Please help me identify the safeties, matches, and reaches in the UCs?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello! I am currently a junior with a 3.92 UC GPA. I take IB classes and I get As and Bs in them. I was not terrified of college until now, since I have to start applying soon. I have taken my first SAT in March, and I got a 1350 out of 1600. I am currently being tutored for the SAT and will be taking it again in August (aiming for a 1500). I will also be taking the Math 2 and Biology E/M subject SAT tests. I do not have a ton of extra curriculars, but I have a few that I am dedicated to: Tennis (7 years with 3 awards), Piano (8 years with 3 awards), Volunteering at the hospital (I have become close with some patients and nurses), Serving meals to a local homeless shelter, Spanish Honors Society and Student Society for Stem Cell Research at school. I am at the top 9% of my class.

I plan to take the premed route, majoring in the Biological Sciences. I know this is an impacted major in most UCs, so I have a few backup majors as well (i.e Cell Biology, Genetics).

This was my course load for 10th and 11th grade:

10th grade:
Honors Physics-B/B
MYP Spanish 3-A/A
MYP Drama-A/A
Precalculus-B/A
Honors US History (UC APPROVED HONORS)-B/A
MYP English 5-A/A

Summer after 10th grade:
Health: A

11th grade:
IB Spanish 1(UC APPROVED HONORS)-A/A
IB English 1(UC APPROVED HONORS)-A/A
IB Math 2-B/B
IB Biology-B/A
IB Economics (UC APPROVED HONORS)-B/B
IB Chemistry-B/A

Summer after 11th grade:
American Government (fingers crossed, I predict an A)

My high school unweighted is a 3.75 and my weighted is a 4.3.

My question is: Can someone please estimate what my safeties, matches, and reaches will be in the UCs?
The UCs: UCI, UCD, UCLA, UCB, UCSD, UCSC, UCSB, UCR, UCM

2

I think you should be fine for most of the UCs. You probably already know that UCB and UCLA are reaches for you, as they are for everyone. UCI and UCSD are probably matches for you. If you are able to increase that SAT to around a 1500, you have a much better shot at UCB and UCLA. GL!

3

@SomeKid123 wow! thank you so much! I knew UCLA and UCB would be reaches, but I’m surprised that UCI and UCSD are matches. This really brought up hopes up :slight_smile:

4

Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:

UCB: 12.6%
UCLA: 11.7%
UCSD: 38.7%
UCSB: 53.6%
UCD: 56.5%
UCI: 52.1%
UCSC: 75.7%
UCR: 90.1%
UCM: 96.1%

25th - 75th percentiles for SAT:

UCB: 1280-1490

UCLA: 1280-1500
UCSD: 1250-1470
UCSB: 1210- 1450
UCD: 1190-1430
UCI: 1190-1420
UCSC: 1170-1380
UCR: 1090-1310
UCM: 1020-1230

Below a 4.0 UC GPA capped weighted will be a tough admit at all the UC’s except UC Merced/Riverside and Santa Cruz. The Mid-tier UC’s such as UCI/UCD and UCSB would be High Match/Low Reach and UCSD/UCLA/UCB would be Reach schools. Your EC’s are solid and your essays could give you a boost. It is really difficult to chance any applicant for the UC’s since they have become very competitive and many outstanding applicants are waitlisted or rejected. Definitely have a some safety schools such as SDSU, CSULB or CSU Fullerton and apply widely.

Best of luck.

5

I’m going to be more pessimistic than SomeKid, sorry… I think you are okay for Merced, Riverside, and SC. With your current SAT score, the rest are reaches. Berkeley and UCLA are going to be high reaches even if you bring up your SAT. Best wishes.

6

@washugrad so if my SAT score goes up to a 1500 (which is what my tutor predicts right now, I’m retaking in August) my chances for mid-tier UCs (UCD, UCI, UCSB) will improve?

7

@Gumbymom thank you!

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I think you’ll want to get the SAT up over 1400 to be very solidly competitive for the mid tier UCs (UCI, UCSB, UCD). As mentioned above with the high numbers in applications, even the mid-tier UC schools have gotten ultra-competitive.

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@ProfessorPlum168 thank you! I’ll try my shot and see what happens…

10

SAT 1500 is 75%tile for all UC. 1400+ already has a good chance to Davis or Irvine if other area such as EC, GPA are competitive.

11

@lemonlulu: UC GPA of 3.92 is below the 50th percentile for all but UCM/UCR and UCSC. Definitely within range for the UCI/UCD and UCSB but no guarantee that it will be enough for the competitive admissions at the UC’s as a Biological science major.

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Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:

UCB: 12.6%
UCLA: 11.7%
UCSD: 38.7%
UCSB: 53.6%
UCD: 56.5%
UCI: 52.1%

can you teach me how 3.92 means below 50th percentile? for every 100 got admitted, 56,5% range between 3.8-4.19 UC GPA, correct? and it didn’t tell the acceptance of each GPA range who applied

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The data I posted is for 2017 admits so this year’s data is not available yet. It is also not major specific so the more competitive the major, the higher the stats are needed. Even though College confidential is not representative of all applicants, take a look at the stats of the many waitlisted and rejected applicants on the UC forums. I am saying the Mid-tiers are possible but not solid Matches or Safeties.
I am assuming the 3.8-4.19 is the 25th to 75th percentile quoted for UCD’s admitted GPA range for last year. The 50th percentile would be 3.995 so 3.92 is below the 50th percentile. Yes, very close but you take an overall 43.6% acceptance rate and then a little over 50% of the applicants are admitted, you are looking at more at a 30+% chance. Again, UC’s admissions are more than just stats but not knowing how an applicants EC’s and essays will be viewed, it can be a guessing game. Not trying to discourage the poster from applying, just trying to get them to realize they need to apply widely and hope for the best since I have seen many disappointed UC applicants this year.

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@Gumbymom thank you for this detailed reply. I am still exploring other biology based majors, since I how difficult it is to get in with my stats as a Biological Science major. Is it wise to apply Undeclared? Do you know of any other UC majors that premed students take that are biology based? I am interested particularly in Genetics, Cell Biology, and Anatomy and Physiology. Do these majors offer as many opportunities as the Biological Science major does?

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UCR med school tuition free if you agree to practice in designated rural area. For premed, they should not have restriction on major, it could be Psychology, CS, Spanish or any major.

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@lemonlulu I am mainly looking at science majors related to Biology, it’s something I believe I can do well in in college.

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I think you should major in something you want to study and not do Biology because it’s considered pre-med. Doing this would put you in competition with a major that is very impacted. Thus lowering your chances of getting accepted to a college.

I was in the same position as yourself before I applied to colleges. I wanted to go to medical school after my undergraduate but I was puzzled as to which major to choose. Here are some of the key stats I considered:

https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/factstablea17.pdf

For simplicity’s sake, I’ll consider the MCAT score, science GPA, and acceptance rate.

For biological sciences majors that applied to medical school, the mean MCAT score was 504.5. (Math/Statistic Majors were higher: 508.9)
Mean science GPA for biological science major applicants: 3.46 (Math/Stats was higher again: 3.54)
There were 28,204 biological major applicants. (54% of applicants among ALL majors)
Accepted biological science major mean MCAT score: 510.1 (specialized health sciences majors were lower: 508.7)
Accepted science GPA among biological science major: 3.65 (Social science majors were lower: 3.58)
40% of Biological majors were accepted. (Humanities majors were higher at 50%)

So you can see there’s a lot to consider. Personally, biological sciences are interesting but it’s not something I would major in and focus so much of my college education on. Then, I considered the terrible idea of not being accepted to any medical school and being unemployed with a biological science major. I was interested in social sciences and I like the statistics of medical schools applicants and matriculants who majored in social sciences. So I applied as a Cognitive Science major at UCI. And I got in with a SAT score in the low 1300’s and a UC GPA 3.875. Low, but I had a huge upward GPA trend. So, relax. UCB and LA are reaches for everyone. UCI, UCSD, UCSB, UCD are mid-tier UC’s that can go either way, and UCM, UCR, UCSC are safeties.

18

@lowkeyveryhighkey thank you so much for this useful information. I was not expecting positive feedback for this post, although I did get some, and I am thankful for it (not criticizing people for telling me the truth, but I like the hope I got from some comments). I would say I’m in about the same boat as you. Biology is definitely my passion, so I’m not necessarily considering other subjects to major in as a future premed student. I looked into the impacted majors at each UC, and I think I will major in non-impact biology majors. Thanks for your pre-college stats too. It gives me some hope. Congratulations on your future endeavors :slight_smile:

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Good luck. Because your competing with 20k biological sciences major students you will definitely find away to make yourself stand out if you’re really passionate about the topic.

And yeah, my stats were low. But if you read any of my chance me threads you’ll see how I worked hard to get accepted to UCI.
Also, I write really good essays when I’m high.

20

If you are definitely set on pre-med, think long and hard about the rigor of school you are willing to attend. UCB is extremely difficult and weeds out many kids with dreams of going to med school (with even better stats than yours) due to the rigor and the grade deflation. As of 2015, the major with the lowest gpa was Bio at 2.80 (molecular/cell biology was 3.2). There may be other majors that will help you fulfill the classes med schools require you take, where the likelihood of success may be greater. Go ahead and apply to any you would want to attend, but I think you may be happier and have more success at a mid-tier UC where you can maintain a good GPA without dying in the process.