<p>So I am a TAP certified student who applied to for Fall 2014 admission at UCLA. I had a 3.42 GPA at the end of Fall 2013. After winter 2014, I had (and currently hold) a 3.49 gpa. I was able to submit my winter grades before January 31st. I am a Political Science Major, who has completed all pre-reqs by Winter 2014 and have recieved all "A's" in my major prep classes. Basically, I have a 4.0 major prep GPA. My alternate is cogntive science. I completed all articulated pre reqs for that major, as some classes are not articulated at my CC. </p>
<p>Basically, can someone chance me? I would really appreciate it. Will my winter grades be factored into admission? WIll the gpa be calculted using winter or Fall?</p>
<p>Don’t be so certain. UCLA TAP significantly boosts one’s chances of being admitted. For most TAP applicants, it’s all but a guarantee. I’m a member of my school’s UCLA TAP program and more than 90% of the members of the program who apply to UCLA get in every year. In one year, in fact, 98% got in. Seriously. :O</p>
<p>In this applicant’s situation, TAP could mean the difference between admission and rejection. One of TAP’s benefits is that it allows one to gain admission to most majors with a GPA somewhat below the admitted average. To give you an example, the average admitted GPA for philosophy at UCLA was 3.61 last year and it’s usually in the 3.5-3.6 range. Typically, having a 3.4 or below will mean that you’ll be rejected from that major, but I’ve seen people on this board getting in with 3.4’s, 3.3’s, and even 3.1’s.</p>
<p>Sure, political science is impacted, unlike philosophy, but trust me, TAP is capable of working miracles. There’s a reason that over 80-90% of all TAP applicants at many, if not most, CCs get admitted to UCLA. Generally, it seems that TAP unofficially enhances one’s GPA by about .3 or .4, e.g. a 3.5 GPA applicant being admitted to a major with an average admitted GPA of 3.7 or 3.8. That’s what I’ve consistently seen on this forum in past years, anyway. If anything, TAP is sometimes too effective at what it does. </p>
<p>The OP certainly has a shot at UCLA’s political science program in my opinion. Let’s hope he gets in!</p>
<p>I agree. It’s a good advantage and most, if not all, TAP members do get accepted to UCLA. I’ve seen it before when the TAP applicant gets in with a 3.2 or 3.3-3.4ish GPA to a non-impacted major. I have yet to see this for an impacted major though. I’m sure the alternate major may work in the OP’s favor though. </p>
<p>UCLA’s TAP benefits are useless to those who wish to gain admission to Berkeley, but Berkeley’s TAP program is very helpful in that 80% of applicants who are members of the program are admitted.</p>
<p>@WhiteTiger84, very powerful. According to the people we talked to during the TAP meeting at UCB (I’m a TAP member for both UCLA and UCB) they told us that our apps get some sort of “special code” so that the admissions committee know we are TAP members. Plus according to them there’s an 80% chance of getting admitted into UCB if you’re a TAP member. </p>