Hey guys, I’ve really messed up my high school years, and my gpa is no where as good as I want it to be. I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer, and major in history in college at UCSD. But looking at my GPA i highly doubt I’d get into that school. I’m male, asian, and a California resident. I just need some help thinking of some colleges to research, and perhaps apply to next yr. I’m an upcoming senior, and will be applying after summer. In state or out of state suggestions are fine. I just really want to expand my knowlege on possible colleges, and give myself hope that I can still go to a good college. Thank you ahead of time!
My Total GPA is 3.96 weighted, 3.43 unweighted
My 10-12 GPA is 4.11 weighted, 3.41 unweighted
I know my GPA is not the best but I took a very heavy course load my junior year
AP Biology
AP English Language
AP United States History
AP Calc A/b
AP Art History
Spanish 2
I’m going to be continuing my heavy course load into my senior year, and plan on taking :
AP English Literature
AP Econ/Goc
AP Psychology
AP Enviornmental Science
AP Statistics
Spanish 3
I’ve only taken the SAT one time, and got a 2100. I’m not sure if I should take it again to try and do better.
My ECs are
2 years of Mock Trial, both years as Team Attorneys
3 Years of Model United Nations, and serving as Secretary General of the club
I was a part of the Constitutional Rights Foundation’s Peer Court Program (This summer)
A 3.96 is good. Are you one of those students that wants a 4.00?
It’s just attempting to apply for a UC my UC GPA was a 3.67, so I’m a bit discouraged.
Also my unweighted GPA is rather low, does that affect my admissions more even though I have a higher weighted GPA?
Most schools will look at the unweighted GPA. Otherwise it really tells them nothing. So what, you have a B+/A- average. Write a bang-up essay and find other university options. Plenty of students aren’t 4.0 students going into college. And what colleges know is that even a person with a 4.0 may not be successful at the higher level. I think if you get a healthy list of schools and really have good recommendations, a great essay, and a clear sense of reality, you’ll get into a decent school.
Are you looking for suggestions on where to apply? The key question is what can you and your family afford? Can you pay $55k p.a. x 4 years?
Second, what are your criteria for choosing schools? What about UCSD makes it your ideal school? That would give us an idea about kinds of schools might have similar characteristics. And use the college search engine here on CC as a starting point.
@NASA2014 that is a weighted gpa, I don’t think anyone goes for an even 4.0 for weighted.
@N’sMom UC are more like $33k instate and there is aid if you are under 80k income
OP, N’s mom makes a good point about why UCSD and what you are looking for in a college. You have good grades if not quite high enough to be considered a solid A student. Your Sr course load is a lot easier than your Jr one, so you should do well. However UC won’t usually see the grades for admission decisions, but other colleges that you apply to may. You should apply more widely within the UC system and add some CSU perhaps, depending on what your family can afford you can look at a lot of privates.