Hellooo! So as the title says I have a (very) poor GPA of 3.6 in my junior year in high school, but I still want to become an engineer…Chemical and Aeronautical Engineering interests me the most. I live in Cali so of course I will be applying to all the UC’s. The only catch is that I have yet to take my SAT (which I am studying/going over like crazy!). I’m in an academy that’s called Space and Engineering at my school, but I don’t know how much that would help…All my EC’s are not related to engineering at all but that’s fairly only because there is nothing around me and the closest place would be about an hour away. What do you think my chances are into getting into UCs??
I don’t necessarily think a 3.6 is that bad, especially if that’s unweighted. However, if you’re finding the high school science and math classes to be a big challenge, you might want to reconsider engineering. You’ll get wrekd.
Not at all! I actually ace all science classes with A’s! Few exceptions in math, but I never got anything lower than a B in math!
The fact that you’re in a program called “Space and Engineering” likely means you’re pretty well off already. Here’s advice I wish I’d had when I was a high schooler…
First, the SAT/ACT will make or break you in terms of scholarships. No ifs ands or buts. If your SAT score (by the time your graduate) is less than 1300 out of 1600, you’re basically SOL. I had great extracurriculars, great recommendations, a 4.0, and lots of volunteer work. But without good SAT scores, I was locked out of any viable scholarship money. The most scholarship money I received from any university in-state was $3,000 for the first year only. When the total cost for in-state freshman year is upwards of $19,000+, that’s just not going to fly. I took to many resources such as fastweb, ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■, and even local scholarships. I applied to about 20 scholarships and won only $500 which was just one of them. Got $0 from FAFSA also. I never even took the ACT just because I was so busy building up the above parts of my resume because I was under the impression that those were much more important.
If your family has the money, take an SAT preparation class. The really thick official study guide is incredibly intimidating from the outside (just because of how thick it is) and I would only recommend it for the practice tests.
Something that would’ve also benefited me immensely was extra time on the SAT. I’ve always had problems with anxiety and processing speed, but it never really became a problem until I started university when timed exams were incredibly strict. In high school and the early parts of community college, the teachers and professors were always very nice and would let you come in to finish exams during lunch or something if you didn’t finish in the 50 minutes of class that we had. I always utilized that and never thought anything of it. Even our end-of-year state-tests were untimed. Once I got to a university though, I had a lot of difficulty finishing exams in the alloted time and would get incredibly poor grades. This even happened on the SAT in every section. Since then, I now have testing accommodations to ensure I have enough time to complete the exam. BUT, this is usually reserved for students with documented disabilities. Really evaluate your current situation right now: do you have difficulty finishing exams on time, or ever feel incredibly rushed? Do you have to reread material over and over again to really understand it? You might have an undiagnosed learning disability if so, and it’s important to talk to your family about it. Even if you scoff at the idea of even having anxiety, it’s A LOT more than just worry and stagefright. Hence it’s important to get help with it now ([I</a> know this firsthand](End of the Semester Health Problems - College Life - College Confidential Forums)). Or even a learning disability for that matter. Nobody has to know you get accommodations such as extra time. When I was in high school, I’d never heard of testing accommodations. But once I got to my university, THOUSANDS of students use them here.
Hope these help, if not you then someone else. Do NOT solely rely on what your parents, friends, or even your college counselor tells you. It happened to me and too many others in the top 5% of my graduating class that we all focused on the wrong things and garnered almost no scholarship money.
Here’s my two cents. I’m still going through the college application process, but GPA can only really be validated with a decent SAT/ACT score. That’s my opinion. Of course, different colleges will value one over the other or place equal importance on both. My best advice though…personally…I never really thought SAT prep classes helped me. They can to some extent. I’d say take a few here and there. Also, apparently Shaun Patel’s new guide is supposed to be good? I don’t know. I haven’t read it or looked at it. His 2400 one was a small little book that was rather concise, I think.
But moving forward, to prep for SAT, I’d say practice. And as cameraphone mentioned, speed is key. So the more practice you do, the more accustomed you become to problems and the faster you get. I think a good rule of thumb is to do a section of something every day! You can’t always take a full test (it’s not even really feasible timewise) so do that. Of course, you have to understand the material properly to get a good score. I think you’ll be able to prep well for the upcoming January one. Good luck!
If you’re worried about your GPA, then maybe you should try to apply to places where your GPA would be considered outstanding or good. You’re likely to get scholarship that way and you will definitely be accepted since the school rarely gets candidates like yourself. That’s the best way if you really are passionate about becoming an engineer and do not want to consider community college and then transferring to another school. I’m not too knowledged about all the UCs so I can’t exactly chance you for that.
UC’s have their own GPA calculation and you get extra points for UC approved Honors/AP/IB and DE courses. Here is the calculator: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Without test scores it is difficult to suggest target schools, so update when you have your scores.
For Engineering, you want to be above the averages for test scores and GPA for the best chances at the UC’s. I would look at the UC Freshman profiles for each campus to see where you fall.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Also only UC Irvine, Davis, San Diego and LA offer both Chemical and Aerospace Engineering.
I would also add a few CSU’s to your list as solid Match/Safety schools. San Jose, Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona offer both majors.
If you concentrate on one or the other, then there are more options available such as UC Riverside, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Berkeley, San Diego State, Fullerton, San Luis Obispo.
Do your best, take a rigorous course schedule, post your test scores and come back with your updates.
If the 3.6 was mostly AP and honors classes it won’t matter as much. UC’s only consider sophomore and junior year grades, so you have one more semester to improve that 3.6 As @cameraphone says, your SAT/ACT score will make a huge difference, especially for engineering where students tend to score well above average. In the past, STEM oriented students have performed better on the ACT than SAT, so you might want to try both and see which works better for you.
Set your target at 34/1500 to help make up for the GPA.
UC’s are very GPA focused, so if you are below a 4.0 Weighted/Capped GPA, even with high test scores, Engineering will be a difficult admit. Work on doing well Junior year and then see where you stand. The stats below are averages and do not take into account competitive majors, test scores, EC’s and essays but a good indication of your chances.
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79:
UCB: 2%
UCLA: 3%
UCSD: 6%
UCD: 11%
UCSB: 13%
UCI: 16%
UCSC: 47%
UCR: 64%
UCM: 80%
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:
UCB: 12%
UCLA: 14%
UCSD: 39%
UCSB: 49%
UCD: 52%
UCI: 57%
UCSC: 83%
UCR: 90%
UCM: 92%