<p>I really thought I'd get into UCI with a 3.8 gpa and 1840 SAT.</p>
<p>I know I am smart relative to community college kids and don't want to go there, but the only college I applied to and got in was Cal State Fullerton. </p>
<p>I wanted to study Aerospace Engineering, but I never really explored or looked into any other major. I know CSUF offers a lot, but not Aerospace. </p>
<p>Is there any way I can still debate my getting into UCI (or UCLA for that matter)?</p>
<p>Impress your professors to wherever you go, then apply for transfer. If you’re determined, you will find a school.
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<p>Firstly, engineering students don’t specialise that much in their first or second years, so you’re not exactly going to lose out in your ability to study aerospace.</p>
<p>Secondly you may realise that aerospace engineering is not what you wanted to study after all, but rather some intricate topic that you’d thought you’d never study. This happens really really often, no matter the type of student.</p>
<p>Since you live in CA, it will be much easier to transfer from your community college into a UC than anywhere including a CSU. </p>
<p>Go do well in a community college and get good grades so you can transfer… If you’re so smart, you would’ve applied to more/actual safeties, other than UCI.</p>
<p>Purdue is still accepting applications. They have a strong aerospace engineering program.</p>
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<p>I know you are upset at not getting into the school you wanted but that is the wrong attitude. Disparaging others and setting yourself above them is not the way to make yourself feel bigger. It just makes you look smaller. What would you think of kids who got in to UCI (or wherever else they wanted to go) heaping scorn on you because “they’re smarter than the kid who couldn’t even get in to UCI or (name of school here)?”</p>
<p>Go to Cal State Fullerton - you might like it and, guess what, you’re going to find out that you are not the smartest guy there. Your arrogance got you into this – any of the UCs are not safeties. Don’t let continued arrogance make it worse.</p>
<p>–K9Leader</p>
<p>“I know I am smart relative to community college kids and don’t want to go there”</p>
<p>Last night I finished a community college course. Out of 25 students who began the course in January, 3 were “traditional age” students - i.e. 18-20 years old, in college for the first time. 3 more were about 20-25 years old and finishing up their A.A. degrees. The rest of us were professionals who were either changing careers, or taking the course because career advancement required it. At least half of us could have taught the class had we been handed the textbook a week before the class. Which is not to say that the course was particularly “easy”, rather to say that the class was packed with serious learners.</p>
<p>If you really want to challenge yourself at your community college, go at night with the grown ups.</p>
<p>Most Aerospace Engineers actually take Mechanical Engineering as their major. Fullerton has that.</p>
<p>But is there anything else I can do to debate me getting into UCI?</p>
<p>University of North Dakota has a great aerospace program, the best program at that school. I belive they may still be accepting and it is not very challenging to get into.</p>
<p>You had a 3.8 GPA AND 1840 SAT AND YOU DIDN’T GET INTO UCI!!!</p>
<p>Why are colleges so competative!!! I was counting on UCI and other lower tier UC’s as my safeties but you’re brief academic stats amaze me…I would think you were a shoo-in for UCI, even UCSD and Davis!!!</p>
<p>Now I’m even more upset. It seems like everything I’m working for might just go down the drain. !!!</p>
<p>Can you post some more of your stats so we can approach your admissions appeal in a more hollistic view? Restate your unweighted GPA, sat score( breakdown into Critical Reading, Math and Writing) and other test information( SAT II, AP scores, etc.) and EC’s and your own personal assesment of your essays( good, bad, average…)</p>
<p>The guy above me seriously has a point. Sorry if it seems that we’re rubbing salt in your wound, but could you please clarify?</p>
<p>My SAT II were great. Chemistry 650 Mathematics Level 2 730 US. History 650. And I am full hispanic and technically (it can be interpreted as) I am first generation. I had EC’s, but they may have been seen as app boosters. It was all Down hill from there. I applied for Aerospace Engineering, if you read the fine print at what they look at in the application, it says emphasis on science and math. Science was good, math was horrible. I was at Calculus during junior year, but I had gotten a B, C, C, C during my Soph-Junior year for Trig and Calc. That killed me.</p>
<p>Does someone know if there is anyway to talk to UCI again to ask them to accept me? (they will probably rescind, since I have 2 D’s this semester after I am going to Community College)</p>
<p>I’m sorry you did not get in. You seem like a very geniune, humble, high achieving student with good dreams. I can understand the need to “not let down” community members. Despite a few academic blips, you should be very pround of your 3.8. That honestly is something very hard to maintain- especially with the many AP’s you are taking. College admissions is a very grueling, and often arbitrary, process. Essays and test scores can only go so far in revealing your personality, ambitions, and character. I think, perhaps something to keep in mind is presentation is really the key to winning the game. You have to expand, embellish and adorn your EC’s, your life experiences to really wow admissions counselors. Rhetoric and the way you present your application is really the key to winning their hearts. I can’t determine why you didn’t get accepted because I haven’t seen your application but I have a feeling you didn’t highlight yourself to the highest potential. Unfortunately, with admissions becoming ever increasingly competative, you have to pour heart and soul into perfecting every aspect of the application- not just GPA and test scores but treating every part as a crucial part of admittance- essay, EC list. Most high school kids don’t do amazing, out of the field ECs. And even those who do can make it seem insignificant if it’s not written well. Something as simple as collecting civil war figurines can be considered an EC- a very special and unique EC if you can pen it correctly.
I am not familiar with the appeals/rescind aspect of college admits so I would suggest you seek professional advice but from the flow of things, I don’t think UC Irvine admit is going to happen. But, I really think you should consider UC Merced- I would think that transferring from one UC to another would the way to go. You could always do CC for a year or two and then transfer- it’s fairly common actually.
If you do decide to attend CC, then cite financial reasons to community members and others as your reason for not going to a UC. Your college admits are your personal business and there is no need to tell the truth. Trust me. And I know a number of college students who have done CC for financial decisions- it’s a very realistic idea. I even knew a guy whose father was a top surgeon; the guy got into some very top tier schools but his father said why waste so much money on undergrad courses that you can fulfill at a CC without the pressure at a university? It was a very good decision because the guy wanted to do Pre-med and as you know, 2/3 of pre-med students drop out within the first year or so due to the high tension of such a field. But he was able to ease his way through the courses, slowly building htat pressure and getting a good feel for the subject. So, think of this as a very good thing! As a society we feel the need to get into a good unversity because of prestige and all those other factors that you had mentioned but CC is a great road to a wonderful career! As much colleges/universities may be for education and all that, they are also a money making business. There’s a reason why many, many universities don’t let students skip introductory college courses( if they have completed the corresponding AP course and recieved a 3/4/5)- it’s because they don’t want students to finish college in less than those four years- They lose money! So, in all aspects, I would full applaud your decision to attend a CC or UC Merced. Weigh your options and look at legit transfer options plans- don’t simply rely on College Confidential guidance!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Agrees with the guy above^</p>
<p>Frankly, and this really scares me, most of the people on College Confidential have GPAs, and especially ECs, completely out of the ballpark.</p>
<p>I was rejected at UCI and UCD with far better stats…though I am an international applicant. </p>
<p>SAT: M:720, CR:570, W: 650…1940
SAT II: M2:800, PH: 760, CM: 790</p>
<p>Is it that easy for cal residents to get into UCs. Had I received 1840 in SAT I would have never considered UCI/UCD as a safety. </p>
<p>BTW, Purdue has a steller AE program and it is much easier to get in. If you consider exclusively AE, purdue is far better than any of the UCs except UCB.</p>
<p>GoMiami-- had you applied in a different major, you might have been accepted. But those Cs in math look very bad for engineering. That’s not a fine print technicality; engineers have to be able to do math.</p>
<p>There are a couple of things you could do. Go to Fullerton, work hard, study, and become an engineer.</p>
<p>Or, if your heart is set on a UC, go to community college. Work hard, do well, and after two years, transfer. Stop thinking of community college students as stupid. I have an Ivy league degree and take classes at my community college just for fun. Some of my classes have been difficult, and many of my classmates, especially the older students, the internationals and the high school students with dual enrollment, are sharp as tacks.</p>
<p>The Purdue program is NOT an easy one for admissions. It is not difficult to get into Purdue as it has higher than a 80% accept rate, but that program has just a few seats and they fill up early. Back a few years ago, the deadline was Dec 1 for that program, and most if not all seats were filled on a rolling basis, so if you waited that long, it was possible that the program was already full. So I would be inclined to believe that there are no spots left at this time.</p>
<p>As others have said, you can work with what you have now. Do well in your engineering courses and take courses that are as similar as possible to the ones in your ideal programs and schools. I do not know how the Cal state school work regarding transfer, but usually even in systems that do not facilitate transfer, if someone wants a specific program that is not offered at the given school and has prepared for it and done well, there are possibilities that you can get in earlier. There are withdrawals from all programs, and they just might take transfers. You can also check out Purdue and other schools for next year too. But if Purdue is on your list, you had better get that app in early.</p>
<p>I agree with Cardinal Fang. You may want to be an engineer but, with those math scores, you may not have the aptitude for that. Also, with Ds in CC right now I am not certain you really want (or are able) to work hard enough to do well in engineering.</p>
<p>The lucky thing for GoMiami is that California community colleges already have articulation agreements with the UCs. That means s/he can take the lower level classes (Calculus, Physics, gen ed requirements) at the community college, in the sure knowledge that the credits will be accepted at a UC if he is accepted as a transfer student. California community colleges are specifically in the business of preparing students to transfer to UCs and Cal States. </p>
<p>GoMiami had better not be taking those Math and Physics classes with the attitude that they’ll be a walk in the park, though. Fang Jr has taken both an AP Calculus class and a community college Calculus class. The community college one was much harder and went faster.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad-- I read GoMiami’s comment about the D’s as that with the admissions disappointment, and learning that s/he will be going to community college, s/he is now getting D’s in her last high school classes.</p>
<p>So, if I’m right, there’s still time to go to community college and turn things around. With hard work and a serious attitude, s/he can transfer after two years.</p>