UC Schools

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>This is my first post here on CC, quite exciting! Anyways, I'm posting to ask about the UC schools and what their particular emphases are - for example, a lot more GPA-oriented than scores? Or GPA and test scores over extracurriculars?</p>

<p>I'm one of those cases who have a low GPA (3.65 - but hopefully after first semester I can bump it up to 3.7 - would that make a big difference?) but have high test scores (1510/2310 SAT, 740/720/750 SAT IIs). I have the most rigorous courseload possible, with two college courses this year in addition to 3 APs. I also have two small-ish businesses and 3-4 leadership positions. I am planning to send a historical paper or two to the colleges as well.</p>

<p>So, I guess what I'm asking is that will my GPA really hurt me? I'm applying to UC-Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UC-Santa Cruz, UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Irvine, and UC-Davis - and I'm out of state (haha, sorry, forgot to mention that; that's quite important too).</p>

<p>What can I do to improve my application?</p>

<p>How heavily are essays weighted? Do I send my transcript in (but they ask you to enter in your grades - do we still need to send the transcript in by Nov. 30 or afterwards as they instruct?) And what about teacher recommendations?</p>

<p>The UC Application is very unusual, in my opinion.</p>

<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>Your SAT scores are outstanding I think you have a shot at ucb and ucla if you have extra curriculars and will have good letters of rec.</p>

<p>ucsb ucsc uci and ucd i think you have a really good shot at </p>

<p>oh, just read youre out of state, im not sure how much that will affect you...</p>

<p>UC application is dreadful, I'm only applying to ucsb and I think I've gone crazy filling it out</p>

3

<p>No letters of rec for the UC's. They wont look at them.</p>

4

<p>I'd like some more feedback, and in fear of being buried in this very active forum, please bring up my post (BUMP)!</p>

5

<p>UCR, UCSC, and UCM are very numbers-oriented. UCSB, UCI, and UCD are also pretty numbers-oriented. UCSD is numbers-oriented, but less so, and Berkeley and UCLA aren't nearly as numbers oriented. The most important factors for Berkeley are GPA (+ rigor of course load) and essays (of all the UCs, it seems to be the least numbers-oriented). GPA tends to be the most important factor for public schools. At the top UCs, a high SAT score very often can't compensate for a weak GPA. Search the College Board for each UC and go to "admissions" -- it lists what each considers most important, etc.</p>

6

<p>Take a look at these statistics at the UC's most OOS students apply to- your chances as an OOS with a less than stellar GPA are very low.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/365439-out-state-admissions-uc-s.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/365439-out-state-admissions-uc-s.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>Why the OOS interest in UCs? As a UCLA grad I always wondered how the few OOS students felt sitting in the same large classes and paying so much more. Also, at UCR, and UCI and probably UCM you'll have little diversity amg Californians as UCI is most Orange Co. and Riverside students commute from home w/in 20 miles of its campus. If you have your heart set on CA look to Claremont, Occidental, even Pepperdine (hope it's not burning tonight).</p>

8

<p>UC Davis uses a point system and spells out pretty plainly how many possible points they assign to each admissions factor:</p>

<p>Freshmen:</a> Application Criteria for Selection Process</p>