I’m a junior in high school and have begun the process of looking for colleges. I’ve been primarily looking for schools that offer mechanical engineering in Texas and California. My unweighted GPA is a 3.0, and my ACT score is a 35. I was wondering what my chances are at any of the UC schools, SMU, Tulane and UT Austin, as well as any other possible options that my credentials would be suited for. Thank you in advance for your time
Where did you live? Was your schedule rigorous or were you taking straight regular classes?
What is your class rank? Where is your home state?
If OOS for UC then the minimum UW GPA is 3.4 with grades no lower than a C. And only AP courses count for the weighted UC GPA.
3.0 UW is too low for Engineering, especially for UC and UT.
Arizona State – Go Devils!
If you happen to be in-state CA or OOS, calculate your UC GPA: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
If you are OOS, as stated above, you need a UC GPA of 3.4 to apply to any of the California UC’s. You also only get extra honors points for AP/IB or DE courses taken in 10-11th grade.
If in-state, you can look up which HS courses are eligible for the extra honors points since many “honors” designated HS courses are not UC approved.
https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/search/institution
UC’s are very GPA focused so having a High ACT can help but will not make up for a low GPA. If you have a compelling reason for low grades such as Health/medical issues, then it can be addressed in your personal insight essay and could give you a bump.
Here are admit rates based on UC GPA for 2016:
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.00-3.39
UCB/UCLA/UCSD: 1%
UCI/UCSB: 2%
UCD: 4%
UCSC: 18%
UCR: 38%
UCM: 67%
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%
If OOS, also be aware that the UC’s offer no financial aid, so you will be expected to pay $60K/year to attend.
Best of luck, apply widely and have 1-2 affordable safety schools on your list.
I live in NY, and I take 2 APs this year, and 4 next year
For the UC GPA calculation only AP’s taken 10-11th grade are counted for the extra honors points. Senior year and Freshman year grades are not calculated into the UC GPA calculation, however you need to pass all UC a-g course requirements with a C or higher 9-12th grades. So if your UC GPA calculates out to a 3.4 or higher, then you can apply to the UC’s but based on the data I have posted, most will be out of reach even with great test scores.