I need to get my act together...

If I maintain my 3.5 gpa throughout high school, will I be able to get into UCSB, University of Arizona or UW? (Regardless of SAT or ACT scores.) Just thinking about gpa. What are my reach schools??

Only about 12% of the UW admits have less than a 3.5 GPA, so that plan seems a bit dicey.

Do you know what they did to be one of those 12%… spectacular ACT or SAT scores?

Probably not.

Those 12% are probably disadvantaged socio-economically or have struggled with outside events that affect their school work (foster care, death of a parent, unemployed parents, homeless). And another group of those 12% are probably athletically talented and recruited by UW.

UCSB requires SAT/ACT scores, UC GPA: http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
(10-11th grades only)
Essays and EC’s as part of their application and admission criteria. Based on just GPA, probably not. UCSB also considers course rigor, so are there AP/IB or Honors classes in the HS schedule?
UofA and UW also consider all these items on their application. GPA alone does not guarantee admission.

UCSB: Reach
Average UC GPA for UCSB: 4.03 Unweighted GPA: 3.98
Average SAT/ACT score: 1925/29

University of Arizona- would be a Match
Average GPA unweighted: 3.37
Average SAT/ACT: 1620/24

UW: High Match/Low Reach
Average GPA unweighted: 3.76
Average SAT/ACT: 1810/28