<p>Well, the title is the question. I have a 3.86 UC GPA, and i know its a pretty bad GPA for most of the UCs. However, i noticed that a lot of people in my school have a higher UC GPA then me, but took less AP/Honor classes then me. Will the UCs look at the course rigor that you have taken during your entire sophomore and junior year? I sucked on my first semester sophomore year grades, which has ultimately brought my grade down. I’m just hoping that taking a lot of AP/Honor classes will help me in the end. Another question I would like answer is if the UCs look at the rigor of your senior year. I have all APs this year and I am also taking a college course at my CC later on. Do you think this will help me as well?</p>
<p>Cal and UCLA are know for their holistic review of applications, so the essays become more important. UCSD and probably others are strictly by the numbers and the essays are only used to glean “points” for adversity, etc. But they all put rigor as one of the top factors in considering applications. It gets confusing with UC GPA (8 semester cap on weighted) but that is just for eligibility, not admissions review. Somewhere on the UCLA website it says that the GPA is uncapped for analysis. I believe Cal is the same. My son had a very rigorous schedule, a few CC classes (which don’t figure into GPA), and more than a few B’s. He got in all the UC’s he applied to. I think his UC GPA was 4.0, though.</p>
<p>Anecdotally, all the kids from DS’s class who got in to UCLA were top 10% (4.40+ total weighted) except two kids who have pretty interesting/compelling circumstances. Several acceptances were students who took CC classes (such as Math 150) when they could breeze through AP Calc with an easy A and a grade boost.</p>
<p>Go to the “Colleges” discussion section and look at UC General and the UC’s you’re interested in – you’ll get more specific help there.</p>
<p>course rigor is important, don’t worry too much about those will higher GPAs but lower level classes. Your work will pay off in the end. Senior year is taken into consideration but not as much. CC courses help too. They’re also weighted.</p>
<p>Actually I disagree about the essays. They count, but not as much as they might at other top private schools. UC’s are more formulaic than most other upper tier schools</p>
<p>UCLA Admissions process explained on UCLA Prospective Student Website. Here is the Link-it is very thorough. </p>
<p>[Freshman</a> Selection - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/Adm_fr/FrSel.htm]Freshman”>Application Review Process for First-Years | UCLA Undergraduate Admission)</p>
<p>thanks for the info! im at a stressful point right now. it seemed like i will never get into the top UCs because of my sophomore year grades. glad to know that UCLA does take a look at the rest of your application.</p>