Increase Chances of Getting into UCLA

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi, here are some information about me, and feel free to share your experiences or ideas!</p>

<p>Asian; family income > $150,000; parents both went to college in Asia; I came here when I was 9.
(I am a JUNIOR right now)</p>

<p>High school rank in CA: top 5 (I don't want to give out the specifics) - Public</p>

<p>GPA (UW) = 3.65
GPA (W) = 4.1
SAT Reasoning = 2100
SAT 2 [Language] = 790
(I still have some APs and SAT2s to take)</p>

<p>FBLA (Business Law); Hip-Hop Club; Red-Cross; Swim team and tennis team (but not for school); Piano CM Advanced/10; 1st Place [Language] Composition.
(those are the main things, but not all)</p>

<p>I'm planning to...
- volunteer as a cabin leader for a week (80+ hours)
- do some tour guiding and etc this summer (my parents's company)
- try to get my GPA up a little bit
- write a bomber essay when the time comes :]</p>

<p>Should I...
- consider taking courses at a community college so that my GPA would be raised?</p>

<p>Thanks for reading through; please leave some ideas behind!
:]
- consider doing an UCLA summer program?</p>

2

<p>The most important thing at the UCs seems to be a maxed out UC GPA, class rank and your SAT scores, not to mention URM status (not applicable in this case). </p>

<p>I can't imagine that you would stand a less-than-solid chance (i.e. your chance is at least 50% if not 50<your chance<75% or so). If I'm not mistaken, students of a certain rank in CA public schools are guaranteed UC admission, no?</p>

3

<p>I just want to clarify, I meant that my school is CA top 5 :]
I don't know what my rank is, and personally, I don't think I'm top 4.</p>

<p>I know I have a "pretty" good chance, but I was just wondering how I can "increase" my chances. </p>

<p>Anyway, thank you very much :]</p>

4

<p>college courses show initiative, so if you have the cash, do it.</p>

5

<p>Look at your school naviance, it will tell you a little bit of where you stand. What is your UC GPA? If it's higher than 4.25 you have a good shot. UCs don't take into account your 9th grade GPAs.</p>

6

<p>consider that your SAT is exactly the average for someone who was admitted to UCLA</p>

7

<p>Yeah, I know, I didn't count my 9th grade GPA.</p>

<p>What is a "school naviance"? I've never heard of that before.</p>

<p>I know my SAT score is high enough... I'm just really worried about my GPA :/</p>

8

<p>Be very careful about taking community college courses because you think it will raise your GPA. The GPA issue is very complicated. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, downtown determines whether a course taken to complete a school requirement will be weighted or not in the GPA-- they have a complicated document that is dozens of pages long (no surprise there.) At my son's public high school cc classes do not impact the GPA except under very special circumstances. If my memory serves me correctly, the state decided not to weigh these courses because so many kids were taking easy cc courses to boost their GPA. So you should really talk to a counselor who you think really, really understands the whole system -- don't rely on a counselor at the college to know what your school will weigh or not weigh. Now, the UCs may weigh differently, etc. but in terms of your rank and high school GPA -- you need advice. My son took a cc class to fulfill his g requirement and it was not weighted in his gpa. It doesn't mean the colleges won't weigh it or factor it but his high school did not weigh it.</p>

9

<p>Second mimk6's advice. My daughter's GC explained that UC calculates your GPA in four different ways, none of which happen to correspond with how LAUSD calculates GPA. Your school district might be different, of course.</p>

10

<p>It's best to call UCLA and ask them that question.</p>