Hi I am about to be a senior in High School and am a California resident.
Do I have any chances of getting into UCSD, UCI, UCLA, UCB, UCSB, USC, NYU
My current cumulative GPA from grades 9-11
unweighted: 3.53
weighted: 4.02
My UC GPA which is only grades 10-11
unweighted: 3.7-3.8 (I can’t remember exactly)
weighted: 4.2
My SAT:
1350
I have done sports, hospital volunteer, volunteered around community, participated in clubs (held a position), founded a club at my schoo, took 6 AP classes, 3 honors courses, I have the seal of bilteracy in Spanish, had a job during high school.
I have also passed around 4-5 AP exams.
I know my GPA isn’t very stellar but what are my chances? I plan to write very strong and personal essays.
Also,
if I retake the SAT and get around a 1400+ would that better my chances?
At a 3.8 UC GPA, the second tier UCs (SD, I, D, SB) will be a high reach but not impossible. Getting a SAT above 1400 and more like 1450+ will help your cause. Class rigor, which you have, and strong essays will be important as well. You will want to consider the CSUs and the lower tiered UCs for more matches and safeties.
Your UC GPA is well within range for all the UC’s, but it would definitely help to bump up your SAT scores. Biology is impacted at several of the UC campuses so I would say your target UC’s would be UCSB/UCI and UCD. UCSD/UCLA and UCB will be somewhat of a Reach. UCSC and UCR would be solid Match schools and UCM will be a safety.
Below is admit data just based on UC capped weighted GPA and not major specific so expect Biology to have a slightly lower admit rate:
Best of luck and also consider some of the Cal States for safety schools.
For USC, your UW GPA and test scores will make that school a Reach and USC tends to be test score focused. I cannot comment on NYU, but they do not offer good financial aid so if you want to spend $72K/year to attend, then definitely apply.
The UC’s all use the capped weighted UC GPA but UCLA/UCB will also consider your fully weighted (unlimited Honors points for classes taken 10-11th grades).
Make sure all the classes that your HS designates as “Honors” are UC approved for CA HS’s since non-UC approved Honors classes will not get the extra weighting in the calculation ie. 10th grade Honors English, Honors Biology are not UC approved for Honors weighting.
It is very possible to be admitted to a Top UC with your stats, since HS course rigor, essays, EC’s, awards, special talents etc… are all part of your application review. I suggest you browse through the Decision Threads for the UC’s to see the kind of students/stats that are accepted/waitlisted and rejected to the UC’s.
The UC’s are very popular and competitive so there is no guarantee so it is important to find a few safety schools (affordable, guaranteed acceptance and you willing to attend) first and then work on your Match and Reach schools.
For USC, even bumping up your SAT score will not guarantee an acceptance since your UW GPA is below their 25th percentile for admitted students. Again, your essays, LOR’s and EC’s can all help your chances.
@lesliemack098 Yes that definitely would, though it probably also depends on the platform. If it’s for a news network or your big on like tumblr or something, that would be a stellar EC.
Also, a big consideration if you do writing is whether you’re published.
The UCs will use the capped weighted GPA, which you have mentioned will be around 3.7-3.8. At 3.8 your odds for all the second tier UCs is <16% in the best case. The uncapped weighted GPA may be used for evaluation, but all the published stats for percentages are based on the capped weighted.
Anything could be a good essay topic, though prolly ask that on the essay forum. On whatever essay topic you have if you were writing abt a personal experience make sure that it’s unique and you can demonstrate passion without using the words “unique” or “passion”.
Your current SAT matches up with your GPA. If you got like a really high SAT, it would help, though it might cause them to question how you got such a high SAT but ur GPA was subpar. If you wanna retake your SAT tho aim for improving about 100 points to make it worth your time, not just 50.
Go to the UC website and plug in your school name and UC campus name, you will see past results. Typically, for a particular campus the acceptance rate is remarkably similar for most Ca high schools.