My own little UC miracle acceptance :)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
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<p>Just want to give a little bit of hope to all those future UC applicants out there.</p>

<p>I’ve always been a fairly average student. I never received any major awards, and I only took 1 AP class in my entire high school career, which is during my senior year. My UC GPA (10th-11th) is 3.19, 3.37 including first semester of my senior year. I scored an 1810 on my SAT, which isn’t really spectacular for UC standards nowadays. Obviously, when I applied to UC’s, I had little to no hope of getting accepted to any of them. I didn’t apply to Merced, Riverside, or any CSU’s for backup, so I was preparing myself to take a gap year after I graduate. Especially because a very small amount of people get accepted with my stats, and college admissions get more and more competitive every year.</p>

<p>Turns out, I got accepted to UCSC! :slight_smile: I know what many of you are thinking: “UCSC is a stoner school, it has very low standards, etc…” But believe it or not, there are MANY people with higher GPAs and test scores who didn’t get in. I also have a classmate who is the Senior Class Treasurer and has done far more extracurricular activities than me with a higher GPA, and she didn’t get into UCSC. And after doing a lot of research and looking into their academics and co-curricular activities, I think UCSC is a bit underrated. Besides, prestige shouldn’t always define the quality of your education or your college experience. It is what you make of it.</p>

<p>I think I got accepted because of the passion I expressed in my personal statement and in my application as a whole. I play the piano (I taught myself after discontinuing my piano classes), I love writing poetry, prose, and music, and I’ve participated in a good amount of community service. But I didn’t do it for the sake of getting accepted to college. I did it because I was purely interested in participating, and I gain gratification from helping others. </p>

<p>Is UCSC my first choice? No, because it isn’t close to home, but I wouldn’t mind going there. I’m appealing to UC Davis as well (I have legitimate reasons to appeal, not because I can’t handle rejection, btw).</p>

<p>What I’m trying to say is this: just because you aren’t class president, captain of a sports team, or leader of some club, and you don’t have 10+ AP credits and a 4.0+ GPA, it doesn’t mean you won’t get accepted anywhere. College admissions can be very arbitrary sometimes and statistics change every year. As long as you work hard, present your application in a way that shows there’s more to you than numbers, and you stay optimistic until the end, you’re going to make it in somewhere. </p>

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<p>Congratulations on your acceptance to UCSC! </p>

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<p>Congratulations on your acceptance. UCSC is a great school and has some very well recognized programs. It is also a beautiful campus- you will love it there!</p>

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<p>UCSC is definitely not a stoner school. Santa Cruz is a cool city and UCSC had a good rep. </p>

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<p>Thanks, everyone! It’s reassuring to know that UCSC isn’t as bad as everyone makes it seem. I did a lot of research and I know that I’d be happy going there :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Can anyone offer me a bit of insight into student life and living on campus? Just to give me a better idea of what it’s like, from a student’s perspective. :D</p>

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<p>My weighed gpa is a 3.0 not weighed is a 2.7. I have done no community service . I play the piano, cheerlead, played softball, did gymnastics, and swim. I am a sophmore in highschool. Do you think i srand a chance applying for ucsb. </p>

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<p>@miamia1998‌ If you want to major in the sciences/engineering, you most likely won’t get in with that GPA. If you get straight A’s your junior year, take a lot of AP/honors courses, start getting involved in clubs/community service, score really high on your SAT or ACT, and choose a non-impacted/competitive major, then maybe. I applied to UCSB as an English major, which isn’t really competitive, but I still got denied. However, if you have a compelling reason why your GPA is so low, you can explain that thoroughly in your personal statement and they might give you a chance. And keep in mind that UCSB (and pretty much every UC) highly regards the amount AP/Honors courses you take because it gives you honors credit and allows you to become a more competitive applicant.</p>

<p>It’s hard to predict how low UC acceptance rates will be 2 years from now. This year, the only campuses whose acceptance rates increased were UCD, UCSC, and UCR. And there’s no single factor that will get you accepted. Just keep working hard and stay focused.</p>

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<p>Congrats! UCSC is a great school. I regret not applying there. ^.^ I wish you the best of luck with Davis. </p>

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<p>UCSC is a great school, and you are hearing reports from idiots who undoubtedly didn’t attend. I don’t know why HS students have to reduce everything to crass stereotypes. It is a national research university with respected programs in a variety of areas. It is also a great size compared to other UCs. Enjoy it!</p>

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<p>I completely agree. UCSC is great. The campus is drop-dead gorgeous, with picturesque redwoods and fantastic view of the ocean. The school is highly ranked (86 in national universities and 36 in top public schools by the US US News & World Report). When I was touring the school, it struck me as having a kind of quirky, fun atmosphere. They have some great traditions there, such as painting the sea lion (their old mascot, before it got changed by the students to a banana slug) yellow. And their love for the banana slug is actually quite infectious.</p>

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<p>All of the people who I know that went to SC love it there. Grats!</p>