
<p>2nd semester:
Trig/Anal Honors: A-
English 10: C+
World History: C
Chemistry: A-
Intro to Computer Science: B</p>
<p>11th Grade-
1st semester:
Calculus BC AP: B-
English 11: B
US History: B
Physics AP: C+
Statistics AP: B</p>
<p>2nd semester:
Calculus BC AP: B-
English 11: C
US History: C
Physics AP: D
Statistics AP: B+</p>
<p>SAT: 1660/2400
SAT 2 Math 2c: 720/800
SAT 2 Physics: 540/800</p>
<hr>
<p>Ok....so I calculated my sons GPA for his years and it comes out to 3.2 weighted. But He got a "D" in Physics AP which really worries me. Please let me know if there is any way I can help him. Also, please let me know if he would be able to get into the UC schools or Cal Poly SLO of Santa Clara University. </p>
<p>Thank You</p>
<p>UC berk, UCLA, and UC San Diego will be reaches... but a lot also depends on his ECs...</p>
<p>He will have completed 1 year of JV Track and Field and 2 yrs of Varsity Track and field. He also has 1 year of JV football. On the side he has completed 20 hours of community service.</p>
<p>Would he get into Cal Poly SLO, SCU, UC Irvine, UC Davis, etc? The "D" in Physics AP really worries me. How will that effect his getting into college?</p>
<p>I don't think a college would reject a student because of a single grade. Most colleges take a holistic approach, evaluating the complete application to make a decision. At this point, he is a junior, so it will be important for him to do well first half of senior year. Also, is he retaking the SAT? raising it always helps...but no one can say for sure his chances..but to get a good idea, you can check college websites in the admissions section. usually "Quick Facts" , "student statistics", or something, colleges have average GPA and SAT. Comparing that should give you a general idea.</p>
<p>His grades make him a weak candidate for Davis and Irvine. It looks like he's UC eligible (you should check though; it's based on a formula involving GPA and SATs) which means he will be accepted to Merced and have a good chance at Riverside and Santa Cruz.
taekwondo39232 is wrong about senior year grades, however. UCs will not see his senior year grades when he applies, so doing well will not help him get in. Raising his SAT scores, however, would certainly help.
I can't comment on his chances at Cal Poly SLO or SCU because I don't know enough about their admissions processes.</p>
<p>oh the notorious AP Physics...many have been in the same situation. If you do a search for NorcalDad he has posted several times on UCs and how they do the admissions stuff. Basically it is a formula...ECs won't help unless the grades make the cut first. My own son took a bunch of APs and honors classes, weighted GPA was a 3.97 and he was turned down at UCLA and accepted at UCIrvine. He is going out of state. Unless you make the GPA/SAT formula, they don't even look at the ECs. You might have him check with HS guidance counselor, sometimes you can take a class over through online, or comm. college. Are you in CA? I don't know about Cal Poly..depending on major it is pretty competitive. I'm sorry I don't know about Santa Clara. The senior year grades will not be seen, deadline for UCs is early....The D in Physics alone might not kill it, but truthfully the other Cs combined with the D in Physics don't look good. The other option if you are in CA might be one of the better CCs. Many of them have transfer agreements in place with the UCs. Also, don't forget the size of the UC classes, a student who ran the gamut of grades in HS might not thrive in a college with intro classes in the hundreds....you might look around at some private schools.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of your help. I think the best he can raise it up to is an 1800. But anyways....does anyone know more about if he can get in at SCU or Cal Poly SLO? I am glad the D in physics shouldnt effect his chances.</p>
<p>I dont really want him to go to merced or riverside. Santa Cruz is acceptable. But how much chance is there for the other UC schools with the grades he currently has?</p>
<p>He has a fairly good chance of admission to UCSC. They admit 64% of applicants with GPAs between 3.00 and 3.29 and around 75-80% of applicants in his SAT range.
At Davis, Irvine, and Santa Barbara, his chances are much lower, though admission is not inconceivable. Davis admits 31.3% of applicants in his GPA range and about 60% of applicants in his SAT range. Irvine will be even tougher than Davis, as it only admits 10.2% of applicants in his GPA range and around 57-58% of applicants in his SAT range. Santa Barbara is harder than Irvine- admitting 10.8% of applicants in his GPA range and only about 40% in his SAT range.
At UCSD, UCLA, or UCB, his chance of admission is virtually 0. San Diego admits only 3.5% of students in his GPA range, and about 35% in his SAT range. UCLA is worse: only 1.3% admitted in his GPA range and about 15% in his SAT range, while Berkeley is similar: 1.8% in his GPA range and about 16-17% in his SAT range.
Santa Cruz, then, is your best bet among the UCs unless you consider Riverside or Merced, as Merced is a sure thing and Riverside is very likely to admit him as well.</p>
<p>ok....I think he will be able to get a 3.6 in his senior year if that helps at all? But besides that, how are his chances at Santa Clara University or Cal Poly SLO? If he gets a 3.6 in his senior year, his overall GPA will be 3.4. Does that increase his chances at any other UC's?</p>
<p>None of the UCs look at your senior grades in the admission process. However, some look at the quality of your senior year schedule.</p>
<p>He has a good shot at Santa Cruz, Merced, and Riverside. Those campuses need students. He doesn't have a very good chance at Irvine, Davis, or Santa Barbara unless he bumps his SAT scores to around 1800, and even then, his GPA is still really low for those schools.</p>
<p>I'm worried he doesn't meet the requirements to be eligible because you need two years of a language and two years of a science.</p>
<p>His best bet is retaking the SAT and an SATII with a better score. He could also try the ACT.</p>
<p>I don't really know much about SCU, but since it is a private, they'll factor in more than just your grades. Stuff like recommendations, interviews, and class rank are important. The averages for SCU from PR are 3.6/1200.</p>
<p>Look here for information on the UCSC admission process:</p>
<p><a href="http://admissions.ucsc.edu/apply/freshman_guide.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.ucsc.edu/apply/freshman_guide.cfm</a></p>
<p>Relentless..good spotting, I didn't even look at the required classes..you have to take the minimum required classes to be eligible at ANY of the UCs....</p>
<p>He has two years of spanish and two years of science. He took Spanish 1 and 2. Also has take Biology and Chemistry. So the "D" in Physics AP sholuldn't effect him from applying to colleges? What other colleges are good that he can get into. What is the best he can bump his SAT so that he has a GOOD chance of getting into UC Davis, Irvine, or Santa Barbra? I don't know if this helps at all, but my daughter is actually going to UC Davis also now.</p>
<p>whats his major? that plays a huge part in cal poly admission.</p>
<p>his major is business, econ. He may do engineering.</p>
<p>For cal poly engineering is really hard to get into, so it might be a reach. as for biz econ, that major is not as hard to get into as engineering but it is still one of the harder ones to get into at cal poly. </p>
<p>goto this web site and click enter and than go to profle and then click onto freshman and it gives you a list of departments and the average GPA and SAt scors that were acceped into cal poly. good luck!
<a href="http://www.ess.calpoly.edu/_admiss/viewbook/index2.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ess.calpoly.edu/_admiss/viewbook/index2.html</a></p>
<p>ok...ii checked it out. But it seems as though business is one of the easiest ones. Besides agriculture. I do not want him doing agriculture. I think he may be selected for business. Does anyone know if he can get into Santa Clara University or what he needs to do to get in? I think his math 2c scores are solid. But he needs to improve his SAT. But the way I am looking at it, i think he will go to UC Davis, Irvine or Santa Barbara if he gets in. If he doesn't, then I he would most likely go to Cal Poly SLO or Santa Clara University. If he doesn't get in their either, then he will go to UCSC and hopefully get into the berkeley program.</p>
<p>I was looking at UC Davis, and I think he might be able to get into there. Does anyone know if he will? The average SAT(old), is 1164. If you take just the math and verbal, he has an 1150, which is right on the average. Although, the average GPA is 3.73. He has a 3.2, but the classes which he has taken are very high compared to the classes regular high school courses students take. He also has a sister who attends UC Davis currently. Does this improve his chances at all? I mean he is at the average except for his GPA.</p>
<p>He has a better chance at Davis than at Irvine or Santa Barbara, but Davis only takes (as I pointed out earlier) about 30% of students with GPA between 3 and 3.29, which is where his falls. This already takes into account difficulty of classes, since his 3.2 is weighted. It is certainly worth applying to Davis, but remember, although his SAT scores would seem to give him more like a 60-70% chance of acceptance, most people with his scores have better grades. GPA is more important than SATs at UCs, so he would need to be well above average in SATs to make up for the very weak GPA.
UC schools do not consider legacy in admissions, so his sister's status will not help him at all (and siblings usually do not count as legacy anyway).</p>