Hello!!
I’m a current senior in California, Asian male.
My 10-11 gpa is only a 2.7w and I know UCs want at least a 3.0, would applying just be a waste of money? I’m looking at Davis and Irvine (my sister goes to Irvine). My ACT is a 33 C : 35 E 27 M 36 R 35 S. I’m retaking it again in December to try for a higher math score (already signed up). I’m looking to major in English or Literature and my ECs are English skewed. My overall gpa is 3.0 W and I’m taking 3 APs, Spanish 4, and Lab Technician this year.
Backstory: My school is a ■■■■■■■■ and I’ve faced a lot of adversity; I attend a large public high school. We had 7+ English teachers leave just last year, and that’s just one department example. (One was arrested for attempt to have sex w/ a minor lol). We also had a complete roster change in assistant principals. There are like 5-6 new ones this year.
Sophomore year my Spanish 2 teacher like refused to grade my work so I had to take the issue up to the president of the Board of Trustees and she made the superintendent investigate. Lots of other students came forward with complaints and she was fired. But all my work was left ungraded because she was fired so I ended w/ a B+ in that class. And then to make matters worse my World History teacher inputted my essay final as a 0, which was odd because I regularly got A’s on my essay tests. So I emailed him and CC’d the assistant principal asking why this was so. Summer goes by and NOTHING. I end the class with a B+. I visit my counselor first thing when Junior year starts and she tells me that the assistant principal who used to work at my school no longer works there anymore, so my case goes cold as the teacher won’t respond to emails. These are just two incident examples, I’ve had many awful teachers and maybe like 2 good ones but they were my freshman year teachers. My counselor is no better either; I wanted to take Spanish 3 Honors but she told me I “couldn’t handle it” even though I got a B+ in Spanish 2. This year I tried signing up for AB Calc but she wouldn’t put me into it. She said I needed to have taken Analysis, but at my school Analysis is only the prerequisite for BC Calc. The AB Calc Class is comprised of 80% precalc kids. I took this up with the principal and he took her side.
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So, thank you for listening if you read this far. Is it worth it to apply at all?? I was hoping that my ACT could make up for my dismal gpa but if the prospects are nonexistent I don’t think I’ll bother applying.