Uncapped UC GPA also uses 10-11th grades but unlimited semesters of weighted classes such as UC approved Honors, AP, IB,DE/CC classes during this time. The 8 semester Cap is only 4 year long Honors classes so very possible for students to have 8-10 weighted classes (16-20 semesters) for the calculation. Again, HS’s vary in their curriculums so that is why students are evaluated within the context of what their HS offers.
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My kids HS has 8 courses a semester. I had 8 decades ago in a different district thousands of miles away. Kids school used to have 50 minute periods. Now they have a mixed schedule of 50 minutes each 3 days a week and blocks with longer 4 classes per day twice a week, on average. They get a 30-ish minute lunch and another short break mixed in there.
On the other hand, they mandate that anyone doing a dual enrollment course drop two regular classes and only allow 1 DE at a time, which means reducing total credit count and often dropping core academic courses (like language). Dual enrollment is also not like some other school – they don’t recognize the nearest community college and the only option that is recognized for HS transcript credit is a highly rejective private university nearby and they only allow a small number of students in, only after they have completed every possible course in the topic at the HS, got a straight A in every course on the topic since Freshman year and a 5 on the related APs. In the case of science courses, that applies to all sciences – so even if you wanted to take university physics you had to get straight A’s in Bio, Chem, etc. And getting through all the HS courses is tough since most subjects have post-AP courses at the HS, like Linear Algebra, Organic Chemistry, Advanced Algorithms and Data Structures, etc. So to do DE in math you had to be in Calc BC by Sophomore year at the latest, for example.
All of this is rough on uncapped UC GPA since none of the honors courses count, DE options are super limited, and there is no IB. So AP is the only weighted option for most.
The high schools in our district offer 7 classes if desired (the norm is 6) with the 7th class being the “zero” or “A” period. About 1/3 of students opt for that (some just to get good parking 
) but most to get more “rigor” for college admissions . Some districts in CA have a 4x4 block schedule which I like very much, which enables students to take 8 periods. My DD’s private HS mandates 7 classes but the 7th class is not an a-g (a religion class as it’s a Christian school), so it doesn’t help with UC admissions (maybe it doesn’t hurt though, as my DD has been admitted to two UC campuses so far). She did double up a bit with some extra online AP and/or a-g classes taken during the summer and even during the school year at times (but in one case she’d work on those during a study hall period she had).
Good point — I hadn’t even thought about 0 and 7th periods which our school also offers but I think of as “before” and “after” school. My son did have 7 A-G classes one year because his particular section of Jazz band was an after school 7th period. It would be hard to ever have both 0 and 7th period, however, because at our HS that’s when the labs for Lab Science classes meet 2x per week. You pick a section that is one or the other.
That does sound like a hard situation for honors/DE! Sorry. But the good news is that you are evaluated in that context for UCSB and all other UCs. I do get a little concerned seeing how high the unweighted average GPA is at UCSB, but it’s also good to keep in mind that over the past couple of years, GPAs were a bit inflated because they had one semester during sophomore (class of 2022) or junior year (class of 2021) that was graded P/F at many schools.
anyone know when decisions will be released?
March 21st — assume in the afternoon
ty!
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Looking at GPAs from all admitted students to each UC muddies the picture if you are sizing up your stats against average or middle GPA. I would recommend look at admit data for your high school vs each UC. Admissions by source school | University of California
Of course this does not give breakdown by colleges or major.
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Oh for sure. I’ve definitely done that. But even at a school level (I don’t remember which UC thread, but some of us discussed a few weeks ago), at least for our HS, there is a clear GPA bump that seems tied to COVID. I am predicting that resumes a more normal pattern starting this year, but we will see!
Absolutely agree in recommending the “admissions by school” data you link to. It’s very helpful and revealing and keeps things in context!
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Snippet from the email:
Greetings from the UC Santa Barbara Office of Admissions.
The Office of Admissions team continues to evaluate freshman applications. We are almost done with the review of freshman applications! On Tuesday, March 21, 2023 after 3:00pm, PT all applicants will have access to view their admission decision in the [UCSB Applicant Portal]
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I have moved several posts regarding Munger Hall to this discussion thread especially since construction has not yet begun. You are welcome to post your comments on the link below:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/t/proposed-munger-hall-4-500-student-dorm-controversy/
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Data Science only has priority on CS 8, which a lot of other majors also have and isn’t really that hard to get anyways.
The real backdoor into CS is EE. it’s probably easier to get into than DS!
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I was actually told by the office of admissions that UCSB does NOT directly use the uncapped GPA; however they heavily take into account course rigor/number of APs etc, and use the uncapped GPA on their website/UC website for statistical purposes.
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I used the contact form on the Office of Admissions website. That seems to be the only way to contact them.
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UCSB does not admit by major outside of CCS/College of Engineering. They explicitly state that for the College of Letters & Sciences, your choice of major does not impact admissions. Even for Data Science.
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UCSB last year released decisions quite a bit earlier than they announced, around 1pm PST?
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Fingers crossed (although I think it’s hard to get decisions in the middle of the school day; last week my daughter chose to wait to open her Davis decision until after school). Glad to hear you are liking UCSB!
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I’m a mom who is getting very nervous. UCSB is my daughter’s top choice for a UC school, and I’m convinced she would be a great fit there. However, she got rejected from UCD and waitlisted at UCSC. I have read the amazing Gumbymom’s (thank you for all you do!) posts about how all the UCs have different standards, but I can’t help but be disheartened and anxious for my daughter. Has anyone here had a student who has been rejected or waitlisted from UCSC or Davis and gotten into UCSB?
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My D23 in similar boat. She was WL at UCD and most likely WL or denial from SLO (she received early acceptance at SDSU) but UCSB and UCLA are top choice! She only applied to a handful of UCs and two CSUs. So getting nervous! I went back and have scrolled through many of the uc threads for last year’s admissions decisions and have seen so many parents and student post rejections and WL at some UCs, but still receiving acceptances to other top UCs. It seems all over the board.
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I am in similar boat as yours S23 - UCSC accepted, UCD waitlisted in COE , Hard on kids - inspite of getting high grads(3.9+ UW) they have to go through so many rejections from state flagship UCs…
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