UC Chances Please

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Junior/Chinese/California
1st child to go to college in USA</p>

<p>School Cumulative GPA: 3.89
Current Semester GPA: 4.33
Basically I screwed up freshman year and the first semester of sophomore year. I hear that UC's don't count freshman year though? Also, UC's bump the GPA on some of my school's classes.</p>

<p>Every AP is 5.0 and all other classes are 4.0 unless otherwise stated.</p>

<p>Summer:
Honors Algebra II (A/A)</p>

<p>10th (1st semes/2nd semes):
Spanish 2 (B/A)
Physics (A/A)
Band (A/A)
Honors English (B/B)
Chem (A/A)
Honors Precalc (A/A) <- 5.0 for UC, 4.0 for my school
AP World History (C/B) <- 5.0 (3 on AP exam)</p>

<p>Summer:
AP US History (A/A) <- 5.0 for UC, 4.0 for my school</p>

<p>11th (1st semes/2nd semes, assuming of course):
AP Physics C - (A/A) <- 5.0
Band - (A/A)
AP Calc BC - (A/A) <- 5.0
AP English Language (B/B?) <- 5.0
Computer Science (A/A)
Spanish 3 (A/A)</p>

<p>SAT I: waiting on results... I'm thinking around 2300</p>

<p>SAT II: Math IIc - 800, Physics - ?, English - ?</p>

<p>EC:
Founder and President of Puzzle Club
4 years of Marching Band (trying out for section leader next year)
Chinese School communications committee chair
Active volunteer at local museum, thrift store
Designing websites for various non-profit organizations including my school's PTSA and my school's band website</p>

<p>Does anything from middle school count towards EC? I stopped piano during 9th grade because I finished all the levels in our competition program.. now I play for fun. Numerous awards with that.. 7 years? Also, 4 more years of trumpet in middle school which I'm currently continuing in Marching band.
Also did drawing in middle school... numerous awards at state fair in that too.</p>

<p>Which schools should I try applying to? Do I even have a chance at Berkeley or UCLA? Will a 2380+ SAT boost my chances? I'm pretty sure I can get 800's on both of my other SAT II's and 5's on AP Phys and AP Calc, probably 4 on AP English)</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>UCLA/UCB: slight reach (weak ECs and a little weak grades)
UCSD: match
UCSB/UCI/UCD: safe match
UCR/UCM/UCSC: safety</p>

<p>Don't get too cocky with that SAT score. Many people think, "That was so easy! I'm sure I pulled at least a 2250..." and end up with a 1970.</p>

<p>And no, no middle-school stuff counts. If that were the case, we'd all have tons of awards.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the response.</p>

<p>Any other suggestions for ECs?</p>

<p>Would it be wise to take up piano again and enter into more competitions? I'm sure I can still get finalist rankings.</p>

<p>I also own a webhosting and webdesign business as a small job - does that count as EC?</p>

4

<p>bump ^^^^^^^^^^^^^</p>

5

<p>hi friend, don't worry, God has a wonderful plan for you.</p>

6

<p>i'm not one of your college experts, but i don't think UCLA/Berkeley are reaches at all.</p>

7

<p>UCB/UCLA: Match-Slight Reach
UCSD: Match</p>

<p>You should be in no problem any other UC's ranked below the top 3.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for the responses.</p>

<p>My friend also recommended University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and Northwestern University. What are my chances to get into these? I'm thinking about double majoring in Patent Law (main) and something computer related (minor). Would that combination pay well? Am I correct in assuming that I need to find a good Engineering and Law school for this type of a major? What other colleges should I consider applying to?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

9

<p>Wait, why is glock a match-slight reach at UCLA/Berkeley? His/Her SAT/GPA are higher than the average and his/her ECs aren't bad. It'll just depend on whether or not the SAT score is what he/she predicted and his/her essays..</p>

10

<p>If you can get what u predict on ur SATs then you should be in any UC of your choice, with room to spare.</p>

<p>however do not take them too lightly. getting an 800 on MathIIC is not much of an accomplishment, 9% of people hit that top range (when i took it). any, if not all, of the other subject tests and the reasoning tests will be considerably harder. although I am not saying you cannot, your 3 on the AP World History gives me some doubt. note- if u take AP US history over the summer, u should consider taking the US Hist SAT II on your next sitting (since u take 3).</p>

<p>did u take the PSAT, and if so how did you do? if not, what is your basis on how well u think you scored?</p>

11

<p>"Wait, why is glock a match-slight reach at UCLA/Berkeley? His/Her SAT/GPA are higher than the average and his/her ECs aren't bad."</p>

<p>UCSD's average admit has a 4.04 UC GPA. UCLA's average admit has a 4.12 UC GPA. UC Berkeley's average admit has a 4.17 UC GPA. The posters GPA is a 3.89 GPA (and thats uncapped) which is not higher than the averages into any of the top 3 UC's. So no his GPA is not above the averages of UCSD, UCLA or UC Berkeley. Admissions at UCB/UCLA can be extremely random. GPA's are usually weighted a bit more in the top UC's admissions than are SAT's although both are important. Obviously an SAT of 2300 is extremely high, way above the averages of UCB/UCLA, but even with a SAT near that range, UCB/UCLA would be no better than a match. Surely not a safety. EC's are also quite important at top UC's. And his SAT score is an estimate, which seems a bit overly optomistic. But who knows, he may just get an SAT that high. I surely am not one to say it cant be done. It just seems a bit too high to predict. But who knows.</p>

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<p>ucchris - Could you explain how the "cap/uncap" thing works? Oh and 3.89 is my school GPA, not the UC GPA. I have a nice upward trend except for freshman year where I dropped a little second semester. (something like: 3.8x, 3.6x, 3.7x, 4.0, 4.33). I'm also a little worried about the ECs. Would you recommend anything else I could do between now and the application date? </p>

<p>Seiken - I got a 205 PSAT without studying for it. I'm basing my score on the general consensus of answers found in the SAT I forum; my essay, writing, and math were all solid. the only thing I'm worried about is the CR</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

13

<p>"I'm also a little worried about the ECs. Would you recommend anything else I could do between now and the application date?"</p>

<p>If you started any now, it'd look like you're just trying to impress them. So it's a bit late for you.</p>