Need Advice on how to maximize my changes into getting in (long read)

Applying to College
1

<p>My family moved from Northern California to Southern California this year (junior year). These were grades from my last school. </p>

<p>GRADE 9 </p>

<p>Semester 1:
French 2 A
Literature/Write A
Geometry Enriched B
Biology A
Computer Programming Java A
PE 9 A</p>

<p>Semester 2:
French 2 A
Literature/Write A
Geometry Enriched A
Biology A
Computer Programming Java A
PE 9 A</p>

<p>GRADE 10
Semester 1:
Robotics A
French 3 A
World History A
World Literature A
Algebra 2/Trig A
Chemistry Honors B
PE Basketball A</p>

<p>Semester 2:
Robotics A
French 3 A
World History A
World Literature A
Algebra 2/Trig A
Chemistry Honors A
PE Basketball A</p>

<p>I obtained my transcript from the office a couple days ago and this is the calculated GPA they had for me:</p>

<p>Acad GPA 3.9091
Acad GPA 3.9167
Total GPA 3.9231</p>

<p>These are incorrect as my new school doesn’t recognize my honors class as a GPA awarding class. If the honors classes are incorporated on the 5 point scale, my GPA will be a 4.04. My class rank at my new school is 71 of 767. My rank has been hurt by their failure to recognize my chemistry as honors. In addition to that, my former school was not only much harder, there was only one GPA raising class you could take in Sophomore year and none in Freshmen year. Would I let the colleges know this in my application? I have already talked to a counselor and they said there is nothing they can do about it as they don’t recognize chemistry honors as an approved class.<br>
This semester at my new school, I took 3 AP’s and 1 honors and will almost definitely get straight a’s this year. I will have a 4.67 each semester. This will obviously help my class rank and my GPA. I tried to calculate my overall GPA from my grades from both schools and I got a 4.2 as my answer. That seemed a bit low. I’d appreciate it if someone could direct me in how colleges calculate GPA.</p>

<p>My EC's are quite weak:</p>

<p>Freshmen Year- As a freshman, I really didn’t have EC’s in mind as I didn’t think they were important for colleges</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
French National Honor Society- picture not in the year book; was not really involved.<br>
Robotics Team- Badly managed so we ended up placing last. I only put minimal work toward building the robot as I was a rookie and could not really do anything
Interact- Nationally recognized club. Did about 35 hours in total. </p>

<p>Junior Year
Computer Science Club- Weak club, going nowhere
Key Club-Only 8 hours per semester </p>

<p>I have tried to join NHS but they rejected me for a very stupid reason (They said as a new student I would not be able to fit in the club properly). I am currently studying SAT right now- hoping for a 2300 +, but it’s obviously not that predictable. I will find a local volunteer job soon, most likely in a hospital, library, or tutoring kids at a community college.<br>
I need to know what else I can do to get into a top UC, such as LA or Berkeley. </p>

<p>Any help is appreciated. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Congratulations on a superb performance to date. Don’t sweat the NHS thing – it’s fairly commonplace. Kinda like being on the Honor Roll. Pick a job that you’ll enjoy, not just because it makes you seem more kind/loving/involved.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the encouragement although it is fairly obvious almost everyone trying to get into top UC’s has the same grades as me. As for the volunteer work, I will pick what I like most. </p>

<p>Anyone else willing to share some advice?</p>