What would be considered a below average gpa for USC? Also for the UC’s?Along with that, is GPA the dictator of whether you’re accepted or not? I’ve heard stories of people with a perfect/high GPA and great ECs get rejected from the UC’s and USC, so yeah. A lot of my B’s are from AP Classes where the finals dropped me to a B from an A (no pluses), so I’m just worried. If my GPA (3.5, could drop this semester…) is considered mediocre by some, then I’m wondering if I even have no chance and if I should even apply.
http://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/california/university-of-southern-california/admission/
If you look at this website, it should give you a general idea on the test score statistics and what not for accepted students to USC. As long as you are in the “reach” range you should apply as it means you at least have a chance. Also, keep in mind there is much more to the admission process than just GPA and test scores.
For the UC’s, GPA is very important but they all take into account your Test scores, HS course rigor, essays and EC’s. How much of each of these application requirements contribute to your overall chances is different for each UC and can be subjective. Intended major can also dictate your chances since many competitive majors will require higher stats.
UC’s will calculate your UC GPA based on 10-11th grades for the a-g course requirements. You get extra Honors points for UC approved Honors course/AP/IB or DE courses taken 10-11th grades. All the UC campuses cap the extra honors points at 8 semesters except UCLA/UCB will also consider your fully weighted UC GPA (unlimited semesters of honors points).
Here is the UC GPA calculator: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Here are some stats based on UC GPA for 2016:
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79:
UCB: 2%
UCLA: 3%
UCSD: 6%
UCD: 15%
UCSB: 14%
UCI: 13%
UCSC: 59%
UCR: 78%
UCM: 92%
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:
UCB: 14%
UCLA: 14%
UCSD: 44%
UCSB: 54%
UCD: 58%
UCI: 65%
UCSC: 85%
UCR: 94%
UCM: 96%
Also check the UC website for the Freshman profiles for all the campuses to see if your test scores are in range.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/profiles/
I can confirm that the UCs weigh your GPA really heavily (or at least from what I’ve experienced this year). When I applied, my grades were not that great (3.51 weighted. I was diagnosed with having a learning disability during 10th grade which caused a slip in my grades for a semester). I did however have fairly impressive and unique ECs in comparison to a lot of the other students at my school, and demonstrated an upward trend in my grades while taking several AP and honors classes, with none of my grades ever falling below a B.
Here are my results for the UCs that applied to and USC:
USC: rejected
UCLA: rejected
UCSD: rejected
UC Davis: rejected
UC Riverside: accepted, alternate major
UC Santa Cruz: accepted
UC Merced: accepted
Now to be fair, I am well-aware that USC and the top tier UCs were a pretty high reach for me (when considering my grades), and I was applying for a really competitive major (Computer Science). Nevertheless, my counselor advised me to still apply and see what happens given the other components of my application. It was disheartening for me to learn that many of the other students at my high school who had fairly standard ECs (i.e. sports, NHS, membership in a few clubs, etc.) but had better GPAs were admitted to the UCs where I was rejected from. I had no idea UCs weighed GPA so heavily until then.
If I were you, I would REALLY focus on the essays in your application and finishing out at the very minimum your
11th grade year as strong as possible. Do that, and if admissions criteria and scrutiny level remains the same as this year(I’d imagine it probably will), then I’d say that could get you a mid-reach chance of getting into as high as UC Davis or UCSB. And unless you are applying for uncompetitive majors, I would not advise you to apply to UCLA, UCSD, or Berkeley. Maybe go ahead and choose like one or two, but I would personally save the application fee money and try to transfer in two years instead.
What major do you plan to apply for at USC? If there is no audition or interview, then focus on your essays again. The Common App questions allow you to express yourself more, so make your essays unique and well written. Getting good grades for first semester of senior year would be a plus, but from what I understand colleges are more lenient when judging those grades.