How do my prospects look? (Chances)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Cruz
1

<p>I'm a bio major and as these final hours come about before decisions, I'm trying to set realistic expectations. Here is my profile. So far, I've gotten into San Jose State and Willamette University, but I got rejected by Cal Poly SLO. As such, I'm having trouble gauging my chances here as well as with regards to other UC's.</p>

<hr>

<p>My Very Rigorous High School:</p>

<h1>1 ranked public, #13 in california, #67 nationally (as per US News)</h1>

<p>95% AP participation rate
1987,1997, 2008 National Blue Ribbon School
1987, 1996, 2003, 2007 California Distinguished School
API ranking 955 out of 1000
Top Comprehensive Public High School in California for the past three years
CA Business for Education Excellence Honor Roll
US News and World Report Gold Category
Newsweek Top 100 High Schools in the Nation
90% of the students attend post-secondary schools
Bay Area Leader in the number of National Merit and Commended students</p>

<p>GPA:</p>

<p>UW- 3.14
UC GPA- 3.58
W- 3.74</p>

<p>SAT:
2320 (CR-760, M-760, W-800)</p>

<p>PSAT:</p>

<p>213</p>

<p>SAT II:
700-Biology
800-Chemistry
760-Math Lvl 1
740-US History</p>

<p>AP:</p>

<p>Chemistry-5
US History-5
Psychology-5
US Govt (self study)-4
Comp Govt (self study)-4
Euro (self study)-3</p>

<p>Honors:</p>

<p>Exploravision
AP Scholar w/Distinction
National Merit Scholar Commended
Communicable Diseases Campaign Team Leader in Pakistan</p>

<p>Activities:</p>

<p>-Volunteered at Red Crescent Hospital in Pakistan for 480 hours (20 hours a week for 8 weeks for 3 consecutive summers)
-Columnist in local community newspaper throughout high school
-Odyssey of The Mind (grades 11 (4th in regional competition) and 12)
-Volunteered 60 hours at the county library teaching and assisting library patrons with -computer use
-Interned at a startup that designs software for physicians for two years
-Served as a translator for communicable diseases literature in Pakistan (grades 9 and 10 summers)
-Vaccination drive assistant in Pakistan (grade 10)
-Medcorps Member for three years (volunteered at Hepatitis B screenings and all)
-Joined speech club at the onset of senior year</p>

<p>Work Experience:</p>

<p>-Worked as a busboy (10 hours a week for 44 weeks a year for grades 11 and 12) </p>

<p>Essays:</p>

<p>Above average to excellent!</p>

2

<p>You’re in, GPA is on par for UCSC and SAT is fantastic.</p>

3

<p>I don’t know, I thought GPA was far too low?</p>

4

<p>well since you go to a rigorous hs it should be fine :smiley: and all your other stats are good so you’re probably in</p>

5

<p>I hope so. I applied to 7 UC’s (no Merced or Riverside), and this is the only one I’m kind of expecting to get into.</p>

6

<p>Cal Poly is grades/test scores only. They look at nothing else. Bio at CPSLO is one of the most impacted majors. You have a way better shot at the UC’s because they look at the whole application, they try to see who you are. CPSLO is numbers only, so unless you have a 4.+++ it’s not looking good, even with a stellar SAT. All those AP tests count for nada. SAT subject tests-they don’t care. UC all the way for you-I’ll bet you get in to more UC’s than you think. I’ll be checking back to see-Good Luck to you!</p>

7

<p>Thank you for the kind and reassuring words. I hope you’re right, and I’ll be sure to update this as I get more results for you.</p>

8

<p>Holy crap, aha.
Your extracurriculars are bloody fantastic; id go as far to say you have a great chance for Berekely.
They seem to focus heavily on extracurriculars, i noticed.</p>

<p>And like someone said, cal poly is stats only.
Don’t worry. You have are for ucsc.</p>

9

<p>From your mouth to the admissions committee’s ears, though I doubt it :D</p>

10

<p>Last year both UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz were making their decisions based off holistic reviews. That is, they are looking at the entire package and every part of the application is weighted equally although the grades can have a heavier weight than the other aspects. If this years admission process is anything like last years, then everyone has a chance of being accepted. (I had a 3.11 but I had extracurricular, a very good amount)</p>

11

<p>Accepted.</p>

<p>Next target: Davis tmrw.</p>

12

<p>Isn’t Davis today?</p>

13

<p>Davis is sometime from 10am - 4pm, apparently. I just checked my portal and it’s past midnight, doubtful decisions will be released right now.</p>

14

<p>I meant today, yes.</p>

15

<p>Got rejected by Davis.</p>

<p>In other news, I was also waitlisted by Pepperdine.</p>

16

<p>Did you get into Santa Cruz?</p>

17

<p>Yes, I did. In other news, I was waitlisted by San Diego :)</p>

<p>That means:</p>

<p>Accepted:</p>

<p>Willamette
San Jose State
UC Santa Cruz</p>

<p>Waitlisted:</p>

<p>Pepperdine
UC San Diego</p>

<p>Rejected:</p>

<p>Cal Poly SLO
UC Davis</p>

<p>Still Waiting:</p>

<p>UCB- Molecular and Cell Biology - Plan II (Neurobiology)
UCLA- Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (Pre)
UCI- Biological Sciences
UCSB- Physiology
Santa Clara- Biology
George Washington University- Biology
USC- Biological Sciences
Stanford- Biology</p>

18

<p>Jesus you applied to way too many schools lol…</p>

19

<p>15 colleges lol, I cast a wide net because I expect a close to even number of acceptances, rejections, and wait lists. If that’s the case, then I’d be able to choose from 5 colleges. I want atleast that many choices in April if I can at all help it.</p>

20

<p>Yay for Santa Cruz! It’s my D’s #1, but applying next year. From what I know about Santa Clara, you can count on that one as a yes. Stanford? I’ve never known anyone to get into Stanford, even legacies. The remaining UC’s could go either way for you-somebody said last year, and I will always remember it, that the UC admissions process is like a bi-polar toddler. Get your Magic 8 Ball out. But from your stats, I’d say you can count on one or two more yes’s from them.</p>