<p>Hello! I'm currently a junior in high school and I really want to get into UCLA but I believe my gpa is too low :(. My ecs are alright I started a club at my school related to poverty and I'm always creating crafts and selling food to fundraise.. any recommendations to get into UCLA without a high gpa?
I did terrible my sophmore year and ended up failing a class which is why my gpa is low. Any answers are greatly appreciated :) Thanks!</p>
<p>It really depends what your GPA is… If it’s like, 3.0 then excellent essays, ECs, etc. could potentially save your app, but lower than that…</p>
<p>Need a specific GPA and SAT score.</p>
<p>Sorry to say but UCLA admissions is pretty much purely GPA-driven. This year’s average accepted GPA was a 3.9 UW (correct me if I’m wrong), which is ridiculous. If you have below a 3.7 UW GPA, your chances will be very very slim regardless of ECs, essays, etc. This is coming from someone who got rejected this year because of a low GPA.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if being in a running start program (going to community college during high school to earn college credits) will boost your chances of getting into USC? I am worried because I only have 1 or 2 extra curriculars per year, but it’s hard with a job and college classes. Will Ucla take that into account?</p>
<p>Waitlist, a total of 30,532 (49.62%) students who applied for Fall 2012 had a 4.0 & above, and only 11,307 got in. A total of 12,707 (20.65%) students had a 3.70 - 3.99, and only 574 got in. These are preliminary figures on UCLA admissions site. I had a 3.98 with a 1730 SAT, and I got in this year.</p>
<p>Okay I’m going to blunt. You will likely not get in with a low GPA, though without knowing how low it’s hard to say what your chances are. The fact that UCLA is the most applied to school in the nation doesn’t help, as they need to cut down applications they go through and they often use GPAs to do it. Extra circulars are mostly used for borderline students, tie breakers, and to determine who can apply to be a Regent’s Scholar. I know people who had 4.0 Weighted and 2000 SAT who were denied. I has a 4.3 and 2110 SAT and got in. </p>
<p>It also depends on your major, if you apply to an engineering major with under a 4.0, you almost certainly won’t get in. You’d have a better chance with some of the less applied to Letters and Sciences majors. </p>
<p>If your GPA is low and you’re set on UCLA, consider going to a jc and then transferring, UCLA loves transfers.</p>
<p>@kathyandrade : Was the 3.98 an UW or Weighted GPA?</p>
<p>jabrown - “The fact that UCLA is the most applied to school in the nation doesn’t help, as they need to cut down applications they go through and they often use GPAs to do it. Extra circulars are mostly used for borderline students, tie breakers, and to determine who can apply to be a Regent’s Scholar.”</p>
<p>I’m sad to say this, but I believe I have to second jabrown’s statement above. GPA comprises a substantial chunk of your application and if the admission board is faced with a 2.87 student, or even a 3.5 student, unless he’s/she’s a prospective athlete or some other unusual circumstance, UCLA will turn the person down because they just have too many superior applicants who received better GPAs. </p>
<p>@helloo3 : No one on this site can give you an answer without knowing your exact GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Also, admission to UCLA, or any school for that matter, is not completely based on those two factors. Your personal statement and EC’s are critical in your admissions decisions, too. Think of it this way when you’re applying : 50,000+ people apply to UCLA. What’s going to set you apart from those who received perfect GPAs and perfect standardized test scores? Did you undergo a particularly extenuating circumstance? (i.e. raised by a single parent out of a job and you had to work a minimum-wage job to support your family and had no time for extracurriculars). Note that in your personal statement. Was there an extremely small amount of APs/Honors classes available to you at school and you took advantage of those that you DID have access to? You might want to put that in your app, but I believe the UC’s already look at how many classes you took compared to how many classes were offered to you. The most important thing to know is that there’s no single formula to how a student can get into UCLA. It’s the most applied-to university in the nation and they turn away a plethora of ideal and well-qualified students each year due to limited seats. (& if you look at their stats, they have been accepting way more Out-of-State students lately because of their shortages in money) I would say you definitely need to strengthen your EC’s as there’s nothing you can do about your GPA now. Starting a club looks great, but if that’s the only thing you pursued throughout HS, it’ll look subpar compared to applicants who were National Merit Scholars and the like. Joining a couple more sports/clubs and REALLY being an ASSET will look extremely good and a lot better than pursuing a mirage of EC’s. UCLA is a reach school for anyone currently due to their 18% admit rate. There’s always a chance. Just strengthen your EC’s, make your personal statement genuine and heartfelt (I can’t think of a better word right now), and KILL the SAT/ACT. Good luck!</p>
<p>My D had a 4.26 GPA and a 2310 and lots and lots of ECs and was waitlisted, but got in off the waitlist. She was Regents at UCSB. She is going to Cal, though, where she was accepted straight off the bat, and is very happy.</p>
<p>It was a shock that she got waitlisted. It is just really, really hard to get into both Cal and UCLA and you cannot assume you will get in no matter what your stats are. Apply. Do your very best on your application. Then just make sure you have other choices you would be very happy with. If you don’t get it, you are fine. If you do, great. But you won’t know unless you try. Good luck.</p>
<p>See if you can retake the class you failed</p>
<p>I had a 3.98 W GPA, and I had a 3.55 UW.</p>