The high school in our town only offers a limited amount of AP/UC Honors classes; in fact, three over the course of four years to be specific. How will this impact the chances of getting into a UC campus like Davis?
For reference, the only classes that are currently offered that are considered UC Honors courses are:
AP English
AP Statistics
Just asking because I see so many posts where an above 4.0 GPA seems to be the norm for acceptance at UC’s like Davis. I fully understand scores and EC’s count, too, but I’m just curious to hear from others that have experience with this type of HS background.
theoretically ,they account for that when evaluating your ap. If you are a CA HS student, and get near straight As and take the hardest curriculum available you should be OK. Remember, the UC and CSU GPA is capped with just 8 semesters of AP/Honors bonus points so, with 3/4 you are able to earn a 4.0+ so, you won’t be at too big of a handicap. I would caution though, Davis had a little over 68000 applicants this year. They physically can’t spend a lot of time on each ap. If your numbers aren’t competitive, it is hard to stand out.
UCs are tough to predict, be sure to apply broadly.
The school counselor should be able to give you an idea of what type of record has gotten students from that school into UC’s in the past.
UC’s and CSU’s are aware of the type of “Honors/AP” courses offered by in-state HS’s. If your local HS does not offer many of these type of courses, students will not be penalized since they cannot take courses not offered.
If students take the most rigorous HS course load available to them, then they should be fine when applying to the UC’s and Cal States. If an ambitious students wants to go outside their HS, then taking a few community college courses or on-line courses may make them standout but not necessary.