I am a UCI student - ask me anything you want - im bored

<p>is cal grant the same thing as "university grant?"......thanks for the help</p>

<p>No I don't think so but it might effectively do the same thing for you, giving you about the same amount of money. Is money a big factor in deciding where to go to school? They should get your financial aid packet (well actually it's online) before you have to decide.</p>

<p>yeah very much so......i am a transfer student and currently im debating right now between UCLA (first year taking probably 8k loan) vs. UCI (with the chancellors) and it should be enough for me not to take a loan....blah</p>

<p>how hard is it to get in if you're from a high school with an API score of 800+????? And what if you have a low GPA (around 3.2 maybe?)</p>

<p>I have no idea what an API score is...</p>

<p>As for your GPA - for the past two years, UCI has been stepping it up a notch with admissions (this can be attributed to the new Chancellor). Its actually a lot more difficult to get into UCI than it was 2 years ago - anyway, a 3.2 is fairly low (sorry, no offense), BUT it is, in fact, a qualifying UC GPA. If I were you, id say go for it with UCI - as long as you have good extra curriculars and an awesome essay you should be fine (just make sure your SAT is decent). If not, youll be accepted to at least ONE UC - you have to by law as long as youre qualified.</p>

<p>It used to be that UCI took a very high percentage of UC eligible applicants. Now I think it is less than 50%. </p>

<p>In terms of addmissions, popularity in attending UC Irvine has surged as witnessed by the increase in applications.</p>

<p>Here is a link to the number of applications in the mid 1990s:
<a href="http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/commserv/press/nums962.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/commserv/press/nums962.html&lt;/a> </p>

<p>And here is a link to recent numbers:
<a href="http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2006/fall+2006+app_table+3.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2006/fall+2006+app_table+3.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>As a comparsion, in 1993 - UCI received 15,385 freshman applications while UCD recieved 16,091 applications. For 2006, UCI recieved 38,371 applications while UCD recieved 32,611 applications.</p>

<p>Good or bad (depending on how you look at), UCI will be accepting fewer UC eligible students than it has in the past. As the previous poster stated, make sure you have a great essay and great SAT score.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>I'll have a 3.75 with an 1800 on the SAT (600 math, 590 CR, 610 writing). I've also got some great EC's. WIll I be in good shape to get into UCI?</p>

<p>hey, you said you commuted an hour, how hard is that? do you find that you still have time to get home and do hw and such? how hard is it to visit ucla with public transportation from uci? how long does it usually take and how much? mapquest said 1 hour driving, but will it be longer driving since traffic in la is bad? what is the best public transportation to do this in terms of time and money? do regular students at uci have a lot of time on their hands on the weekends or are they filled with hw and studying? thanks!</p>

<p>Nschuchert - you have a good chance man - just make sure you have a good essay - that is REALLY important.</p>

<p>Falafel!!!: Commuting is a ***** for the first year because you miss out on a lot of the on campus fun and it takes forever being stuck in traffic :(</p>

<p>I always have time to do my homework and have never had a problem with school work in relation to driving issues.</p>

<p>I dont know much about public transportation from UCLA to UCI, but I know people do it and im pretty sure its cheap. It usually takes about an hour to an hour and a half (depending on the amount of traffic) - I have no idea about cost.</p>

<p>Best transportation is OCTA - look it up - I think its really the only kind since the train is sorta pointless for short trips.</p>

<p>As for time on the weekends: If you want to things to do, then youll do them. It all depends on what kind of student you are. If you are workaholic like me, youll study on Sundays, but if youre a Greek kid youll pretty much do nothing all weekend but party and chill around town. You make your own phone, nobody is usually bogged down enough to not go out on the weekends - only during finals week will you find people shacked up in their rooms studying.</p>

<p>How many classes did you have per week? And how long were those classes? Also what days did you have these classes?......Oh and is there any fast food options on or near campus??? </p>

<p>Thanks....</p>

<p>ok what about a GPA of 3.4?...Wait...is it weighted or unweighted???</p>

<p>^UCs always take weighted GPA. The cap for honors points are up to 8 semesters.</p>

<p>Hey, I've noticed a recurring pattern at UCI this year. GPA seems to be very important to UCI. People with 3.3-3.4 get rejected often even with decent SAT scores (1900-2100). Remember, UCI has been stressing academics within their school so emphasizing academics on an application is most likely probable. Anyway, you guys still have a chance, just impress them with a good essay (talking about your biggest hardship is the largest plus ever) and show the curriculars UCs love. Good luck!</p>

<p>Baumb: for my Freshman year I had between 4-5 classes - they were scattered so I went to maybe 3-4 classes a day (if you count discussion/TA sections its like 8 classes). Most of my classes were 50 minutes each - some were an hour and 20 minutes each (Humanities Core on Tues/Thurs).</p>

<p>Fast food is everywhere - there is an In n Out, KFC, TacoBell, Lee Sandwhiches, Jack in the Box and many others literally across the street - 1 minute away.</p>

<p>ChemNerd: You should always view your GPA unweighted because weighted scores are used only to accurately convey your ranking against your fellow classmates in high school - a weighted score is pointless when it comes to college. As for a 3.4 - its ok, but you would need at least an 1150 (old SAT score - i dont know how the new one is graded) to keep in the running. Make sure your essays are killer.</p>

<p>Actually, UCs take weighted GPAs seriously. For example, UCSD and UCD take the weighted GPA when they calculuate how many points you get from your GPA (GPAx1000=xxx points). </p>

<p>Lee's Sandwiches across the street? I am there.</p>

<p>I think I'll have a lot of my classes in math, physics, and engineering (intro class) the first year. This makes deciding between Mesa and Middle harder =(.</p>

<p>Ok, but they calculate your weighted GPA from 10th grade and 11th grade NOT 9th grade RIGHT???? Also what about a rising GPA?? Do colleges love that??</p>

<p>10-11 are the most important ones, but 9th grade still matters in terms of "you better not have gotten a C, D, or F!".</p>

<p>Aw....i'm screwed...I seriously screwed up my 9th grade year (2 Cs)</p>

<p>You're not screwed at all, 2 Cs is no big deal, if your 10-11 grade weighted gpa is 3.6 or higher you shouldn't worry too much. Also essay/EC's/SAT's are important factors too. You've got a lot of stuff that will overshadow a C or two.</p>

<p>Thanks so much Tacobell (lol)!!!</p>

<p>I dont understand how weighted grades can be taken seriously in college. For example: at my high school, they did not weight grades. So even if I had 10 AP scores and received all A's in every class I took in high school, I would still only have a 4.0x1000 (to make note of your equation). However, my competition who goes to a school that weights grades would have a higher GPA than mine given your equation, when, in fact, we are the same (given they get all A's). </p>

<p>Unless the UC compensates for the equation given in this forum, it is fundamentally flawed and completely unfair. That is why they dont look at weighted grades - they just pay attention to what APs you enrolled in and give you points based on how many took you, etc...</p>

<p>Trust me on this - THEY DO NOT LOOK AT WEIGHTED GRADES - I know people who sit on the admissions board. They will RECALCULATE your GPA to correctly set your GPA fairly against another potential UC student.</p>