How can I make myself more competitive for UC Davis?

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

UC Davis is my dream school. I had straight A’s freshman year and first semester sophomore year, but several B’s and one C in second semester sophomore year and first semester junior year. 2017 was a really rough year for me. I know that those are two crucial semesters. If I go back to my strong grades in second semester junior year, do I still have hope at UC Davis? (Or alternatively, UCSD)

I have really strong ECs in the humanities, including national-level writing awards. My test scores are also quite strong: 5’s on AP Euro history, US History, Literature and Psychology. Plus 800s on SAT II literature and US history. (Taking SAT in March and aiming for 1540)

Another thing is that I really want to drop AP Calc after first semester. Getting a B- in that class took a huge effort. Will that hurt? My math grades have been less than stellar overall.

Finally (sorry for this long post) I am doing a College connection program with a community college in my senior year. So I will get HS credit for college classes and I’m hoping this will show I’m smart and curious, since my HS grades do not.

I will write good essays and explain my academic flounder in 2017, but does my poor performance exclude any hope at UC Davis? How can I make myself more competitive? Thank you!

2

At this point, you need to focus on getting high scores on your SAT; that’s one thing that Davis will look at.

GPA and SAT are king

3

Based on your post, I am assuming you are leaning towards a major in the humanities? GPA is king with the UC’s, so you need to work on getting your grades up. Since the UC’s only consider 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation, you need to focus on your 2nd semester and try to get as many A’s as possible. Can you drop down to regular Calculus next semester? Your rigor will take a slight hit, but it is better to get a higher grade in a lower level class than be struggling in the AP class.

At the end of Junior year, you can calculate your UC GPA using this calculator: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

All the UC’s use the capped weighted GPA and UCLA/UCB will consider the Fully weighted UC GPA also.

UC Davis also does not have any recommendations for SAT subject tests but your competitive test scores can help your chances.

Here are the Freshman profiles for all the UC’s. They list the 25th-75th percentile for UC capped weighted GPA and test scores. I would try to strive for at the least the averages for both areas so you have a decent chance at an acceptance. Remember there are 9 UC’s and 23 Cal states along with numerous private schools in CA so just do your best and you will get into a good school.

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/profiles/index.html

GPA and test scores of middle 25%-75% students for UC Davis.

High School GPA: 3.95 - 4.25
ACT Composite Score: 26 - 32
ACT English Language Arts : 24 - 30
SAT Evidence Based Reading & Writing: 590 - 680
SAT Mathematics: 600 - 750
SAT Essay: 15 - 18

4

Okay as someone who didn’t have stellar grades yet somehow got into UC Davis, I’d say there are two ways to go about getting into the school you want to. Keep in mind that both types of people are needed, one for staying up there in school rankings, and the other for finding superstar specialists:

  1. What everyone does (the GPA / SAT rat race).
  2. Being interesting - do something that interests you, and focus on getting better every day. Find resources to help you get better, and find people that will help you succeed at said interest. Then do the best work you can and show that you progressively handled greater responsibility as you got better at something. For example, say you enjoy taking pictures (like every millenial, duh). Go buy a camera, or just use your iPhone camera, and try to take great pictures. Now this is key: get deep into it, like understanding shading/angle/exposure/etc. Then offer to take pictures for the community (ever heard of city center events? ) for free, and try to be a master at what you do. Then, when you apply to Cal/UCLA/Harvard/Stanford/Yale, the admissions person will see that you aren't some mindless drone that studied just because his parents told him to, AND that you are a real person with real interests.

So you pick and choose. #1 is what everyone will try to do, and #2, while it takes some soul searching, will yield much greater reward.

5

Don’t apply to an impacted major. At Davis it is a little easier to change majors after you are there and prove yourself. It is not as easy to do that at UCSD.

If you are not a math/science major, I would talk to your counselor about taking regular calculus. I would also talk to your counselor about whether or not you should draw attention to your poor grades. Use your application to sell your strengths rather than drawing attention to your weaknesses. Just my two cents.