Out-of-state Chances for UCLA and UCSB

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys,

So I’m going to be a senior this fall at Stanton College Preparatory in Jacksonville, FL, so I’m out of state, and I really want to enroll in a UC school next year in the fall. My dream school is UCLA and I’m just wondering if I have any chance at these two UC’s. My UC GPA is on the low side, which is my biggest worry.

Fully Weighted UC GPA: 3.97
Unweighted UC GPA: 3.41

https://www.admission.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_fr/Frosh_Prof15.htm

AP/IB Classes (I’ll just leave honors out because UC doesn’t look at those for out-of-state applicants):

  • 9th grade: AP World (3)
  • 10th grade: AP Psychology (4), AP Euro (4)
  • 11th grade: AP Calc AB (5), AP Physics 1 (4), AP Lang (4), APUSH (3), IB Spanish SL, IB Film 1, IB TOK 1 (it’s split into two years, 1 semester each at my school)

Senior Courseload: AP Calc BC, AP Statistics, AP Micro, AP Lit, AP Physics 2, IB TOK 2, IB Film 3, IB Contemporary American History, Digital Arts Honors

ACT: 33

Extracurricular:

  • U Psi Phi (step team) - President, 4 years → probably my greatest EC strength
  • Psychology Honor Society - Treasurer, 2 years → another strength because of leadership but for not as long as U Psi Phi
  • Multicultural Club - 4 years → maybe a strength because of dedication?

Extracurriculars that I was part of but didn’t mean as much to me as the above:

  • Spanish Club - 3 years
  • Fashion Club - 2 years
  • Film Honor Society - 2 years
  • Mu Alpha Theta - 2 years

Community Service:

  • Summer Bridge: 2 years, 30 hours
  • Teen Leaders of America summer program: 1 summer, 50 hours
  • I have 50-60 other community service hours but they were one-day things like volunteering at marathons and races for medical causes. These are the hours I’m worried about because other kids will have long-term community service projects. Going into freshman year, I didn’t realize long-term projects were better than one-day flings until it was too late, so I’m afraid this might not do me well, too, although I do have those 80 hours above that are somewhat long-term.

Major:
Since UCSB’s College of Engineering admission is so competitive and it is generally not allowed to transfer to it from another college, I was advised by one of their admission counselors to apply with Engineering as my top major, and Undeclared as my second major. For UCLA, however, I am most likely applying Undeclared.

Credit to @sportslover322 for the “template” haha, this is actually my first CC post (-:

Thank you in advance!

2

Can you afford $55K/year in costs and no financial aid to attend?

Your UC GPA is below average for both schools but test scores look competitive. Since you are targeting Engineering, you need your stats above the averages. If you are able to afford the costs, UCSB is more likely than UCLA, although they do have a small Engineering school.

Definitely worth an application since you have some good EC’s with leadership. Write some great essays and they could help boost your chances.

Good Luck.