How Strong Will My PIQ Essays Need to Be?

How strong of an essay will I need for my PIQs considering my profile?

CA Resident, Male Filipino, coming from a low-income family.
Looking to Major in WFCB, alternate in Ecology

STATS
Unweighted: 3.9211
Weighted for UC: 4.0417
I took AP Bio and 1 Honors class Junior Year (but the UC doesn’t count my honors class)
Taking AP MacroEcon, AP Environmental Science, Honors PreCalc, and taking AP Gov in the Spring.
I took a language for 2 years rather than 3 to take business classes (I wanted to learn so that I could start a reptile breeding business in the future).

SAT: 1200
Evidence-Based Reading & Writing: 570
Math: 630
Reading: 6
Analysis: 4
Writing: 5
Taken it only once

SAT Subject (Bio): 620
Also taken it once
(Do I have to report my SAT subject test? And if I don’t need to, should I? I’m thinking that my score is low and will negatively affect my application)

ACTIVITIES
71.5 hours of Community Service
4 Years of School Volleyball (2 in JV, was co-captain for one year + 2 in Var)
2 Years of playing Club Volleyball
Freshman and Sophomore year I’d take care of my nephews and niece after school.
The summer transitioning to my Junior Year, I was working part-time.
The summer transitioning to my Senior Year, I was working full-time at the zoo as a busser and currently working part-time.
I also take care of my pets after school (dog, 4 lizards, bird, bunny, and spider)
I’ve also started getting into reptile breeding.

EXTRA NOTES
During my sophomore year, my sister and her husband lived with my family and they would argue so much to the point cops would come. They eventually leaned towards drugs and got addicted. This was stressful for my whole family. It was bad to the point that we had to move my nephews and niece with my mom who lives in the Philippines.

UCD considers your personal insight essays Very Important in their application review but make sure they are all about you. They want to learn more about you beyond what your application shows.

From what you’ve seen so far though, how good of a chance do you think I have getting in?

2018 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCD: 41%

2019 UC capped weighted GPA averages:
UCD: 4.13

2019 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT totals:

UCD: 1230-1490

Based on you have posted, I think your chances are greater than 50%. Your GPA is within range but your SAT is a bit on the low side. Your SAT Biology score will not enhance your application.

Your HS course rigor is lacking but is this due to your HS offerings?

You have focused EC’s and if you have some great essays, they will bump up your chances.

WFC is not a selective major so you have a decent chance but make sure you have a safety school on your list.

Best of luck.