@youcee @MYOS1634 So to put it simply, if I only take 2 years of FL, and have a total of 10 APs/Honors courses from grades 10-12, I can basically say goodbye to any chance of getting into a UC school?
@uclafuture01 Absolutely not. However, when UCLA says 3 years of FL is ‘recommended’, that means that’s what they want to see. As for Honors classes, only UC approved Honors classes will count as weighted - for example, at our local school I think Honors Pre-Calc is the only one that fits that description. So don’t just assume because you are in Honors English or whatever that it will count as weighted by a UC. If you will have 9-10 AP/UC-approved Honors classes, your course rigor should be considered very good. That said, 3 years of FL will look better for you.
UC’s do not consider Senior grades for admission purposes, so unless you are considered a borderline applicant or receive a supplemental from the UC’s, they will not ask for any Senior year grades during their application review.
You only submit your final transcripts once you matriculate and have graduated HS.
The UC’s will consider all classes and grades from 9-12th grade to make sure you meet the a-g course requirements, but 10-11th grades are what are used for the UC GPA calculation. Senior grades keep your provisional admission once accepted, so doing well in your Senior year is important. You do self-report your Senior year classes and the UC’s do note if you are taking a rigorous schedule.
All the UC’s, use the UC GPA calculation with a capped weighted GPA of 8 semesters of Honors/AP/IB classes. UCLA and UCB also looked at uncapped weighted UC GPA, which is a benefit if you have taken more the 8 semesters of these classes.
@MYOS1634 I just saw your comment from quite awhile ago about Spanish 5-6 being more useful than APHUG. That’s very useful to me, so thank you. I also noticed you said the 3 core sciences is more important than APES. Does that mean even though Physics is a regular course, that I should take Physics instead of APES? Also, I know Teacher’s Aide is far less important than Spanish, but I really am committed to taking that class. Because I have to meet a Career Prep elective requirement before doing TA, if I want to TA, I’d have to take another elective besides Spanish. How much would it hurt me to take a year off of Spanish, and do none as a junior but 5-6 as a senior? Am I likely to struggle in 5-6 due to taking a year off?
@youcee looking at a sheet I got from my Guidance Counselor, all 28 APs/Honors at my school are approved by both UC and CSU, so my bases are covered there. I think Spanish 5-6 on top of APUSH, AP Lang, Pre-Calc Honors, and APES may be a bit too much work for me to balance. Would it be the smarter choice as far as what looks best on college applications to take APUSH, as it’s an AP, or to take 5-6 to get my 3rd year of FL?
@Gumbymom, Right now my plan for my senior year schedule has 3-4 AP classes. I know this will help me prepare myself for college courses for sure, so I’m going to stick with those. You said UC’s note if you’re taking a rigorous schedule - does that mean noted after choosing to accept you, or while still debating if they want to admit you? I heard that UC’s ask for the classes you’re enrolled in as a senior when you submit an application, but I’ve never applied since it isn’t time yet, so I don’t know if that is true? Also, will UC schools look at my cumulative GPA over grades 9-12 as well as just grades 10-11, or do they not look at cumulative at all?
@InamoratiAnon you mentioned my senior year AP classes should raise my GPA even higher, but how big of a factor is senior year to a UC school? Do they check cumulative GPA from 9-12?
Sorry, forgot you’re applying to UCs. Seeing as the application process is before your first semester grades are submitted, these schools will not take into account your GPA for your senior year. From my foggy memory, I believe you still tell them which classes you will be taking for your last year of high school, a factor that could be important to prove to admissions that you’re still continuing on a rigorous academic path. The years they focus on are 10-11, but you will still submit your freshman grades (they’re probably used to gauge what kind of trend you had within your GPA).
APUSH is a valuable class to take as it also can satisfy the American Institutions requirement at a UC. APES won’t satisfy much unless you’re a non-science major and maybe it would satisfy some breadth requirement. We learned it turned out to be fairly worthless.
As hard as some of the UCs are to get into, if you focus on just UCLA too much you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Go ahead and try for it, but don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Do your best and see where you end up getting accepted. You may find out the school(s) that accept you are a better fit than the one you think is the best…
I would do
Spanish 5-6
APUSH
AP Lang
Pre Calc H
Physics
Elective
That’s 3 weighted classes, 3 non-weighted
You can handle that, if you can’t you probably should look at a less selective school
I get it. Foreign language was incredibly hard for me. A 5 on the BC Calc exam was easier than a B in Spanish 3.
^ Looks like good advice.
You self-report all grades for all a-g classes and list your Senior year classes on the UC application. Upon review of your application, admissions will see that you are taking 3-4 AP classes which shows you have a rigorous schedule. UC’s will not look at your cumulative GPA, but what a-g classes you have taken and passed. 10-11th UC GPA is what they are looking at and if you check the UC Freshman Profiles on the UC website, the GPA posted is the UC GPA weighted and capped at 8 semesters of Honors points.
@VickiSoCal thank you! That definitely is something I can manage. So even though APES is at an AP, would it be wiser to take Physics instead? Or take APES junior year then Physics senior?
I’d like to go to UCLA, but I know that’s a very tough school to get accepted into, so I do not want to set my hopes too high. However, I’d very much like to attend a UC School. I’m going to be a junior this August, & these are the courses I’ve taken & plan to take.
Freshman Year: No APs/Honors offered.
I took- Drama, PE, Bio, Spanish 1-2, Geometry, & Advanced English.
Sophomore year: Spanish 3-4, Honors English, Algebra 2 Honors, World History (I opted out of AP Euro), PE, & Chemistry.
Junior year:
AP American Lang, APUSH, Math Analysis Honors (pre-calc), APES, Teacher’s Aide, Photography 1-2. Senior year I plan on taking: AP English Lit, AP Econ/Gov (the AP being 1 semester), AP Psychology, AP Calculus AB, Teacher’s Aide, Journalism.
So far, my cumulative weighted GPA is about a 4.2, so a 4.0 unweighted. I have about 120 hours of community service & plan on at least doubling that before I graduate. Assuming I can maintain As and Bs in all my classes, would this all look good to UC Schools? For A-G requirements I’m doing more than what’s required for math, social science, & lab science. I’m doing the minimum for foreign language. I’m concerned that the TA elective will look like I’m slacking off, but I’m hoping they’ll see it as a Pro that I’m using an elective to seriously help out a teacher, & I do wish to pursue a teaching career. So just to restate the question, would these courses look good to UC schools? Is there anything anyone would suggest I do more of, less of, etc?
The schedule in #50 is the best one.
Between apes and physics, which one would you be rather confident you can get an A in? Take that one junior year and the other senior year.
In all cases take Spanish, don’t go a year without it - if it’s hard now, it’ll be worse after a year off.
Also, you don’t want to leave a class you have trouble with for senior year as it might get you rescinded if your second semester grades drop (as happened to thousands of kids this year.)
Does your school offer AP physics 1? It’s an introductory Physics class that still 'counts ’ as an AP.
@MYOS1634 what you said about being rescinded actually never occurred to me - thank you for bringing that up! I’d be more likely to earn an A in APES than AP Physics, but the latter I can still take as a senior
Since your 11th grades count, take APES in 11th grade. Since for 12th grade what matters is course rigor and not getting a D, take AP Physics 1 in 12th grade. 
@MYOS1634 that sounds like a plan - thank you so much!
It was our experience that it’s okay to have the odd “B” on your transcript provided that over the course of high school you have no more than 3 or 4 as this would lead to a 3.9 GPA at most high schools. I’m sure there is some difference between students with 4.0 and 3.9 GPAs but below this level things can become problematic when applying to the top colleges