I am applying to all the UCs bar Merced, Riverside, and San Francisco. My UC GPAs are as follows:
UW: 3.59
cap weight (standard UC): 3.95
W (Berk and LA): 4.14
SAT highest sitting: 2210 (680CR/800M/730W/10E)
If I were to get one more A, my cap weight would be 4.0 on the dot. It’s not fair because I have 6 borderline B pluses on my transcript, and I suffered a severe depression from the death of a family member who died two days before my sophomore year. My sophomore year, I detached from really everything, and I got 7 Bs over the entire year (4Bs, then 3Bs). I was still recovering the beginning of my junior year, so I ended up with two Bs first semester, then a 4.0 second semester.
What I am really upset about is my Chem Honors grades from sophomore year. I got 2 Bs both semesters due to severe grade deflation (I went on to win several medals in Chemistry for a lot of different things, got 2 As in AP Chem, and then a 5 on the AP test and a 770 on the subject test I took right after sophomore year). My AP Chem teacher and I get along on great terms, but the same cannot be said about my relationship with my Chem Honors teacher. My brother had the same Honors teacher this past year, and let’s just say she now hates my entire family. I want to major in Chemistry when I go to college. My school has an appeals process in which students can override the letter grade they were given in a class if the teacher approves it. Is it worth it to go up and ask her (in the fall) to change one of my semester grades to an A? I don’t want her to get offended, and I am not grade grubbing, but I feel like the grades on my transcript for that class don’t reflect my performance in the subject. Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks.
A 5 on the AP Chem test and the teacher is supportive of you? Do not jeopardize your relationship by asking her to retroactively change your grade. DO talk to her, express your love for Chemistry and how much she has inspired you, and explain the whole sordid tale to her (if you feel like it). Do ask her for a recommendation. Do tell her that you feel this grade erosion may negatively impact your chances and that you wish it had not happened (if you feel like it). The best person to address this in the recommendation is your guidance counselor, but if you have a report and comfort level with this teacher, it is OK to talk to her about it as well.
Don’t try to game the system. Explain what is, but do not try to ask someone to change it. It will only ruin your credibility with this teacher.
You may be lucky in that (I believe) Chemistry is not an impacted major, so there is that! You have an enviable CV in any case.
@ItsJustSchool I have two separate teachers for Chem: one for AP Chem, and another different one for Chem Honors. Thought I made that clear, but I apologize if I didn’t.
I guess you need to be constantly told in your 26 posted threads that your GPA is good not bad once again. Bad is below 3.0 and you cannot even apply to the UC’s. Here is the average Sats for each UC campus. Yes, your UC GPA is barely below average for many of the schools, but your SAT score is above the average.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/uc-freshman-application-data.pdf
UC’s consider GPA/Test Scores/HS rigor and essays as very important. Work on your essays and make them outstanding. Your EC’s posted on your other threads are competitive. Have confidence in yourself and apply to the UC’s you want. UCR/UCM/UCSC/UCI/UCD/UCSB are all within target. UCSD/UCLA/UCB could be possible. SFSU I assume is your safety.
Life is not fair and you need to get used to the idea. You are a competitive applicant and the only way to find out how much, is by applying to these schools.
@michelle426, It was very clear. What I missed was that you received 2 A’s in AP Chem. I thought you received 1 A one B. News travels fast. The Honors teacher does not like you or your family. She has nothing to gain by changing the grade and will have to justify it through the entire system. She is unlikely to do that for you. The downside is that the Chemistry department consists of professionals that talk to each other and get along with each other. Your other teacher will hear of what you requested. It is not OK to ask for someone to change an evaluation so long after the final grades have been recorded. It appears not to be a matter of principle at that point, but rather a desperate attempt to burnish one’s image. This is the take-home message you will be telegraphing to your AP teacher. Rather than an unblemished view of you, she will then have to grapple with the unsavory side of your psyche, and her recommendation letter may be weaker (for Berkeley and any private schools).
There is nothing magical about 4.0 as opposed to 3.95.
@Gumbymom, I think OP is NOT applying to Riverside or Merced (or, for completeness of the list, San Francisco, which does not have an undergraduate school). She is applying to all UC’s bar these three, meaning excepting these three.
Sorry missed that, but OP has about many many threads always asking the same questions and insisting GPA is bad. Do not know how much affirmation the OP needs that they are a competitive applicant for these schools and applying is the only way to find out.