So I just finished the first marking period of my junior year, and I have all A’s and 2 B+'s in my classes. The problem is I’m only taking two AP classes for my junior year (APUSH and AP Comp Sci. Principles) and I really regret not taking more, as I know I can handle more. Will this lack of AP classes affect my chances at getting into a UC such as UCSD or UCSB? I plan on taking 3-4 APs for senior year, but i heard that UCs don’t even look at senior courses except to see if you’re slacking or not. Btw, I’m also an out of state student if that matters.
Yes. You must have a competitive application that is better than the in-state applicant.
Are your parents willing to pay the OOS fees for the UC’s?
You will be judged on the # of AP’s your HS offers and how many your fellow classmates take to be considered a rigorous schedule. If most of your classmates are taking the same load, then you should be fine. If not, then you are at a slight disadvantage. Your HS course rigor in Senior will be considered so continue to challenge yourself.
As an OOS applicant, UC’s only recognize AP/IB or Dual Enrollment courses in getting the extra honors points in their GPA calculation so your GPA may not be as competitive as some other OOS applicants. You could always take a Community college summer course or 2 to help with rigor prior to Senior year which would be included in your GPA calculation.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Just be aware the # of OOS/International students are now capped at all the UC’s, so the competition may be higher.
As stated above, make sure your parents can afford $60K/year for you to attend if accepted.
Best of luck.
i strongly discourage you from ruining your Sr year with lots of APs they are a LOT of work and you have many other things on your mind, competing for time and attention. Your grades will fall and/or it will impact your health…
When it comes to UCs, if you having a competitive GPA is their #1 consideration. SAT/ACT is second. If you are above the mid point for both and have decent essays, ECs, you can have a lighter course rigor and still be competitive. The hard part is having the competitive GPA. It sounds like you are in the high 3s which isn’t going to do it for the UCs you list.
If you can manage the workload, excelling in a couple of CC courses would help your competitiveness but, that’s no cakewalk and doing poorly could tube your chances altogether.
good luck
Why do you want to attend a UC from OOS?
Do your parents have 65k in a college fund for you (no financial aid)?
Yes the UC’s focus on 10-11th grade classes to decide your UCGPA and that GPA has preponderant importance inndeciding your admission.
As of the information your provided, it would seen UCs would not be the right choice for you since the elements that matter to them in deciding admissions aren’t highlighting your strong points.
If you have 60+k (or even 40k) look into Chapman, URedlands, St Mary’s of California, LMULA, ULaVerne, CalLutheran, as well as CPP and other CSUs.