HELP UC GPA calculation?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

<p>Sorry, d is away and mom is here trying to do some research for her.
Could someone help me out with her UC GPA?
and chances too…
10th grade
World Hist (Honors) B, A
English 10 (H) B, A
Algebra 2/Trig (H) B, B
Chemistry A, A
Spanish III A, A
Spanish IV B, B</p>

<p>11th grade
APUSH A, A
AP Gov A, A
Pre-Calc (H) A, A
AP Environmental A, A
Painting A, A</p>

<p>The B’s in 10th grade were not characteristic. I had been battling a life-threatening illness for the previous year, and step-dad (whom she was very close to) walked out on us the summer before she started 10th. So the lovely UC GPA formula works against her. Her current weighted school GPA is 4.29.</p>

<p>Also, she is taking a Marine Biology class for college credit this summer, I’m assuming that will be UC-eligible and will be added in somewhere?</p>

<p>Other stats
ACT 29
SAT IIs US History 700, Eng Lit 650
AP’s took four tests, scored three 4’s and one 3
EC’s: Speech/Debate, camps 2 summers (one at UCB), won awards and went to State; Pres. of Community Service Club (Interact), worked on Francine Busby political campaign, active member of Surfrider, organized benefit concert for Darfur, independent PE equestrian for 2 years, competitive soccer Grades 6-9 (team cpt in 9th grade), other misc community service (not sure of her hours)
Recs will be good but I know UC doesn’t use them
(SATs not as good as ACT, she will also re-take ACT and raise it, do we have to report the SATs? or will they see then anyhow when SAT IIs reported? either way, they will take the higher, which is ACT)</p>

<p>Thanks for your help! I know the UC’s are a great deal, but they just irritate me with all their magic mystery formulas…You just feel like a number, because you are.
But anyhow…I digress.</p>

2

<p>Hi M. :)</p>

<p>I think the UC 10-11GPA would be 4.09 assuming that those H classes are UC-approved and all classes are from the A-G list.</p>

<p>Your/her situation may help if it is properly incorporated into the personal statements to show the overcoming of hardships.</p>

<p>I don't think the marine bio class would factor in since it should be counted towards senior year. Also, if it did count, it would bring down the UC GPA because of the 8 semester weight cap.</p>

<p>ACT/SAT: Looking at a rough conversion table, 29 is a bit low for the top tier UCs. I would suggest raising it to at least 31, or the equivalent of at least 2100. It'd also be good to have 2 SATII scores >/= 700. I believe that they will see it since SAT score reports are cumulative, but they will take the higher score.</p>

<p>AP: Although the scores don't really matter, it's a plus if the courseload is considered relatively heavy/challenging for your school.</p>

<p>EC's look great! Tie them together to show passion/dedication/focus as they say and write up a great personal statement about them if desired.</p>

<p>So down to chances for in-state...</p>

<p>Berkeley/UCLA: Slight Reach/Reach
UCSD: Match/Slight Reach
UCI/UCD: Match
Everything else: Safe Match</p>

<p>However, I'm still refining my evaluation accuracy. :) I suggest that you look in specific UC forums (espcially UCLA's since there are very very experienced members there!). For UCSD (and a few others), the formulas aren't so mysterious; look around here for a link to a breakdown to how they award points and the cutoff score.</p>

<p>For the top tier UC's, definitely try to increase those ACT/SAT scores and the good thing is that it's not too late to do so (whereas the GPA/EC stuff is pretty much in stone).</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much for the quick reply and great advice...could you possibly show me how you worked out the GPA..just the numbers, I think I understand the general idea.
Also, pls explain a little more about how the Marine Bio would bring it down if it counted...not sure I get that.
Did you end up at UCLA? How do you like it?
Thx again!</p>

4

<p>To the original poster, UC GPA is 4.15. None of the 10th grade classes are waited. FYI.</p>

5

<p>Would you mind walking me thru the calc, just so I understand. But yeah, that is the number I got too when I tried to do it...
Many thanks,
the mom</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
Grade Point Average
To determine your eligibility, the University calculates your GPA in the "a-g" subjects by assigning point values to the grades you earn, totaling the points and dividing the total by the number of "a-g" courses. Points are assigned as follows: A=4 points, B=3 points, C=2 points, D=1 point, and F=0 points. (Pluses and minuses are not calculated in the grade point average.)
Only the grades you earn in "a-g" subjects in the 10th and 11th grades - including summer sessions - are used to calculate your preliminary GPA. Courses you took in ninth grade can be used to meet the Subject Requirement if you earned a grade of C or better, but they will not be used to calculate your GPA.</p>

<p>Honors Courses: The University assigns extra points for up to eight semesters of University-certified honors-level and Advanced Placement courses taken in the last three years of high school: A=5 points, B=4 points, C=3 points. No more than two yearlong UC-approved honors level courses taken in the 10th grade may be given extra points. A grade of D in an honors or advanced placement course does not earn extra points.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'm not sure how you're getting 4.15. Did you not weigh any honors courses and just averaged the GPA of both years (3.5 and 4.8)?</p>

<p>Here's what I did:</p>

<p>22 grades total. 16 A's. 6 B's. More than 8 weighted courses.
[(16<em>4)+(6</em>3)+8]/22 = 4.09</p>

7

<p>^---I agree with that calculation. This is how the GPA should be calculated.</p>

8

<p>omg, I left out a class!</p>

<p>11th grade, add:
AP English 11 A, A</p>

<p>so now is this right?
24 grades total. 18 A's, 6 B's. More than 8 weighted courses.</p>

<p>[(18<em>4) + (6</em>3) + 8]/ 24 = 4.08 ???</p>

<p>so, the missing class actually brought it down a notch : (</p>

<p>I honestly don 't understand the point of leaving out frosh grades, and the limits on weighting... so why take "extra" honors/AP, except for their nebulous "taking full advantage of opportunities presented to you", and I guess they count them up too, and to get AP credit for college??</p>

<p>thanks very much, I think I may have it right now!</p>

9

<p>If I'm interpreting the stats correctly, in the new 07-08 UC guide, based on the fall 06 admissions profile, I'm getting</p>

<p>Reach- UCB, UCLA
Slight reach- UCSD
Match- Irvine
Everything else- safe match</p>

<p>Thinking optimistically, possibly the challenges I mentioned in my first post may help boost her into the reach schools. UCB is her dream school, but she also loves UCSD. But it seems from reading these boards that very random things can happen with UC admissions...I hesitated to use the word "safe" with UCSB and UCSC...
So, advice well taken on working on getting the ACT up higher. That will also help with merit aid at both UC's and LAC's...
point zero and UCAPP- Where did each of you end up and how do you like it?</p>

10

<p>okay here's how i got 4.15...although its different now because she added Ap english 11th grade</p>

<p>10th grade
World Hist (Honors) B, A
English 10 (H) B, A
Algebra 2/Trig (H) B, B
Chemistry A, A
Spanish III A, A
Spanish IV B, B </p>

<p>*none of these classes are approved to be weighted so the first semester is 3.33 and the second semester is 3.66. Spanish isn't weighted because its not honors. Chemistry as well. Honors in math would begin with Pre-calc honors, not adv alg honors. Honors english isnt weighted until junior/senior when it is an AP. And World history honors isnt weighted because world history is only weighted at the AP level...honors us history is weighted though in the 11th grade.</p>

<p>11th grade
APUSH A, A
AP Gov A, A
Pre-Calc (H) A, A
AP Environmental A, A
Painting A, A
Ap English A, A
*both semesters are 4.66. One of her honors/AP classes wont be given the extra point because they will only allow for 4 courses(8 semesters). </p>

<p>-Thus, her GPA is now 4.08. But without AP English...when i orginally did it...the 2 11th grade semesters were both 4.8. So it was 4.15. And to all those who were tellimg me I was wrond, calm down its just a GPA and its not even yours</p>

11

<p>
[QUOTE]
If I'm interpreting the stats correctly, in the new 07-08 UC guide, based on the fall 06 admissions profile, I'm getting</p>

<p>Reach- UCB, UCLA
Slight reach- UCSD
Match- Irvine
Everything else- safe match</p>

<p>Thinking optimistically, possibly the challenges I mentioned in my first post may help boost her into the reach schools. UCB is her dream school, but she also loves UCSD. But it seems from reading these boards that very random things can happen with UC admissions...I hesitated to use the word "safe" with UCSB and UCSC...
So, advice well taken on working on getting the ACT up higher. That will also help with merit aid at both UC's and LAC's...
point zero and UCAPP- Where did each of you end up and how do you like it?

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>I'm attending UC Irvine this fall. It was my safety school and when you miss the mark for your dream schools (in my case, Berkeley and UCLA), you go to it. I don't have a solid opinion of it right now, but I think I will like the school.</p>

<p>Your daughter should have a decent chance of getting into UC Berkeley. From my friends that made it into UC Berkeley (four), they either had high GPA and SAT scores and mediocore extracurriculars or still impressive scores and a myriad of extracurriculars to balance out. I'll post some statistics to help illustrate.</p>

<p>All had a GPA of around 4.25 weighted.
SAT score range was 2000-2240.
SAT II score range was 750-800.
The one that had myriads of extracurriculars was an officer for three clubs and captain of the golf team.</p>

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<p>alexc and POINT0 - i so appreciate your help and encouragement...could you pls give me a link or tell me where you found the info about which 10th grade classes can be weighted, thats the only thing I'm still confused about...and the AP vs Honors stuff as far as weighting. Guess it comes out at 4.08 or 4.09 either way.
just trying to crack the secret code, hahaha
[sheesh, it was so much easier in our day! Took the SAT once (no prep), took one AP, and as for GPA, what you saw was what you got. I came west from a small public HS in upstate NY to go to Scripps College for 2 years, then xfred to UCSD. We didn't even have grades at Scripps (comment system)...and if I recall correctly, tuition was free for ca residents at the UC's..MY brother went to Dartmouth and Columbia Law from the same public HS, but he worked harder than I did! This little HS was actually a very good education (Regents)....well, just had to vent a bit there! but enough nostalgia]</p>

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<p><a href="https://pathways.ucop.edu/doorways/list/%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://pathways.ucop.edu/doorways/list/&lt;/a> Gives you information on how UC treats your school's specific classes.</p>

<p>It doesn't matter whether the honors classes count or not, like you said. Your D reached the GPA weight cap already with just APs. It doesn't mean that they shouldn't be taken.</p>

<p>I'm not saying the top tier is impossible to get in based on the current stats. But we're all about maximizing them, right! The thing with PointZero's friends is that they all have above average GPAs, average being just slightly below 4.20 for UCB and UCLA if I remember correctly.</p>

<p>From what I gather around CC, UCs emphasize the GPA over SATs.</p>

<p>However, if your D gets those scores for the ACT/SAT that I've suggested, I would believe that chances can be significantly improved to this:</p>

<p>Berkeley and UCLA: Match/Slight Reach
UCSD: Match
Everything else: Safe Match</p>

<p>Realistically speaking, anything is possible and anomalies do happen. Reaches do happen. Matches might end up to be unfortunate. So, DO apply!</p>

<p>If you're interested, I'll be a second year at UCLA. I like it there although it's hard to say since I haven't been anywhere else. I did have the opportunity to attend any of the top 4 (perhaps) UCs, just to note.</p>

14

<p>I thought this would be a nice link for the Berkeley prospective. <a href="http://students.berkeley.edu/admissions/freshmen.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://students.berkeley.edu/admissions/freshmen.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>There was a link to what Berkeley would like to hear about in the personal statement essays, but I can't seem to find it right now. Maybe you can, it was a PDF link.</p>

<p>Also, is your daughter rated for ELC (Eligibility in Local Context)? It basically means the student is in the top 4% of the school. It's nice padding for the application and scores lots of points on the UCSD point system.</p>

15

<p>well, it seems like there is hope...
POINTo- the GPAS you quote of your friends who were accepted at UCB- were they the UCGPA (10-11 grade) or their overall GPA (9-11)? Also, in the link from Berkeley, in the table they provide of GPA's, they dont state whether that is the UC GPA or not...I guess we can assume it is..
D's overall GPA is much better than her UCGPA, unfortunately, due to atypical grades sophomore year...4.29 weighted overall vs. 4.08 weighted UCGPA; however, she does have the serious challenges our family faced at that time to offset it with.
Her school sent her transcript in for ELC, but we are waiting for official notification after UC recalculates everything.
I'll look for the info about UCB personal statement.
wow, I'm new to CC, but this is an amazing resource..
thx again : )</p>

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<p>I'm citing their UC GPAs.</p>