The Official UC Chance Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
721

@BoredEngineer Hard to say, especially without listing your ECs or at least the type or caliber of them. “Perfect” doesn’t say much. You can give a lot of info about yourself while protecting your privacy.

3.68 for Berkeley is on the lower end … but not impossible … depending on your ECs and how well you wrote your essays. If your ECs and essays are perfect, I don’t see why you wouldn’t apply to UCLA and UCSD. Perfect ECs should get you in … but that depends on how we’re defining “perfect.” I’m assuming you spent the summer at Harvard conducting engineering research under a famed Nobel Laureate engineer, among other things.

722

Well… I’ll list them I guess.

723

@briank82

Here are my ECs (Awards, Research that I’ve done, Internships, Honors Programs, etc…):

EVC: AFFIRM student (Minority outreach program for African Americans in my school)

Service Learning Mentor at my College

Key Club: Editor (High School)

Paid Mathematics/Physics Tutor at my College. I tutor both students and veterans privately at my CCC.

Paid NASA/CASGC Intern

Paid CUNY: NYCCT Emerging Scholar

NASA/CASGC Award of Excellence

Phi Theta Kappa Membership

Honor’s Student at my current CCC

CUNY: NYCCT Dean’s List

Chaos Theory Research

Microcomputers/Robotics Research

Comp. Sci. Club: Officer

Comp Sci. Club: Founder

CUNY: NYCCT Honors Scholar

Honor’s Institute: Treasurer

Honor’s Institute: Secretary

Thermodynamics Research

And I’ll list my other stuff again:

Applying to:

UCB (Engineering math/stats)
UCSC (computer engineering)

I’m also thinking about UCLA and UCSD.

CCC to UC transfer
UC Transferable GPA: 3.68/4.0

Based on everything you see here how is it looking now? Has anything changed?

724

Keep in mind that high school is irrelevant. They don’t care what you did in high school, so plan on sticking just to extracurriculars you did while in community college.

Your ECs are good. Quantity and quality. I’m not STEM so I don’t know what a lot of em are or the depth/breadth/impact of them individually, but they seem pretty strong. You’ll have the opportunity to explain what you did with them individually in the application, which is beneficial.

They show you’re involved and the more involve you are, it can make it harder to focus on academics, and as you said, you had some family issues. You can explain all of this in your application. People who have zero ECs are expected to have great grades, like a 4.0 … because you’re just focusing on school. How involved you are plus your familial circumstances can hopefully work in your favor to explain why you got a 3.68. Regardless, you shouldn’t give up.

Also, depending on your income, you can apply to 4 or 5 UC’s for free. Something to keep in mind and if you’re eligible, definitely apply to all the programs you’re interested in. Best of luck.

725

Chance my D for all UCs expect Merced, riverside, and Santa Cruz. Also, if you could chance for Emory, USC, UVA, tufts, and CMU

State: CA

Major: biology

Scores

ACT: 30 (35E 31M 25R 29S)
SAT II: 790 BIO M 760 CHEM
AP: BIO 3, Chem 4, Lang 3

Grades
3.97 UW UC GPA
4.52 W UC GPA
3.9 overall
ELC yes
Over 50 UC a-g
31 UC honors 10-12 grade
My D is in a special engineering program that is well known among the UCs and only admits about 1/3 of applicants who apply in 8th grade.

ALL CC COURSES ARE UC APPROVED FOR THE EXTRA POINT

Courses

Freshmen

English Honors B/A
Biology A/A
Spanish A/A
Engineering honors A/A
Geometry Honors A/A

Summer

World history A/A

Sophmore
Chemistry A/A
Algebra 2 Honors B/A
Engineering Honors A/A
Spanish A/A
English 10 H A/A
CC Astronomy and lab As in both

Summer
CC US History A
CC Stats A
CC general psychology

Junior

(UC approved H)Pre-calc H A/A
Engineering Honors A/A
AP Bioogy A/A
AP LANG A/A
AP Chem A/A
CC INTRO TO PSYCHOLOGY A
CC US history(different time period than other class) A
CC Spanish A
CC biological psychology A

Summer
CC us government A
Got two As in two UCSB classes, but they are not included in the uc GPA and there is nowhere to list grades for the two classes

Senior year

AP MICROECON
AP LIT
AP CALC AB
CC SOCIOLOGY
3 engineering courses that are all UC approved honors courses.

EC
120 hours at a local aquarium volunteering
120 at local zoo volunteering
Vice President of a club
Has played variety tennis for 3 years and won 3 awards.
Played in chess tournament and won official tiltes
Participated in UCSB RMP, top program for highschoolers to conduct research
Also has an AP scholor award

726

Out of state–

Asian female
Public School with underfunded art program
I am applying to the architecture program. Let me know what you guys think!

Here are my stats:
GPA: 4.0 (unweighted)
SAT (new): 1300 (Im not good at test taking )
ACT: 29 (composite)
SAT Math II: 730

AP Classes I’ve Taken:
AP Calculus
AP Composition
AP European History
AP U.S. History
AP Spanish

Extracurriculars:
-Cross Country Running (Varsity)
-Track and Field (Varsity)
-Oil Painting
-National Honor Society Student Leader
-President of the Art Club
-Student Body President 2016-17 of my high school (Student Government) & was previously Junior Class President in 2015-16
-Co-Founder of the Animal Welfare Society
-Volunteer at Food for Lane County & other nonprofits
-Graphic Artist for the school news magazine
-Internship at White Lotus Art Gallery
-Internship in Product Design Studio at the University of Oregon
-Attended Summer Architecture Academy at University of Oregon
-Hold job at public pool teaching swim lessons
-Violin player for 12 years, 1st violin in quartet, 1st stand in orchestra

Awards:
-Artist Recognition Award 2016 Maude Kerns
-Sophomore of the Year
-3rd place at Springfield Mayors Art Show (2 years in a row)
-1st place in Figure of Speech Magazine

727

Chance me please!

@UCB UCLA (heard about their holistic views)
UCSD UCSB

Out of state-Kentucky

Guatemalan (Hispanic) female
Public School and Biomedical Sciences Academy

Stats:
GPA: 3.6(weighted) 3.4(unweighted)
Senior year: 4.1(weighted)
ACT: 23
Math:26
English:25
Science:22
Reading:19

AP Classes:
AP Biology
AP Statistics
AP Litrature
AP U.S. History
AP Spanish Language

Dual Credit:
Psychology
World History

Honors:
Chemistry
Pre-Cal

Accelerated:
Algebra 2

Extracurriculars:
-Cross Country Running (Varsity)
-Track and Field (Varsity)
-Spanish National Honor Society
-Senior Internship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital (ranked 3rd children’s hospital in the nation)
-Latino Mentors Program at local University
-Blood donations
-All-state Track-and-Field Team
-PhDreamer

Awards:
-Honorary Cord of life (blood donations and blood drive)
-Gifted and talented at Mathematics and Leadership
-Academic Athletic Association Award
-Dean’s List
-Academic Excellence Award
-Posters-at-the-capital finalist (presented scientific research to state gov. and legislators)

Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
Here I talked about how I was undocumented along with my family, I live with 3 family members (brother, sister and mother) and how my mother struggled to find jobs but we she did I would work along her side and at some points I worked 60 hours a week (yes during a school week). Meaning, I was able to get only 2 hours of sleep daily and still go to school. I talked about skipping lunch for naps and other struggles that were detrimental to my grades.

Describe how you have worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
I talked about how I did not receive any help at home from my mother because she is illiterate and I was the first in my family to obtain any education higher than elementary school (first to go to middle and high school). I mentioned that I also never received much help from my school when I brought up my problems, I talked about how my principle told me she didn’t even know what it meant to be undocumented and so she couldn’t help me. Also English was not my first language.

What is the one thing that you think sets you apart from other candidates applying to the University of California?
I talked about how I have been shaped into a different person because of my circumstances and how I attended a public school with a low minority percentage and many students at my school come from high income families witch was not who I was and so I have had to face being the different one at my school.

What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
Here I talked about how I have been extremely involved in helping my small hispanic neighborhood because we are all undocumented and we live in the middle of high class american citizens. I talked about how when I received a drivers license I would drive people around because many in my area do not have one, also I translated at doctor appointments and tutored children because their parents did not know the English Language.

Any thoughts?.. Thank you!

728

I applied to all UCs except Merced and Santa Cruz. My first choice is UCLA…I’ll be so sad if I don’t get in! Can someone give me a really honest estimate? The thing is, I know my grades/stats are very good, but everyone else’s are very good too for UCB and UCLA, so I really don’t know what to think. I applied to Letters and science for basically all the schools.

Stats:
GPA: 3.97 unweighted, 4.29 weighted capped
Senior year courses: APgov/Econ honors (1 semester of each at my school), AP Calc AB, AP Computer science A, AP Physics 1, regular English, band
ACT: 35 (Math: 35, English: 35, Science: 36, Reading: 34)
SAT (new): 1550 (750 eng and 800 math)
Subject tests: Math 800, Chinese 780

AP Classes:
AP Biology (5)
AP Psychology (5)
AP Chinese (5)
AP U.S. History (4)
AP Chemistry (4)
AP English Comp (5)

Other educational stuff:
I did ATDP one summer and also attended Berkeley’s summer session for regular undergrad courses. Didn’t too exceptionally well but I didn’t do badly either (I was going into junior year at the time)

Extracurriculars:
-Band (section leader)
-2 other music ensembles (from like 5th grade until now!)
-Music club at school (regular member)
-Cultural club VP this year
-lots of tutoring for diff organizations (300+ hours)
-math club

Awards:
-National merit semifinalist
-Gold presidential service? idk
-ap scholar with distinction…
i dont really have many :frowning:

I am in-state, asian female.

For my essays, I expanded a lot on my extracurriculars. Talked about being section leader and what I learned about leadership, a medical camp that I went to, how my favorite subject is math and what that taught me, and the impact in my community by tutoring. Some of these do sound really cliche now that I think about it…

729

I know my test scores are on the lower side, but I’m a poor test taker when it comes to that kind of stuff to be honest. Any chances would be very appreciated!

Demographics: Filipino male California resident Upper middle class

Grade: Senior

Major: Biology

GPA: Unweighted - 3.93 Weighted - 4.28

Standardized Tests:
Jan 2016 SAT - 1720
December 2016 Redesigned SAT - 1230

AP Classes:
Biology - 3
Language - 4
Government - In Prog
Psychology - In Prog
Calc AB - In Prog
Literature - In Prog

Extracurricular Activities:
Interschool Council (12th)
Student Government (10th-12th)

  • Class Elected Officer (2x) and ASB Elected Officer
    Student Leadership (10th-12th)
    School Site Council Vice Chairperson (11th-12th) French Club President (11th-12th)
    Class of 2017 Rally Club (9th-12th)
    Jr. Larcs (11th-12th)
    Counselor at Annual Camp (11th-12th)
    Head Blood Drive Coordinator (11th-12th)
    Link Crew (12th)
    Key Club (9th-10th)
    Work with Special Education Students (10th-12th)
    Varsity Mock Trial (9th-10th)
    Varsity Academic Decathlon (9th-11th)
    Multi-subject Academic Tutor (10th-12th)
    Math Team (10th-12th)
    Youth Leader (9th-11th)
    Junior Statesmen of America Treasurer (12th)
    400+ Community Service Hours

Random Awards:
Academic Scholar
NHS Membership (11th-12th)
CSF Lifetime Member
Principal’s Honor Roll (x7)
Most Spirited in the Yearbook
Boys State Delegate
Presidential Service Award

Schools:
UC Los Angeles
UC Santa Barbara
UC San Diego
UC Irvine

730

@sadsenior: Very strong match for UCB/UCLA… maybe even safety range for the rest, maybe even top 20 university material. Did you apply to any major private universities? You’d have a shot at schools like NU, maybe even Cornell. You’re a strong candidate in general.

@ventiwaters: average SAT for the past couple of years has been in the 1260-1510 range (broad distribution), so you’re in that sorta 25th percentile range on the SAT. Otherwise, fair match. I’d put you at a slight reach for UCLA and UCB, depending on the quality of the package overall. UCSD = match. UCI = strong match.

731

@Alisonalvarado: Hmm… hard to say. OOS is a bit fuzzier in general, they claim it’s harder, sometimes seems otherwise. My feeling is that your ACT will hurt you, but your URM status may help. Regardless, it’s a reach, but not impossible. Good luck!

@chouster: Match. Your scores are match-y even with OOS status. Big risk is that architecture isn’t L&S, so you may be up against strong candidates. At worst, reach.

@parent8768: Match or above for all UCs. ACT is slightly low, which may put UCB/UCLA into a weaker match, but otherwise very strong. USC is a weak match. Don’t know the rest.

732

One last thought before I head off to a bunch of meetings at work: UC admission is very, very numbers driven. If you have any questions on my methodology or wonder how I arrive at my conclusions, go here:

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/index.html

Pick the campus, look at the admission stats. Are your stats median for that campus? Then voila, you are a match. Are they 25th percentile or below? Then you’re a reach. Are they 75th percentile or above? Then odds are you start hitting safety. Are you 99th percentile? Safety.

The magic comes in mostly when it comes to reaches/slight reaches who maybe need more of that subjective hook/oomph. Otherwise, matches are kind of a roll of the dice and you look at the bigger picture (interesting person?)

733

Chance me please

Info:
In-state student
Low income school
Single parent
Cambodian
Male

Major: Varies between (Math, Undeclared Sciences)

Scores

ACT: 28 (24E 31M 30R 26S)
SAT I: (720M/660R) New & (490R/660M/530R) Old
AP: World History 3, Calc 4

Grades
3.28 UW UC GPA
3.65 W UC GPA
3.59 Cumulative

Courses

Freshmen:
English 1P Acc B/B
Biology Acc B/C
Cham Jazz B/B
Algebra II B/B

Sophmore:
Chemistry Honors B/B
Precalculus C/C
AP World History A/A
Chinese 1 B/C
English 2P B/B
Cham Jazz B/B

Junior:
AP US Hist A/A
AP Bio A/A
AP Lang B/C
AP Calc B/B
Chinese 2 A/A
Accounting 1P A/A

Junior Summer:
US Gov A

Extra Curriculars:
1 Year Link Crew
2 Years Band
3 Years Tennis
3 Years Gardening Club

Essays:
They talked about how I have changed throughout my time in high school and how I matured. Including what ushered those changes and what I did.

Schools:
All UC’s except Merced

734

Northern California
Asian-Indian, Male

Major: Environmental Engineering

GPA: 3.8 (9 - 11)
SAT (March): 1460 / 1600 (760 M , 700 E)

Class Rigor:
Sophomore: Honors Chemistry
Junior: Honors Spanish 4, AP English Language, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Environmental Science, PreCalc
Senior: N/A (Am a junior)

Work: 16 hours / week at a local restaurant
Considering Solar Internship for 20 hrs/week in summer

E/Cs: School Volleyball (JV and Captain Freshman year, Varsity Sophomore and Junior Year)
Science Alliance (Mentor)
YMCA Youth and Government (Elected position statewide Chief Sergeant at Arms)
Link Crew (Application process)
Boy Scouts
National Honor Society

MCA Score for Cal Poly: 4561.64

Schools:
Dream: Cal Poly SLO, UCSB, University of Michigan, UT Austin, UCB,UCSD, GeorgTech,

Target: LeHigh
UC Davis
UC San Diego
Santa Clara University

Safety: SDSU
San Jose State
Alabama(Presidential Scholarship)
University of Oregon
University of Washington

Cal Poly SLO is my top school, however, competition seems to be rather competitive. Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks!

735

I’m currently a Junior

Race/Ethnicity: Asian
Born: America
Resident of CA?: Yes
Legacy at UC?: No

Current Unweighted GPA: 3.6
Current Weighted GPA: 3.9 ~ ish maybe more

SAT: 1460 (800 math) (660 English) Took this in 2016 (Going to retake in March)
Subject tests: MathII (800) Chemistry (800) Took both in January 2017

Honors classes taken:Grade 1st sem/2nd sem
Geometry H: B/A (I was dumb)
Biology H: C/B (I was dumb)
Trigonometry/Algebra 2H: A/A
Chemistry H: A/A
Precalc H: A
Literature H: C (Suck at english, don’t know why I took the honors one)
Physics H: A

AP Classes taken:Grade 1stsem/2nd Sem
AP Chinese: A/A
AP Statistics: A
AP Chemistry: B (Did pretty bad on labs, tests I did good, so I got a B).

Senior classes: AP BC Calculus, AP Physics C, AP Macroeconomics, AP Psychology, (Maybe AP computer science), and some literature class

As you can see I have an upward trend since freshman (started with b’s and c’s in core classes now I’m one of the top in my math/science lane)

Unfortunately my English has been my major weakness throughout my life, regardless of how much I try

EC:
Varsity Badminton Player for 3 Years
I helped around in a library for a few weeks organizing and sorting a LOT of books
Used to do track (had a 57 second 400, 2:20 800 and a 5:40 1600).
I ran my first 5k last year and got 50th place overall and 3rd place in my age division with a time of 21 minutes.
When I was a sophomore, my teacher asked me to participate in a math competition, and I got 7th place in Algebra 2 out of a bunch of smart bay area people.
I’m also a chess player (haven’t played seriously for a while because of school)
I’m a person into calisthenics (30 pull-ups/dips)

I don’t have as many EC’s as many do in the usually CC discussions, but (in my opinion) I prioritize my grades over EC’s (not to offend anyone this is just how I feel).

Many of my Junior teachers are willing to write letters of rec, so I think I’m good on that part.

Basically, with these stats, what are my chances at getting into UCLA or UCB (or other UCs)?
If I don’t have a good chance, can you guys recommend me any other good colleges?

If there is anything missing that I should include, please let me know.

736

Chance me please!

UC’s Applied To:

  • Santa Cruz
  • Berkeley
  • Davis
  • Santa Barbara
  • Los Angeles
  • San Diego

Majors:

  • Political Science
  • Environmental Science

Info:

  • Male
  • California Born
  • Bisexual
  • English Speaking
  • Mexican Decent
  • Jewish Decent (Ashkenazi Jew)
  • Experienced Homelessness/Mental Illness (both)
  • Will Work in College
  • Raised by Single Mother
  • No Work Experience
  • President of Rho Kappa (school club)
  • Involved with MUN and American Red Cross (school clubs)
  • Campaigned for Bernie Sanders
  • AP Scholar Award

– GPA –

  • UC Total Weighted: 3.83

– Testing Scores –

SAT (with Essay):

  • Total Score: 1090/1600

Section Scores:

  • Reading/Writing: 540
  • Mathematics: 550

Test Scores:

  • Reading: 28
  • Writing/Language: 26
  • Math: 27.5

Essay Subscores:

  • Reading: 4
  • Analysis: 2
  • Writing: 6

SAT Subject Test (US History):

  • Total Score: 550/800

ACT (with Writing):

  • Composite: 23
  • English: 23
  • Mathematics: 24
  • Reading: 21
  • Science: 22
  • ELA: 22
  • Writing: 7

AP Classes and Test Scores:

  • AP Human Geography: 3
  • AP European History: 3
  • AP US History: 4
  • AP Government: n/a
  • AP Psychology: n/a
  • AP Macroeconomics: n/a
  • AP Environmental Science: n/a

– Transcripts –

9th Grade:

  • Algebra 1: A/A
  • Spanish 1: C/B
  • Earth Science: A/A
  • AP Human Geography: A/A
  • English 1H: D/-
  • English 1: -/B

9th Grade (summer):

  • English 1: B/-

10th Grade:

  • AP European History: B/B
  • English 2: A/A
  • Geometry: B/B
  • Biology: B/A
  • Spanish 2: B/C

11th Grade:

  • Psychology 1: A/A
  • AP United States History: B/A
  • English 3: A/A
  • Algebra 2: A/A
  • Chemistry: A/A
  • Drama 1: A/A

12th Grade:

  • AP Environmental Science: A/IP
  • AP Macroeconomics: -/IP
  • AP Psychology: C/IP
  • English 4: B/IP
  • AP Government and US Politics: B/-

– Community Service –

  • 132 Total Hours
737

Hey I also do NCEA - how did you do?

738

I’m currently a junior, about to finish my junior year. I’m not very confident in the two AP’s I took this year (AP Bio and AP English) I already failed AP World sophomore year, assuming if I don’t pass AT LEAST 1 exam with a 3, what are my chances of getting into UC Irvine, Davis, Santa Barbara?
My GPA is roughly a 3.7 weighted and a 3.6 unweighted, during my sophomore year I made some mistakes and went from a weighted 3.75 in the first semester to a weighted 3.38 in my second semester, and junior year I got a 3.86 Weighted on my first semester and I’m probably going to get 3.86 weighted again.
Also my SAT is the new version so it’s 1200 flat.
I also took extra classes that appear in my transcript which is Journalism and History Day.
I did Cross country my first two years of high school and am doing tennis my next two years. I’m going to have done journalism for all 4 years of my high school career and history day for all 3 years.

739

3.59 Unweighted GPA
3.92 Weighted and capped GPA
4.04 Fully weighted GPA
Significant Upward Trend, 3.2 Fully Weighted 1st semester of 10th 2.8 UW, 3.6 Fully Weighted 2nd semester, 3.2 UW
4.43 Fully weighted both semesters of Junior Year 3.86 UW
1480 SAT: 760 reading/writing, 720 math
7/7/7 Essay
Retaking in August as well as possibly October, my goal is a 1520+
32 ACT: 34 Math, 34 Reading, 30 English, 31 Science
SAT 2 Math: 800
I took SAT 2 Bio in June, I’m expecting 770+

Chess Club President 11-12
Chess Club Secretary 10
Chess Club Member 9
US Chess Federation Ranked: Top 15% of all Junior Members
Drama Club member 9-12
3 years of Theater in school. 9, 11, 12.
HOSA Club member-11-12

HOSA state finalist and qualifier for Internationals
1st place at Internationals
~300 hours of Volunteering at my Local Temple

Asian Male in a California Public School

Thanks

740

What are my chances for all the UCs (specifically UCLA and Cal)?

STATS:
SAT I (breakdown): Did not take
SAT II: 750 Math II, 720 Biology
ACT: 34
GPA (Freshmen to Junior): 3.97 UW (1 B in WHAP in sophomore year) - I was one of the few students who took the most APs in my class
Weighted GPA: School doesn’t do weighted
UC GPA: Not sure
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 3% (school ranks unweighted)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (4), World History (3), Chem (4), Calc AB (5), English Lang and Comp (4)
Senior Year Course Load: ERWC (English 4 basically), AP Government, AP Calc BC, AP Psychology, AP German, PE 2, Art
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, Distinguished Key Club Vice President, German achievements
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Key Club - Freshman Class Director (9), Vice President (11), MNT Coordinator (11), District Tech Editor (12)
Interact (9-12) - Board Member (9-10), Youthact Coordinator (11), Co-Media Officer (12)
Youth Act Council (10-12) - Secretary (12)
Started a program that provides feminine necessities to women in need, Co-founded and co-president (11-12)
MESA Club (11-12) - Active member

Summer Activities:
COSMOS 2016 - Biomedical Sciences
GAPP German Exchange Program - Lived with a host family in Germany for a month
UPenn Engineering Summer Academy 2017

Job/Work Experience: Milk tea store, Political Campaign Internship (~80 hours)

Volunteer/Community service: Key Club 200+ hours, Interact 150+ hours

Other:
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Large public school (~4000 students), located in a ghetto area
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Less than 60K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Female in engineering?, low income