“Earn a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better (3.4 if you’re a nonresident) in these courses with no grade lower than a C.”
Does that mean unweighted GPA or Weighted GPA?
I know UC only calculates 10-11 grade GPA; So is 3.4 GPA requirement from 10-11 grade or 9-11?
Thank You.
You need to calculate your UC GPA which uses only a-g course requirements from 10-11th grade. As an OOS applicant, you can only use 8 semesters of AP/IB or DE courses for the extra honors points. 3.4 UC GPA is your 10-11th grades calculated using the post link:
http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
If you do not make this cutoff, your application will not be considered. Even if you make the cutoff, only 3 UC’s have UC GPA’s below 4.0, UCSC at 3.88, UCR at 3.78 and UCM at 3.67, so you aware that UC’s are very competitive and GPA focused.
@Gumbymom Is health class, not PE, calculated into GPA (worth 0.5 credit per semester compared to a chemistry class that is worth 1.00 credit per semester.)?
No, Health/PE are not calculated into the UC GPA. Courses in Social Science/History, Math, English, Science, Visual or Performing art are included. Here are the guidelines for the UC’s:
Complete a minimum of 15 college-preparatory courses (a-g courses), with at least 11 finished prior to the beginning of your senior year.
The 15 courses are:
a. History/social science 2 years
b. English 4 years
c. Mathematics 3 years
d. Laboratory science 2 years
e. Language other than English 2 years*
f. Visual and performing arts 1 year
g. College-preparatory elective
(chosen from the subjects listed above or another course approved by the university)
*or equivalent to the 2nd level of high school instruction
These are the minimums, so they recommend 4 years Math, 3 years science which should include Bio/Chem/Physics, 3 years Foreign Language and of course 4 years English.
@Gumbymom I had robotics during my sophomore year and it’s categorized as Science Elective. Is that valid for College-preparatory elective? Or is College-preparatory elective for AP Classes?
The college prep category is usually for an extra class such as Science, Social Science/History, Art etc… it doesn’t have to be AP. Since Robotics is under a science elective at your HS, I think it can go there.
probably a good time to add - a 3.4 is the OOS admission floor for the whole system. Most UC campuses don’t admit many students at that level. With a 3.4 and a very solid SAT, you might make it into UCM.
Also, no financial aid is available to OOS applicants so, you’ll need to spend $50k-$55k/yr.
@NCalRent Do UC admission officers look more at UC GPA 4.1 or my school GPA 3.7. ( Had bad freshman grades that’s why the transcript GPA is lower.)
They are holistic review so while they will look at the UC gpa for eligibility they will look at everything. Having a strong upward trend is helpful.
The 3.4 floor is UC GPA and serves as a hard floor. They basically won’t read your ap if you apply with a 3.39 UCGPA. Those aps that meet the threshold are reviewed ‘holistically’ - meaning they look at your full transcript, test scores, ECs and the other factors they are allowed to weigh - including essay, first gen, etc. That’s what makes them somewhat difficult to predict.