@wormholes It is early. You will find even more great schools you would have never thought of before! Just keep your mind open. You’ll do just fine 
@wormholes you most definitely WILL get into some good schools as long as you apply to several and get everything in on time. Try not to overstress about it. You WILL. Your ACT score alone is a fantastic achievement.
@HRSMom my D was the first in her school to get in. It’s a young high school (it was only 8 years old) but when some of her peers in previous years got rejected, and the school counselor called to ask if there was something they could’ve done differently, she was told they weren’t convinced the student (s) would attend. It’s a very inconvenient spot from across the country. So, in this case ED helped. But it was her clear first choice. Thank you!
@wormholes as others have said, find several schools where you would be happy. Even safety schools. That’s why touring is important. When you go east to see Cornell, add some others to visit. We also saw Rochester, BU, Northeastern, Colgate, Brandeis, Tufts…make the trip worthwhile. And don’t put all your eggs in one basket. That can lead to huge disappointment. Sometimes college acceptances seem like a crapshoot. And there are tons of great colleges in CA.
I know it seems scary now, but you will be fine 
OP:
Is that your UC UW GPA? Remember UC does not consider Freshman year for their GPA computation.
No, 4.24/3.76 are my cumulative 9-12 weighted and unweighted GPAs, respectively. My UC GPA is a 4.09 currently. Where do you think that puts me for UCSD, UCD, UCI, and UCSB? @2018dad
@HRSMom @Renomamma Thank you! I’m just extremely stressed out. If not Cornell, I’d like to attend either UCSD, UCI, UCD, or UCSB. I hope I can get into at least 1 or 2 of those 
@Renomamma that is so exciting!!! Yes, that was a boost for in terms of “commitment” if that was the issue for the school.
@wormholes you have a lot if time left to make your list. In a year you can stress out! For now, just enjoy the visits:)
@wormholes
If your UC UW GPA is close to your overall UW GPA, UCLA and Berkeley (and Cornell for that matter) would be a very high reach for you, unless you have an interesting story to tell and/or have good EC and/or national award. My daughter’s best friend had the same UW GPA but lower score. She was denied UCSD, UC Irvine and Berkeley but got accepted at UCLA. Her story was interesting though (I’m not going to elaborate) and also had some visual/performing arts national awards.
@2018dad I’m not sure what you mean by “UC UW GPA”… the UC GPA is calculated weighted with up to 8 semesters of honors/AP courses and that’s a 4.09. I’m going to link @Gumbymom because she knows a lot about UC admissions… @Gumbymom Is there such a thing as a UC UW GPA?
Also, @2018dad would you consider National AP Scholar and National Merit as national awards?
UC UW (unweighted) GPA is calculated without giving weight to APs and Honors.
@2018dad at the end of this year, uw uc gpa will probably be 3.80. what do you think for ucsd, uci, ucd, ucsb?
What’s your uncapped UC GPA?
What’s your intended major? That makes a big diff at UCs.
With your capped weighted of 4.1 and your 35, I think you’ll get into all the UCs, if you’re a non-science major.
If you’re science or engineering, UCB is a crapshoot, UCLA too. I think you’d have a great shot at both, though.
IMO you’re a shoe-in at UCI, UCSB, UCD, and UCSD.
I think you have a very good shot at Cornell ED, too. 50/50 or better.
I missed your 3.76 unweighted. That’s a bit low for Cornell/UCLA/B.
UCLA and B are so GPA oriented, it seems. You can see it on naviance. below a certain GPA is a sea of red. You really want your capped, weighted to be a 4.2+
But, still, with excellent essays and an excellent overall application, you are strong for all of those schools.
@8bagels wow so many questions! I’ll try to answer them all haha.
- Yep, I definitely know that the 3.76 is on the lower end. That's why I'm working hard to improve it this semester, and hopefully by the end of this year it should be ~3.80. Do you think this is slightly better? I know that around 3.80 is considered solid unweighted.
- Intended major is molecular biology/biochemistry.
- Uncapped UC GPA, by the end of this year, should be 4.60. How is this?
- Yep, I'm not that much into UCB and LA. I'm mostly interested in UCD, UCSD, UCI, and UCSB.
- On naviance, the average 9-12 gpa for berk and LA admits from my school is 4.26, I'm not sure about UC GPA though.
- if it helps, my ap scores so far are chem 4, world 4, psych 5, and calc AB 5. and subject test scores are math 2 770 and chemistry 720 (Bit low I know.)
Overall, with an uncapped UC GPA of 4.60, a capped UC GPA of 4.07, an unweighted UC GPA of 3.80, and a 35 ACT, and my sat II/ap scores, how do you think my chances are at UCSD, UCD, UCI, and UCSB for a molecular bio major? These are the ones I’m mainly interested in. Thanks so much
@8bagels oh and also I know colleges care a lot about course rigor, so I took the hardest load possible (11 APs by end of junior year). I also know they care a lot about junior year, and my junior GPA will be ~3.81 uw and 4.81 uw. Idk, just some additional info haha
Hopefully you don’t have an Asian last name. An Asian molecular biology at a UC seems really tough these days.
But even if you do, your odds of getting into 2 of those schools is 100%. Your number s are good enough.
IMO you’ll get into all of them.
Write a great essay that shows your personality and isn’t boring.
@wormholes you’ll get into all your UCs. Guessing you might be premed with your intended major. Of so, you might want to sell your parents on the grade deflation at the UCs and how it may make med school tougher. I don’t know if Cornell is on the Harvard program where everyone gets an A but it probably is. Also assume the weed out classes will be substantially less brutal than at the UCs. You could also show them some of the recent articles about the budget crisis at UCB. It’s just there now but all the UC campuses are going to be facing some serious financial challenges in the coming years.
I’m a CA parent and went through this with my son this year. I told him if he wanted something besides a UC he needed to have a really good reason and he needed to sell me on the extra cost. He did. Got into a top 10 school that is going to cost about $100k more than a UC but I’m happy to pay it after the sales job he did.
@8bagels Haha unfortunately I do…Indian, but female. It is quite tough.
Thank you, I certainly hope so.
Also, sorry to keep asking you questions but you seem very knowledgeable. I am slightly below the unweighted average from my school for people who were accepted to UCSD.
According to Naviance, the average admitted stats to UCSD for people from my school were: 4.24W, 3.88UW, and 32 ACT. However, I’m a bit below this with 4.36W, 3.80UW, and 35 ACT. But as I mentioned before, I took an extremely rigorous load, which most people at my school don’t take. (Average is 6-8 APs for UC applicants from my school.) In light of this, do you think I should still apply to/still stand a decent chance at UCSD, considering my weighted gpa and act scores are well above my school’s average for SD?
Thank you so much, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer all my questions.
@gluttonforstress Thanks! And you guessed right, I’m definitely looking on the med track.
I see what you mean exactly. However, my first preference would still, deep down, be a UC because I want to stay in-state and (relatively) close to home.
Also, what is your opinion on my chances at UCSD? The same query I posed to 8bagels:
According to Naviance, the average admitted stats to UCSD for people from my school were: 4.24W, 3.88UW, and 32 ACT. However, I’m a bit below this with 4.36W, 3.80UW, and 35 ACT. But as I mentioned before, I took an extremely rigorous load, which most people at my school don’t take. (Average is 6-8 APs for UC applicants from my school.) In light of this, do you think I should still apply to/still stand a decent chance at UCSD, considering my weighted gpa and act scores are well above my school’s average for SD?
Thank you