My chancs at the UC's?

Applying to College
1

I am a California resident and a first generation here. My parents have no high school education and I shall be the first attending a university in my family.

Schools: UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, UCI, UCSB & CAL Poly SLO

Grade 10:
English 2 (Honors) - B/B
Chemistry - C/C
French 3/4 - B/A
Geometry - B/A
Phys. Ed - A/A
World History (Honors) - B/A

Grade 11:
AP Environmental Science (Ecology) - A/A
AP US History - A/A
Algebra 2 - A/A
AP Biology - A/A
AP English Literature & Compositions - A/A
French 5/6 - A/A

Expected Grade 12 Classes:
AP English Literature
AP English Language
AP Physics AB
AP Gov’t/Econ
AP Calculus AB
Filler 6th period (ASB/Ceramics/Photo)

SAT II:
English - 800
History - 800

SAT I: Nov. 2005/ ACT: Oct. 2005

EC’s: Potential NHS Lifetime Member, Potential CSF Lifetime Member, 4 year member and president of Akasa Arai Hi-YMCA Club, President of Molokai Service Club, Vice-President of the Multi-cultural Diversity Club, 200+ Hours of Community Service, Founder of Project 9 (A non-profit organization created by me and some of my friends to help donate computer parts to third-world countries.), Battle for Los Angeles Film Production (We have won numerous awards in the county), Friday Night Live Secretary, Varsity Tennis Team Captain, Secretary of Future Business Leaders of America, Winner of Service Above Self award from the Alhambra YMCA, #995 Robotics Team Captain, Prexy Council & Inter club Board.

Overview: My grades have drastically improved after an incident where I felt that average grades only lead to an average life. It is completely evident that my grades are vastly improved from the terror of receiving my first C marks in chemistry during my sophomore year. I also do plan on taking some summer courses at PCC(not exactly sure which ones yet) and taking trigonometry during the summer to be able to have Calculus AB my senior year.

I’m not exactly sure where I stand. Everyone please answer honestly as I do not want to be awarded false hope.

Thanks in advance!

2

<p>If you are are a URM, by all means mention it, Cal especially is looking for more black students. You need a great essay. Your improvement is very impressive and should go over well. With a good SATI and your stellar SATIIs, I think you have a great chance at all below Cal and LA and a fair chance at those 2 with a great application.</p>

3

<p>Thanks! How would you rate my EC's? Should I try to balance it out a bit more with different types of EC's?</p>

4

<p>Ur gonna make it.</p>

5

<p>UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, UCI, UCSB & CAL Poly SLO</p>

<p>UCB = Match
UCLA = Reach
UCSD = Reach
UCD = Match
UCI = Safety
UCSD = Safety/Match
CAL POLY = Safety</p>

<p>but you should probably get into most of them...
a C will not kill you..
Your GPA is 4.5 Weighted.. right????</p>

<p>Thats the cap for UCs.. UCs dont consider Weighted GPAs higher than 4.5..
but the average for the top UCs is only 4.2, so ur fine no matter what..</p>

<p>ECs look nice!!</p>

<p>Note: SAT might improve or destroy your chances.. your 2 SAT IIs will help greatly though..</p>

6

<p>Nah weighted it is about 4.33 I believe.</p>

7

<p>If you are are a URM, by all means mention it, Cal especially is looking for more black students. >></p>

<p>By law, the UC's are not allowed to consider race in admissions. </p>

<p>To the original poster: I would suggest that you go to the UC admissions site, <a href="http://www.ucop.edu/pathways%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ucop.edu/pathways&lt;/a> and read all of the information there very carefully. If your SAT or ACT scores are comparable to your SAT II scores, you will be eligible for admissions from testing alone. That doesn't mean an auto admit to all of the UC's, however. So, be sure to read the details of how the UC's compute GPAs, including limits on the number of AP/honors classes that are weighted. Also, be sure to read the details of how points are awarded for comprehensive review. You will get extra points for being first generation college student and if you come from a low income family or a low performing school. If you had a long recuperation from your accident, or were disabled from it, that would also be extra points. Minority status will not be counted however.</p>

<p>The ACT, by the way, is given in September, which means you can, and absolutely should take the SAT in October. Do not wait until November. That way you always have November for a second try if necessary. I would NOT place all my bets on a single test sitting. </p>

<p>Good luck - looks like you have a solid shot, especially if your SAT/ACT scores are close to your SAT II scores.</p>

8

<p>I don't understand what the (g) requirement for the UC's are. Could someone elaborate for me or use some example classes?</p>

9

<p>Oh and if it helps here were my freshman courses:</p>

<p>Algebra 1 - C/C
French 1/2 - A/A
Health And Safety & Career Pathways - A/B
Phys. Ed - A/A
Biology - A/B
English (Honors) - A/B</p>

<p>I think I am missing my fine arts requirement which I shall probably take over the summer.</p>

10

<p>wait? cal = match ucla and ucsd = reach? O_O</p>

11

<p>Yes, by law the UCs can not consider race. So now they call it comprehensive review and take who they want on that basis. If you're a URM, mention it (in big letters!).</p>

12

<p>you have a good chance at getting into all the schools you're applying to. the only concern i have is your soph year grades. i hope they take into consideration that you improved. i had a friend who had awesome everything except soph year grades and couldn't get into berkeley, ucla, nor ucsd.</p>

13

<p>Yeah dude. If my sophomore year becomes the downfall of my college education at either Cal or LA I will seriously regret everything I have ever done during that year.</p>

14

<p>Well I don't think my sophomore years are completely terrible. They are still average in retrospect with 3.4-3.6GPA range. Plus I had two honors classes during that time AND I took the AP World History Exam which I am pretty sure I did well on.</p>

15

<p>Your sophomore year grades are one-half of the grades that the UC's will look at --- keep in mind that your "A" in PE will not be counted by the UCs, so take that into account in computing your GPA. Again, refer to <a href="http://www.ucop.edu/pathways%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ucop.edu/pathways&lt;/a>. IF you do as well on the SAT as you did on the SAT IIs, you will qualify under the testing option --- but if you don't, make sure you understand the combination of grades and test scores you need to be considered. Again, details above.</p>

<p>The "g" requirement is simple:you need another one year elective in one of the core classes (basically the a-f classes). However, do check to see which classes at your school have been certified as meeting the g requirement - not all do. You can find out which classes meet this requirement, and the others as well, for your individual school by doing a search at <a href="http://www.ucop.edu/doorways%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ucop.edu/doorways&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>Yes, you DO have to have a year of arts - can be studio art, art history, drama, music. It must be in the same subject and if you take it over the summer it must be the equivalent of a full year high school class - make sure to check that any classes you will take over the summer will meet this requirement.</p>

16

<p>So should I hope to be able to qualify under both the testing option AND the ELC option? I am sure that my school is under the ELC option.</p>

17

<p>Oh jeez when I re-calculate my GPA it seems that the honors courses I took during my sophomore year aren't worth the extra point. The combined total of my 4 semesters (Soph+Junior) is only 3.88 weighted. I feel terrible.</p>

18

<p>Oh and does it help that I am president of the senior council also?</p>

19

<p>uhhhhh....if you have a 3.88 weighted UC GPA, that really hurts your chances. Most weighted UC GPAs for LA and Cal are 4.0+. I know that URM status used to really help at Berkeley, but if you aren't socio-economically disadvantaged and went to a respectable high school, the URM status won't help you that much. Depending on the school, that <em>might</em> put you out of ELC. </p>

<p>Also, ELC doesn't really help that much. They only have slightly higher admit rates at Cal and Berkeley. By no means does it guarantee admission; that's only for UCR.</p>

<p>President of Senior Council DOES help, but...be aware that Cal is more academically-based than LA.</p>

20

<p>Actually I don't think I am ready for the brutal academic beatings that I am hearing about at Cal. UCLA is, to me, the perfect campus. It is close to home, nice atmosphere, and good city-like feeling.</p>