Hi so I live in California and want to go to a UC college in California.
UC GPA: 3.6
Sophomore year:
Precalculus A/A
AP European history B/B
Chemistry Honors B/C
English C/B
Spanish C/C
Photography A/B
Junior Year
AP Calculus AB A/B
AP Biology B/A
AP USH A/A
English A/A
Sculpture A/A
Spanish B/B
Senior Year
Math Teachers Assistant
AP Statistics
AP Gov/Econ
AP Physics 1
English
ACT: 33 composite
SAT II
SAT II Math Level 2: 770
EC’s
Swimming for all of high school. Varsity for all 3 years. Qualified for Central Coast Section for 2 years.
Swim for an all year round club team since 8th grade.
Swim for a summer cabana team since 7th grade. Volunteered as coach and taken up role as captain for cabana team.
I just want to know which colleges in California I should consider. I want to go to a UC but any feedback will work. Thanks!
Upward trend which is good but overall UC GPA is low for most UCS. Great ACT
UCSD: Reach
UCSB: Low Reach/High Match
UCD: Low Reach/High Match
UC Irvine: Low Reach (Values GPA quite a lot)
UCSC: Match
UCR: Low Match
UCM: Low Match
What majors are you interested in?
I’m still deciding on a major. Would you say this will come down to my personal statements? How would I be able to increase my chances?
@twoallee I say you nail your essays. Essays can and will be the make or break factor for admissions.
Please list your race and if you can, give us a general idea of what field(s)/major(s) you are looking at (even though you said you’re still deciding).
Anyway, if you aren’t an underrepresented minority, then your chances probably aren’t too good. You have a good ACT, but UC’s care a lot about GPA, which in your case isn’t too great. I’d say you have shots at UCR and UCM for the competitive majors such as engineering or something on the premed side with the rest being reaches, but please give us some more detailed information.
There’s a Find a College box above in CC.
Here’s a shortcut: http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/
(Wait a few seconds for the page to pop up)
It gives you which colleges “fit you the best” according to your GPS, ACT or SAT scores, majors, race, and etc.
Hope this was helpful 
UCB/UCLA/UCSD: Reach
UCD/UCI/UCSB: High Match/Low Reach
UCSC/UCR: Match
UCM: Safety
Depending upon your intended major, UCSC/UCM/UCR are your target UC’s. The mid-tiers could go either way depending upon your essays and EC’s. I would also suggest you apply to SDSU and CSULB as solid match schools. As stated in above posts, your GPA is hurting your chances but an upward trend and a very competitive ACT may bump up your chances. Good Luck.
@twoallee If you wrote really crazy essays that make officers then you could have a shot at Irvine Davis SB. I’ve heard that personal statements can be negligible or they can go a long way. If you think its a good investment to spend a bunch of time editing and writing killer essays, go ahead.