<p>UC Irvine is my dream school. With that being said, I felt a great increase in pressure today as many seniors at my high school were rejected from UC Davis. This may not be surprising to some of you, but I attend a high school with an infamous reputation for academic excellence. Having a 3.0 GPA is an unforgivable sin. Also, with constant news of dropping percentages of admittance and increasing difficulty of acceptance, I am nearly on the verge of tears.
But I also feel that many users on College Confidential are very experienced in terms of things relating to colleges and such, so I ask those who have the knowledge to consider my situation.</p>
<p>I am junior in high school. If I am able to receive straight A's second semester, I will have a 3.7 weighted GPA (sophomore and junior year grades only). I have taken the SAT Reasoning Test once, and scored a 1820 without studying. I am retaking it this Saturday, this time with preparation. I have yet to take any SAT II's, but am considering U.S. History and Math II. As for senior year courses, I plan on taking AP Biology, AP Statistics, AP Gov/Econ, Contemporary Literature/Writing, Studio Art, and possibly French 4 Honors. Besides those 3 APs and 1 Honors courses, I have only one other Honors course that I have taken: Physics Honors, which I am taking this year. I made a mistake of not challenging myself more while choosing courses for junior year, but because my high school is so competitive, the students are not given a large variety of AP and Honors courses.
I know that colleges look at prospective students' transcripts, and unfortunately, I believe mine is faulty. My freshman year grades were pretty below average due to the fact that there were some personal troubles at home. First semester, I had a 3.333 GPA. Second semester, 2.8333 (I received a C in geometry enriched... eff). My sophomore year wasn't too great either (3.4 and 3.6). But I was kind of improving... First semester junior year, I got a 3.67, but got a C in Physics Honors because physics just really isn't my thing. This worries me a lot. This semester so far, I have all A's, and plan to keep it that way.</p>
<p>Aside from the GPA and SAT...</p>
<p>ECs:
Vice President of Civic Consciousness for DECA (business/marketing club)
CSF
Youth Action for Kids
Pre-med Club
Volunteer at the Tech Museum of Innovation (150+ hours by this November)
Legislative council at school
was a part of Students for Barack Obama (helped his campaign)</p>
<p>I am looking to do the following my senior year:
Start a club
Join the social committee
Become a Link Crew Leader (freshmen guides basically)</p>
<p>And I know quality > quantity... But I actually am/was genuinely interested in all of the above.</p>
<p>As for showing my undoubted interest in UCI, I have already taken part in their Stay Over Program, where you stay with a freshman in his/her dorm and follow him/her to class for a day (wish I could have stayed longer)... This second visit to Irvine (I took a tour of their campus the summer before sophomore year) only confirmed my undeniable desire to attend.</p>
<p>The basic question is: Do you think I have what it takes to be accepted for Fall 2010? Is there anything I can do to up my chances or impress the UCI admissions department?</p>
<p>I apologize for the long ramble, but this is very important to me...</p>
<p>Thank you so much!</p>