UC Chances, strong ECs?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello everyone!
I apologize for reposting a "Chance" thread, but I really would appreciate some more insight. I'm formatting this more basically and with more information, hopefully I'll get more responses this time :d</p>

<p>-Junior 2nd Semester at a rigorous private So-Cal Catholic College Prep High School.
-2.88 cumulative unweighted UC GPA (no Freshman year or non A-G courses) at the moment
-No SAT/ACT taken yet, but scored 164 on PSAT and 22 on PLAN, predicted to score a 27 on the ACT. Planning on doing well on my standardized tests.
-I did very badly Freshman and Sophomore year, but I'm picking up the pace as much as possible. I've shown progression by raising last semester's GPA near a 3.5 and plan on doing so again.
-No AP courses taken, but took one semester of Honors, along with taking non A-G mandatory religion courses, which I do very well in.
-Currently planning on getting a 3.5 GPA or so this semester, will that bring me to a 3.0 cumulative unweighted? I am also taking a couple AP courses next year to show continued progression.</p>

<p>EC's:
-100+ volunteering hours, ~60 volunteering hours at a hospital
-Played a year of Lacrosse for school team
-Team Manager for a school sports team
-Was on the Mock Trial team and won a Best Performance award
-Played the piano since age 5
-Robotics team for a couple years
-Fluent in Aramaic/Assyrian, conversational Farsi, studying Latin in school, studied Spanish as well
-Part time job as a secretary for a construction company
-First Generation American, only one parent graduated college
-Doing well in school-required religion courses
-Active member and volunteer at my church
-Took care of my ill grandfather over the summer
-Air Force sponsored Cyber Defense challenge competitor, placed highly
-Very small ethnic minority, might not be URM but definitely a minority which I will mention in my personal statement.
-Will possibly have some of my work published in a professional journal
-DWP competition winner and scholarship prize recipient
-Tutored underprivileged newly immigrated children
-Volunteer at community health clinics for the impoverished
-Member of Future Doctors of America club, Rocket Club, Computer Programming Club, and Emergency Medical Aid club
-National Latin Exam Award Recipient
-Trained/Certified in First Aid, CPR, and Emergency Medical Treatment
-Possibly will become a School Ambassador</p>

<p>Schools applying to:
-All UC campuses, but:
-Dream school is UC Merced. I'd do anything to go there, the reason I'm trying so hard at this point.
-CSUN
-Cal Poly Pomona
-Cal Lutheran
-Biola
-University of Nevada LV, Reno
-The University of Arizona
-Univ of the Pacific
-Other suggestions?</p>

<p>Not planning on attending Community college, that's my last resort.
I'm going to study Pre-Med or go as an undeclared bio major.
If I try very hard, will I qualify for admission by exam to UC Merced?</p>

<p>Chances for these schools? Specifically UC Merced please. Opinions on my Extracurriculars and GPA issue? Comments/insight? All info is appreciated!</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Bump.</p>

3

<p>Okay. So, you can only put 5 Extra curricular activities, 5 volunteer activities, 5 jobs, and 5 educational programs on your activities. Determine which you would put into the APP</p>

4

<p>If you look at the common data set for UC Merced 2013-2014, their average GPA was 3.51 and only accepted 1% of students with a UW GPA less than 3.0. If you get an ACT score of 27, that puts you around the 75% which should help. You have very good EC’s but it looks like you sacrificed your grades to do the EC’s. You would need to address this in your essays.<br>
If you try to qualify by exam, you would need a minimum of 25 on all your ACT sections and you stated above, you have yet to take the ACT.
I would not bother applying to the upper tier UC’s, just a waste of money. Try for UCM,UCR and UCSC which I think are Low Reach
CSUN: Match
CPP: Low Reach
Biola/UOP: Low Reach
Cal Lutheran: High Match
Are your parents willing to pay for OOS tuition for ASU and UNLV??
I would include some other Cal States as safeties: CS Channel Islands, San Marcos, Fresno State, LA are a few possibilities. Good Luck </p>

5

<p>Thank you very much for the responses!
If I can get to a 3.0 cumulative GPA this semester, and I put 100 hours of hospital volunteering, sports team manager, Mock Trial award winner, and 2 year Robotics team member on my application, what % chance would you give me of being admitted? Let’s say with around a 27 ACT or around 1700 SAT. Essays would be average to above average, and I would explain my ethnic background/language.
My parents are willing to pay out of state tuition, but staying local would obviously be best. Again, UCM is my goal.</p>