Is there any speculation about which, if any, GPA carries more weight in the decision process or how AO’s handle GPA’s that are quite different from one another? I just calculated my kid’s 3 UC GPA’s on Rogerhub and came out with the following:
3.75 UW
4.08 W Capped
4.67 W
All but one of her 10th-11th classes were weighted using the UC definition. Additionally, after seeing the capped weighted, I’m really concerned about her chances at the CSUs she’s interested in (I’m pretty sure I read that they only use the W capped. Is that correct?).
According to an admitted student whom asked to check his admission file, UCSB uses the Uncapped Fully weighted UC GPA for statistical purposes while the Capped weighted and Unweighted UC GPA is emphasized for UCSB specifically. UCLA and UCB have stated they consider the Unweighted UC GPA and the Uncapped fully weighted UC GPA in their application review.
For both the UC’s and CSU’s, they expect students to go beyond the minimum a-g courses and since the Capped weighted GPA’s have the 8 semesters Honors cap, the more a-g courses taken, the more diluted the GPA becomes. The schools are not going to just look at the GPA but the overall transcript.
Key factors when evaluating applicants:
Academic grade point average in all completed A-G courses, including additional points for completed UC-certified honors courses.
Number of, content of and performance in academic courses beyond the minimum A-G requirements.
Number of and performance in UC-approved honors, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate Higher Level and transferable college courses.
Quality of your senior-year program as measured by the type and number of academic courses in progress or planned.
Quality of your academic performance relative to the educational opportunities available in your high school.
Outstanding performance in one or more specific subject areas.
A little late to comment, but my son is currently a freshman ME major at UCSB. Currently, they enroll 80 ME students per year. We were told on the admitted students day they they just don’t have the space for any more given the program/classroom requirements. It is a very competitive program and my son is working hard, but absolutely loves UCSB. Best of luck to your student!
Can someone help me understand advantage of CCS? We are torn between applying for Physics in CCS or L&S. CCS has one extra essay as well and daughter is just tired of writing essays.
Yes, we did a bunch of research on CCS last year for D23, including a visit!
I think it totally depends on the kind of student your kid is - if they are pretty self-directed and super curious then CCS may be a good fit.
Advantages? Priority registration (huge), ability to register for UD classes right away, ability to drop a class UP UNTIL the last day of the course (!!), special housing, special advising, special research opportunities, small cohorts. So much to like about CCS! Plus, it is a genuinely cool program - it’s like being at a small college within the big university.
Yes, there is a separate application, but it’s a prestigious program and they don’t take many students. FWIW my student did not find the application necessarily onerous, just a few extra pages of work for a big benefit.
I hope you will read the thread lkg4answers posted - it has more info and, at least last year, there was a CCS faculty member on it.
p.s. You can make an appointment for you and/or your daughter to speak with a CCS advisor via Zoom -they are super helpful!
The UC Counselor conference is held every fall for school counselors and advisers. After the conference they post their pdf and slide presentations on the UC Counselor website accessible for anyone to view. You can also sign up for a newsletter with updates.
They have updates on anything UC related for Freshman and Transfer applicants and current students.
from UCSB catalog:
CCS Courses and Unit Requirements
Courses taken in the College are to be reported in terms of Passed/No Record. The grade Passed shall be strictly reserved for work of satisfactory quality. Each student enrolled in a College of Creative Studies class is eligible to receive a grade of Passed, and will be assigned from one to six units of credit as determined by the instructor of the course. Courses for which the grade of Passed is inappropriate are removed from the student’s record.
Each unit of credit earned is counted toward graduation; 180 quarter-units of credit qualify the student to be evaluated for graduation with a bachelor of arts degree or a bachelor of science degree in the College of Creative Studies.