<p>I was reading in some threads that there have been people who had gotten into UCLA/UCB with a 3.2 GPA while others getting rejected with a 4.0 gpa</p>
<p>How is that even possible? how come someone with a 3.2 gets in, but someone with a 4.0 doesn't?</p>
<p>Do you know anyone?</p>
<p>Because UCB/UCLA have comprehensive review processes, so it’s not just GPA. It also has to do with your personal statement and any crazy experiences you might have had. </p>
<p>There are people who have gotten into UCB with 2.4 GPAs. Granted, they probably have letters of rec from Obama, but still. There’s no hard limit on GPAs for UC schools (well, you have to have a 2.0 I think but that’s it) </p>
<p>It also has to do with what major you apply for. If you’re one of 9 people applying for the major of East African language studies and you have a GPA of 3.4 while the rest of your competition has 3.2/3.3s, you’re looking pretty good. But if you’re one of the thousands who apply for business, you’re screwed barring something crazy like being the son of a donor/Senator or you have some rare experience like winning the Medal Of Honor.</p>
<p>Pretty sure minimum GPA is 3.0 not 2.0.</p>
<p>if you have a 3.2, youre probably not gonna want to be at cal/ucla…trust me</p>
<p>What grimes said is more rational and comprehensive way of understand the spatial aspects then over generalizing. There are discrepancies but there are people at many schools more interested into buying into a schools name rather than checking out different departments too I’ve noticed. There is also the issue of cheating which I feel isn’t enforced or punished enough but that is a whole other issue. </p>
<p>There are a percent of people who excel but also many with 3.3’s in college. A hard working student that actually studies and cares in what they are doing can still pull off completing their degree at UCB and UCLA. Sometimes that student may get a B here or whatever but at least they tried and that’s not bad at all in a actual difficult college classroom.</p>
<p>Yup. I know someone who got in with about a 3.3 GPA, no EC’s (unless they brought some up from high school, because they did not have ANY in college, I know that) to UCLA. They are a music history major. A small, small number of people applied for that major.</p>
<p>Many have already stated the reasons but someone with a 3.2 GPA might be:
I think another big issue is not completing prerequisites. Those 4.0s you mentioned were most likely missing prerequisites. In addition to missing them, I bet those applicants did not show planned completion of the courses.</p>
<p>For example Haas:</p>
<p>1542 transfer students applied.
Only 376 were deemed eligible.
Out of those 376 applicants, 105 were offered admission.</p>
<p>1166 applicants were deemed ineligible because they did not show planned completion of the admission requirements.</p>
<p>So now you can understand if you have two applicants. </p>
<p>Applicant 1: 4.0 GPA but failed to show planned completion of the prerequisites.</p>
<p>Applicant 2: 3.2 GPA with showing planned completion and has an extraordinary experience along with some great personal responses.</p>
<p>Therefore when decision time comes around Applicant 1 was deemed ineligible while Applicant 2 received some consideration. Because Applicant 2 received consideration, he/she might of been offered admission.</p>
<p>Source: [Class</a> Profile, Undergraduate Program - Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley](<a href=“Class Profile - Undergraduate Program - Berkeley Haas”>Class Profile - Undergraduate Program - Berkeley Haas)</p>
<p>I had a 3.2 GPA when I got into UCLA:</p>
<p>Major: Philosophy</p>
<p>All major pre-reqs completed.
66 Units.
IGETC Certified.
An abundance of extracurricular activities, but a big one was being president of the philosophy club AND founding it.
Strong personal statement
Strong upward (grade) trend</p>
<p>Oh, also, I took about five extra philosophy courses that were not required and had a 4.0 GPA in philosophy courses.</p>
<p>I was your average 3.3 for years but still the top schools (UC’s, LACs, Cornell etc) have all shown interest in me. A 3.3 is about the A/B cut off point which is still 89 percentile and a 3.2 88 percentile which is still a B+. I am above 3.5 but did complete 300 units</p>
<p>My EC’s which are all COLLEGE related
1 year of operating the student newspaper
2 years of student government (not club related)
2 years of internships i.e Stanford, NASA/Ames, ILM, USGS etc
1 year of Environmental Stewardship ; Crew to Leader
1 year of Forensics/state/national debate competition
1 year of Leadership Development courses/seminars/school trips etc.
1 year of intensive outdoor field studies and service
1 year of gallery/festival exhibition</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>i got into ucla for philosophy too! although it’s not that impressive when you consider that philosophy is one of the least impacted majors haha (the admit rate for 09 was like 70%) i had a higher gpa than you did (3.46) and most of the major prereqs done, and a strong background in philosophy composed of things i’ve read/learned on my own.</p>
<p>in reference to the OP, you can get into berkeley/LA with a lower gpa and an amazing story (homelessness, abusive family, orphaned, etc.) but chances are unless you have an extremely good work ethic you’d drop out anyway. It’s not necessitated though. One of my brother’s friends flunked out of Humboldt (a notorious stoner school) and graduated berkeley philosophy.</p>
<p>They may not allow it anymore but I use to sit in/audit UCB classes but also just sat in on some UCLA classes and took the exams for fun. I ended up doing better than the average student and had some teachers approach me rather confused. I thought I was going to get in trouble but they just allowed me to do my thing and left me alone. When California colleges starting having a major budget crisis at the same time wages plummeted due to illegal labor back in 2002ish I went into exile and protest. I approached and told the local governments that they can kiss my American ass and that I was no longer going to pay another dime towards property (I had my own house) or income tax ever again to the State of California or Feds if are allowing hiring of illegal labor. I’ve even gone to Sac and when witnessed bribery on the local level I went right up to high officials and ripped up my credit card, SS card and other documents right in front of a group of them. I told them back then that go ahead and try ignoring what I’m saying now because by 2008 your state and local governments will be broke for destroying a major part of your tax base. I conveyed very clearly that I decided to pick up the pen and camera as my weapon of choice instead of a gun. That until such issues are put back on the table I will never become a part of a corrupt welfare system, vote for them or pay property or income taxes. Hell, I even slept on UCLA grounds for nearly two years while attended SMC and UCLA classes and officials don’t even want to arrest me when realize how well spoken I am with federal and state laws, rights granted to me, and have no criminal record. Besides being orphaned, if someone like me can be homeless for 8 years and complete over 200+ units with a 3.7 GPA within that time span there should be little reason to me why someone with a home and family can’t.</p>
<p>^Truthfully that entire story would be 100x times easier to read if you used spacing and paragraphs</p>
<p>Truthfully, that story is 100x more entertaining if you imagine him wearing a tri-corner hat and speaking with a Foghorn Leghorn accent.</p>
<p>Although ripping up credit cards is an idea I can get behind.</p>
I just got into UCLA with a 3.2 GPA lol and I did not get a conditional acceptance. Trust me, it is possible. However, I I did get rejected by UCSD
Yes, I got into UCLA with a 3.1 GPA two years ago, and I was just admitted to David Geffen school of medicine. Someone said that you don’t want to be at UCLA or Cal with that kind of GPA, but I graduated UCLA with a GPA high enough to get me into medical school, so yeah. It’s all in the mind, and many people have obstacles that are in their way while at the community college. When they transfer, they usually get away from those demons and excel. This is what happened with me.
@guitarfrk123 Why is that? Please, do tell. @UCLAFFF You ARE AWESOME. I’m on the same boat, and your comment just gave me some reassurance. Thank you.