Non-Traditional student applying to UCs + Others

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics
Independent California Resident for 2 years, attended multiple HS up until 11th. Obtaining GED this year. Asian Male, 20, First-Gen, applying for fin aid.

MODERATOR NOTE: This poster has already been questioned about the veracity of this post and I was satisfied with the explanation, so please don’t flag.

Intended Major(s)
Business/Econ
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.86
    UC GPA: 4.19 Capped? 4.64 Uncapped
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): N/A / A=4.0 A-=3.7 B+=3.3…
    My multiple mid-year moves makes it a bit unclear.
  • Class Rank: N/A

Coursework
APs + Exams Taken:
English Language and Composition
Human Geography
Psychology
Spanish Language/Language and Culture
U.S. History
World History: Modern (formerly World History)
All 4’s and 5’s
Awards
Questbridge Finalist
AP scholar with distinction
Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

Founded and operate a transportation company. Oversee contractors/handle finances, dispatching etc.

Opened a local ethnic grocery store and kitchen side by side. I ran this solo working around 80hrs+ per week.

Led a collectible investment group which focused on collectible/rare items+comics, retail products, and trading. Generated 1m+ recorded profits across the group. Worked with devs and collectors from all over the world.

Work Experience
Worked as a hotel front desk manager and as a manager at a salon during HS years.

Volunteered as the head teacher for a summer in my native city. Funded school supplies, bikes, and lunches for the students for the school year.

Founder of my HS Philosophy + Astronomy Club.

Participated heavily in a local board of education campaign. Voiced student concerns. Canvassed/Cold Called, Handled Parent-outreach.

Volunteered at Temples, Soup kitchens across the country. Hosted lunches. around 500hrs~

Marching Band/Winter Percussion. Few years dedicated. Had a solo, made nationals.

SADD club historian

Additional info:
Faced homelessness throughout my HS years.
Did not complete 12th due to financial responsibilities
I spent the time working long hours under the table and the businesses mentioned above.

Made a mistake in my UC app which has me not meeting the A-G requirements for science. I am unsure if this deems me ineligible or significantly impacts my chances.

Essays/LORs/Other
My PIQs for UCs were detailed and delved into the gaps in my education, my struggle with homelessness and independence at a young age. Some focused on my ventures into business etc.

LOR: I have not requested any, but I doubt they would be great considering I’ve been out of school since 2019.

Cost Constraints / Budget
I applied in-state to keep my costs low. I am willing to apply out of state as well.

Schools
Applied to all UCs so far.
Will be applying to Claremont, Pomona, USC.
I am looking for additional schools to apply towards as well as non-traditional friendly schools such as Columbia GS.
Please suggest good matches/reaches!

4

I’ll tag @Gumbymom @blossom and @DadTwoGirls to see if they have any advice.

5

I will start off by saying you make for an interesting applicant with a competitive profile and real world experience.

One issue that you have addressed is the lack of reporting a Science course to meet the minimum requirements and since UCB and UCSB do not accept updates, this could be an issue which has been addressed in your other discussion and hopefully will be resolved in your favor.

Here are the UC 2021 admit rates based on the Capped weighted UC GPA and not major specific. 2022 data should be available end of January/Early February but this at least gives you an idea of where you stand. Economics or Business for many of the campuses is a popular/high demand major so the admit rates will be lower.

Campus 4.20+ 3.80-4.19 3.40-3.79 3.00-3.39
Berkeley 30% 11% 2% 1%
Davis 85% 55% 23% 10%
Irvine 60% 31% 14% 1%
Los Angeles 29% 6% 1% 0%
Merced 97% 98% 96% 89%
Riverside 97% 92% 62% 23%
San Diego 72% 25% 2% 0%
Santa Barbara 73% 28% 4% 1%
Santa Cruz 91% 81% 46% 9%

For UCB, Econ/Business is in the College of Letters and Sciences which requires you select Econ as your 1st choice major since it falls under the High Demand category. Here are the UC fully weighted GPA admit ranges for the last 3 years for the College of L&S:

College of Letters and Science

High School GPA Applied Admitted Admitted % SIRed Yield %
0-3.599 24,253 228 0.94% 212 92.98%
3.600-3.799 16,840 359 2.13% 261 72.70%
3.800-4.000 38,157 2,083 5.46% 1,173 56.31%
4.001-4.199 34,163 3,030 8.87% 1,682 55.51%
4.200-4.399 43,784 8,088 18.47% 4,014 49.63%
4.400-4.599 35,149 10,065 28.64% 3,984 39.58%
4.600-4.799 18,798 6,268 33.34% 1,841 29.37%
4.800-5.000 9,703 3,156 32.53% 705 22.34%

Your fully weighted UC GPA puts in range of an acceptance but UCB should be considered a Reach school.

UCLA does not have a breakout of their admit rates by major but the College of L&S had a 10% admit rate for Fall 2022. Admissions | UCLA Academic Planning and Budget
UCLA is a Reach school.

UCSD admits into the University first and then into the major. Economics is one the top 5 most declared majors at UCSD. Admit rate of 23.7% overall with a UC capped weighted GPA range of 4.12-4.30 makes UCSD a Reach school but attainable.

UCI admits into the University first and then into the major. Business Admin had an 8.8% admit rate for 2022 and Business Econ had a 17.5 % admit rate. Business Admin would be a Reach but Business Econ looks more realistic.

For UCD, Econ or Managerial Econ are both selective majors. The admit rate to the College of L&S for 202 was 37.9% so I would say with your profile that UCD is a good target school.

For UCSB Economics, you start off has a pre-major and must meet GPA requirements for the pre-req courses to declare. The College of L&S had a 27% admit rate of 2022 with an average UC Non capped fully weighted GPA of 4.40. UCSB is High Target/Low Reach school.

UCSC had an admit rate of 59.9% for Economics in 2021. 2022 numbers are not listed by suspect slightly lower admits. That said, UCSC looks like a solid target school.

UCR had an admit rate of 67% for Pre-Business Admin for 2022. I would say a Likely school.

UCM had an admit rate of 78% for Economics 2022. UCM is a very likely school.

Since you are a CA resident, I would have applied to a couple of Cal states known for very good Business schools such as Cal Poly SLO, San Diego State, CSU Fullerton etc… but the deadline has passed for several of the top CSU’s. Here is a list of CSU’s still accepting applications but majors are limited. Application Dates & Deadlines | CSU

I believe you will do well wherever you land and best of luck.

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6

No matter where you go, it is apparent that you have the drive and determination to be successful. Thus, you want to make sure you go to a school that will cost you as little as possible.

In addition to the schools you’ve listed, I would consider:

  • Community college for two years and then transfer to a UC. California has some well-designed pathways for this, and if you use a school that has a TAG option, then you’re guaranteed admittance to the UC that community college is affiliated with. (Please correct me if I’m wrong, @Gumbymom!)
  • Your local Cal State option. If you’re near Stanislaus, San Marcos, or San Francisco State, even better, as those are some of the top-performing campuses for social mobility (source).
  • U. of Arizona: Your GPA can probably get you a very big merit aid package here; if you’re eligible for a Pell grant, then this might be an option as well. Very well-reputed honors college here, too.
  • U. of Utah: It’s a WUE school and it’s easy to get in-state status after a year. Well-reputed honors program here.
  • Western Oregon: It’s a WUE school and I think you’d be likely to get merit aid as well. It is a top performer for social mobility, too.

Then we have the west coast private schools. I’ve sorted them by what their price is likely to be (based on an income of $30k or below). All of these schools, apart from Stanford, are need-aware, so that may impact your chances of acceptance. However, you have a compelling story with a strong academic performance that may well get you accepted. Make sure to run the Net Price Calculator at each school. If it asks for your academic stats, then the net price is likely to include the minimum amount of merit aid you might expect.

Tier 1 (about $1k or less)

  • Stanford – need-blind
  • Pitzer (CA)

Tier 2 (about $10k net cost)

  • U. of Puget Sound (WA)
  • U. of the Pacific (CA)

Tier 3 (about $13-15k net cost)

  • U. of Redlands (CA)
  • Occidental (CA)
  • Whittier (CA)
  • Whitman (WA)
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Just for posterity, I wanted to post this information so people can see how important it can be to run net price calculators and not just look at what percentage of need a school meets. A school calculates what a student needs, and some schools are more generous in defining that need than others.

For instance, Occidental meets 100% of need, yet the net price for families earning less than $30k is more than $4k higher than at U. of Puget Sound, which indicates that it meets 88% of need and about $3500 higher than at U. of the Pacific, which indicates that it meets an average of 71% of need. Pepperdine says it meets 76% of need, but it costs nearly 3x as much as U. of Puget Sound.

OP, I posted this on your thread because this was research I was doing to see which options might be best for you from a financial perspective.

  • Loyola Marymount (CA): on average meets 70% of need; net price of $28,383 for $0-30k and $22,329 for $30-48.

  • Occidental (CA): on average meets 100% of need; net price of $13,983 for $0-30k and $13,285 for $30-48k, and $14,770 for $48-75k.

  • Pepperdine (CA): on average meets 76% of need; net price of $28,304 for $0-30k and $26,285 for $30-48.

  • Pitzer (CA): on average meets 100% of need; net price is $985 for $0-30k and $4,759 for $30-48k.

  • Santa Clara (CA): on average meets 89% of need, net price of $23,618 for $0-30k and $27,708 for $30-48k

  • Stanford (CA) – need-blind and meets 100% of need; net price is $0 for $0-75k

  • U. of the Pacific (CA): on average meets 71% of need; net price of $10,439 for $0-30k and $13,200 for $30-48k.

  • U. of Puget Sound (WA): on average meets 88% of need; net price of $9,749 for $0-30k and $12,232 for $30-48k.

  • U. of Redlands (CA): on average meets 83% of need; net price of $13,981 for $0-30k and $12,984 for $30-48k.

  • U. of San Francisco (CA): on average meets 71% of need; net price of $30,235 for $0-30k and $30,787 for $30-48k

  • Whitman (WA): on average 94% of need met; net price of $14,774 for $0-30k and $18,861 for $30-48k.

  • Whittier (CA): on average 82% of need met; net price of $14,301 for $0-30k and $13,280 for $30-48k.

  • Willamette (OR): on average 75% of need met; net price of $25,081 for $0-30k and $24,078 for $30-48k.

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8

A couple of questions:

You write that you’re an “Independent California Resident for 2 years”. How many of your high school years were in CA? You also wrote that you’ve been out of school since 2019, which is three years ago - it’s important for calculating weighted GPA for UCs. Have you recalculated your UC GPA?

Also, could you clarify your age? You write that you left high school during your Senior year. If you were a senior in 2019, that would mean that you’re either 21 or 22, so I assume that the “20” was a typo.

This is important since, if you have been independent for the past two years, and you’re 21 or older, that means that you only have been independent since you were 19. Unless you were legally emancipated before your 18th birthday, you are required to provide financial info of your parents if you want to be considered for financial aid. Will you be able to do so?

FInally, since you took your missing science class in 8th grade, it would not have been considered anyway. However, if your PIQs convince them that you could succeed as you are, UCs can choose to waive the full A-G requirements (“Admission by exception”). Only a few are accepted this way, though.

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@MWolf hit on something I missed which is the 8th grade Science class. UC’s and CSU’s only consider Math and Foreign language courses taken in Middle school to fulfill the A-G course requirements so that Earth Science course will not help.

Admission by exception in most cases is limited to Homeschooled applicants however your profile lends itself to a chance of admission via this route but dependent upon each UC campus.

You stated no LOR request from UCB however, several of the other UC campuses use an augmented/supplemental review (UCB, UCLA, UCSD and UCD) so make sure you set up your application portal for each campus and check it frequently including your email Spam/Junk folder.

The CC to UC Transfer Pathway is highly regarded and successful for many top students. There are 6 campuses (UCI, UCSB, UCD, UCSC, UCR and UCM) which accept TAG (Transfer Guarantee Admission) if you meet the major preq’s and maintain a specific GPA. Some campuses have major exclusions for TAG such as UCI for Business admin. Also you can only select 1 campus to submit your TAG but you can apply as a regular transfer for the rest.

I have included the current TAG matrix and this would be a great backup option along with affordability.

11

This new UC pilot program might be of interest.

12

I really appreciate the in-depth number crunching, I’ll definitely look to apply to some of these schools. Thank you!

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13

I have not attended high school in CA. I should still qualify for in-state as I’ll be a resident for 3 years by the time I start. I left in the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, I’m 20 as of right now (I was always on the younger end).

As for my independent status, my FAFSA app was moved to independent since I met one of their criteria while filing although I don’t remember which.

I think you are right about the science class which is why I omitted in my app initially. However, after reviewing my transcript the class is placed under 9th grade. I’ll attach a snippet of my transcript.
Screenshot 2022-12-07 133115

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Ok so the transcript shows 9th grade which is in your favor.

15

I just checked recently and I have received a request for rec. letters from Berkeley. Reading up I think this might mean I’m borderline or it might be flagged due to me being first-gen? Not too sure.

In my application, I did list I was homeschooled when it asked for 12th grade and I gave a brief description that I was getting my GED and that I don’t have courses to report for 12th so hopefully that means I’m eligible for admission by exception.

I appreciate the TAG info, it seems like the best fallback for me in case I do strike out.
As for the pilot program, I don’t think I’d qualify since I’m getting a GED from CA and not graduating from a CA HS.

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16

All good. My question about CA schools is that for weighting, only AP classes are considered for OOS schools.

It’s good that FAFSA recognizes you as independent, since you’re eligible for FA based on your own income and assets. If not, and you were older (say 23), it would have been worth your while to wait until you were 24.

From UC’s “Annual Report on Undergraduate Admissions Requirements and Comprehensive Review” for 2022:

So definitely because you’re first-gen. However, also from that document:

Considering Berkeley’s acceptance rates, this is a strong indication that the applicants who are asked for LoRs are also borderline cases.

If it was an enrichment class taken over the summer before your 9th grade, it is considered a high school class.

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