Modest student - Chance me for UCs

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Erm, I apologize in advance if I do this incorrectly ... I'll probably post another thread soon after this in case I didn't do this properly. I've only read a few threads since I got here... one of my main concerns is getting a C (79.02) in a regular, yes regular Precalculus class first semester... and it's really stressed me out because I know this will definitely be a tainting factor on my apps :[</p>

<p>Class: Junior
Location: Ca.
Sex: M
School: One of the top public schools in Ca. & the nation, we were ranked recently 180-something out of 1,000 top schools in the country (public)
Ethnicity: Asian (yeah that really helps these days xD)
SAT I : pretty low, 17 something, obviously retaking in hopes of 2000+; note I'm going to actually stay focused and work for a decent score this time, I know it's my last chance
I also took a practice ACT and scored 26ish going in cold but I doubt reverting to the ACT is gonna help much anyway, so I'm sticking to SAT
SAT II: took us hist. in may, 720; taking my second one in bio this coming Saturday (June 7)
AP Scores: obviously don't know yet, but I'm pretty sure 5 on apush, 4 on bio</p>

<p>*Freshman Year
First Semester & Second Semester Both
(Summer): Health - A (one semester)
Journalism 1 - A/A
English 1 Honors - B/B
Geometry - B/B
Biology 1 Honors - A/A
Spanish 1 - B/B
PE Band - A/A
Creative Writing - A (one semester as elective)</p>

<p>*Sophomore Year
(Summer): Chemistry -B/B (both semesters; was a pretty rigorous summer class, even for a "regular" course)
English 2 Honors - A/A
Algebra 2 - A/A
World History Honors - A/A
Spanish 2 - A/A
PE Band - A/A
Journalism 2 - A/A</p>

<p>Second semester was again, exactly the same for this particular year</p>

<p>*College Course (spring, one-semester class offered through a local community college on our campus)</p>

<p>Intro Sociology - A</p>

<p>*Junior Year (current one, this is where it gets shaky)
(Summer) Spanish 3 (offered through the same local community college): A
English 3 Honors - B
Pre Calculus - C
Biology 2 AP - A
US History AP - B
PE Band - A
Journalism 3 - A</p>

<p>*Senior year, planning on taking 4 APs and continuing with Journalism 4 </p>

<p>Overall so far (excluding second semester Junior year)
Acad GPA (9-12): 3.62; 3.99
Acad GPA (10-12): 3.71; 4.06
Acad GPA (9-12): 3.67; 4.04</p>

<p>I know -_- I pretty much screwed up Junior year, but it seemed like I was focusing in on my APs and slacking a bit (even though I'm only taking 2 this year)... the downward trend is certainly not going to help me, but I need anyone reading to be brutally honest and say what you have to in order to suggest something...hopefully my freshman grades won't discredit my overall too much, seeing as I heard somewhere that they look at 9th grade grades but don't count it into gpa. I'm planning on retaking SAT I as i mentioned earlier next fall (studying over summer) and raising my GPA with this semester's estimate of 3 A's and 3 B's (which is still disheartening) </p>

<p>*ECs (sorry if I sort some things that aren't supposed to be in here)
Tutor local underprivileged children through a volunteer service offered
Journalism 3 Editor --> editor next year as well hopefully
Also volunteer through a summer program to help disabled kids
Club secretary for a literary magazine
Won awards, just none very relevant for apps most likely</p>

<p>^I'm probably missing stuff (or so I'd like to think anyway lol) </p>

<p>If you have any questions regarding my courses next year or anything I might've left out please let me know </p>

<p>Schools:
UCSD
UCSB
UCLA
UC Berk
UCI</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>anyone have advice/comments/etc. anything would help and chances at the schools listed …</p>

3

<p>Remember that UCs take only 8 extra points from AP and honors, and that they dont count Sophmore Eng H as 5 points for an A. Not sure how you calculated your GPA, but at a 4.06, that’s pretty damn good. Your SAT is low for these schools so work on that. But I would say</p>

<p>UCI- match
UCSB- match
UCB- far reach/ reach
UCLA- far reach/ reach
UCSD- reach</p>

4

<p>Since the UCs throw out the freshman year grades for GPA purposes and won’t count the PE scores, and limit your honors courses to 8 semesters, I have your UC GPA at 3.9545. However, since you also took 2 college courses in your sophomore and junior years and got 2 As, that’s the equivalent of moving your average up to at least 3.96 and possibly 4.00.
However, 1700s is below average at all the UCs you’ve listed here. I’m going to presume you can get your average up to at least 1800 (remember they take the single sitting score, though–so you have to improve in one area, but not drop in the other to have the increase count in your favor).</p>

<p>Based upon this, and your test scores and extracurriculars, I rate your chances (in-state at all these schools) as follows:</p>

<p>UC Berkeley (Cal)–Reach
UCLA–Reach
UCSD–Slight Reach (need about a 1930 single-sitting SAT to get in here)
UCI–Match
UCSB–Match</p>

5

<p>Thanks for your responses. 3.96 W gpa is an eyesore -_- </p>

<p>Yeah, hopefully my SAT score will improve significantly … </p>

<p>And Calcruzer, can you please clarify: </p>

<p>“(remember they take the single sitting score, though–so you have to improve in one area, but not drop in the other to have the increase count in your favor).”</p>

6

<p>This is off topic, but admittance to Cal schools is rough. I couldn’t imagine having to grow up in that academic environment.</p>

7

<p>For UCSD and UCD, make sure you know their point systems well and pay attention to the volunteer hours. I you have 100 hours from 9-12 that gives you 150 points which is equivalent of 150 points increase in SAT scores.</p>

<p>UCD
[Freshmen:</a> Application Criteria for Selection Process](<a href=“http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/admissions/fr_selection_process.cfm]Freshmen:”>Freshman Application Tips | UC Davis)</p>

<p>UCSD
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-san-diego/120289-what-point-system-ucsd-uses-admission.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-san-diego/120289-what-point-system-ucsd-uses-admission.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>Goot31, I never thought about it as being particularly back-breaking or anything, but I understand where you might be coming from. Maybe it’s because I go to a pretty competitive school and take the lower-tier UCs for granted at times >.<</p>

<p>Columbia_Student, I appreciate that comment… I never knew a translation like that even existed (I’m still skeptical) … and yes, I have around 100+ if not more already . </p>

<p>And in general, don’t UC schools heavily base their admissions off of GPA/SAT scores? I heard that when they review your application, it gets placed into the “yes”, “no”, or “maybe” category solely on the basis of GPA/specific academic info… and they only look at your ECs if the app is placed in the “maybe” category… maybe I’m naive and that’s how ALL application processes carry out?</p>