Hi! I am a parent of an incoming junior. What is the GPA requirement for UC Santa Cruz?
The admissions guidelines are spelled out on the university website at admissions.ucsc.edu/apply/freshman.html
These are minimum requirements. For almost all majors, a student will need to have higher stats. For STEM related majors, the standards will be especially high.
There is no simple numerical cutoff, except that the UCs have a systemwide minimum UC GPA of least 3.00. Note that this is the GPA as calculated by UC, which is different from the way your high school does it.
The UC system is supposed to find a place for anyone who is in the top 9% of their high school class (“eligibility in the local context”). But different high schools have different grading standards, so the same GPA could be UC-eligible at High School A and not at High School B.
Alternatively, you are UC-eligible if you rank in the top 9% of a statewide scale that also considers standardized test scores (“eligibility in the statewide context”). But in that case, the same GPA might or might not be UC-eligible, depending on the associated SAT or ACT score.
The typical UC GPA range for admitted freshmen at UCSC for Fall 2017 was 3.70 - 4.13. Half the admitted students (50%) were in that range. Another 25% were lower than 3.70, and another 25% were higher than 4.13.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/santa-cruz/freshman-profile/
However, many of the best-qualified students who are admitted to UCSC are only using it as a safety, and don’t actually go even if accepted. Most of the students who actually end up enrolling at UCSC have high school GPAs in the 3.25 - 3.74 range, as per Section C11 here:
https://mediafiles.ucsc.edu/iraps/common-data-set/common-data-set-2017-18-revised.pdf
Although UC GPA is very important and the UC’s tend to be GPA focused, test scores, essays, intended major and EC’s all contribute to an appplicants chance for admission. The UC Freshman profiles are updated yearly so you can compare the 2018 data in August when the application is available.
Are you in-state or out of state? In-state UC minimum is 3.0 as stated above while OOS is 3.4.
Here is the UC GPA calculator and all the campuses and most of the literature will quote the capped weighted UC GPA. UCLA/UCB also consider the fully weighted UC GPA.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Although you asked only about minimum GPA, you cannot consider any school just based on one area of admission criteria.
Here is more information on what UCSC considers in the application review. Although UCSC used to be considered a Safety school for some applicants, it is now a campus of choice for many applicants.
- Santa Cruz
- Very important: Academic GPA, Application essay, Rigor of secondary school record, Standardized test scores, State residency
- Important: Character/personal qualities, Extracurricular activities, First generation college student, Geographical residence, Talent/ability
- Considered: Volunteer work, Work experience
- Note: Test scores, GPA in required subjects most important. Personal statement very important.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/santa-cruz/freshman-profile/
as others capture above,UCSC is a competitive admission so, meeting their stated minimum standards is really unlikely to get her in. The link above will show you this years 25th and 75th percentile GPA. SAT, etc. To be confident, you need both GPA and SAT/ACT well above the mid point.