UCs and USC.. my chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>okay this is my first "chance" post. so im a bit nervous
i heard usc's ranking striked up this year so i might consider this school as my slight reach school.</p>

<p>oh and before you read my stats, if you know which major is the most competitive major at usc, would you please post a quick reply?
im planning to apply for 'bio science'(what exactly is this?) or 'biochem' or 'chem.' Which one would be the one i might (most likely) get in? :/</p>

<p>okay stats.</p>

<p>*rank: my school doesnt rank. its one of the toughest high school in california. (you have to take a test to get in. though it's a public school) People under 3.0 gpa get kicked out.. so if a school asks for a percentage, it would be around.. top 25%. (we have total of 167 in our class)</p>

<p>*gpa: cumulative 3.93 unweighted 3.84 uc gpa 4.0 (i know its quite low. i took many 4.0 classes (ex.orchestra, spanish))</p>

<p>*sat(ugh): verbal 550 math 750 writing 630 = 1930 yes im retaking it
*sat ii: korean 800 math iic 750</p>

<p>*courses
FRESHMAN YEAR GRADE (3.85, 3.85)
English I HP A A
Geometry HP A B
Biology HP A A
Spanish P A A
Concert Band P A A
Computer Application I B A
PE A A</p>

<p>SOPHOMORE YEAR GRADE (3.5, 4.0)
English 2 HP C A
Algebra II/Trig HP A A
World History HP B B
Chemistry HP A A
Spanish 2 P B A
Orchestra P A A
PE A A
Health Science 1/EXP Health Career B A</p>

<p>JUNIOR YEAR GRADE (4.14, 4.29)
Lang and Comp AP B B
Pre Calculus HP A A
APUSH B B
Biology AP A A
Spanish 3 P A A
Orchestra P A A
Anatomy B A</p>

<p>SENIOR YEAR SCHEDULE
AP Literature
AP Calculus BC
AP Govt
AP Chemistry
Physics HP
Orchestra
T.A. (maybe)</p>

<p>so basically, i was very strong at math and science but i never really got history and english
9-11: 8 Honors 3 APs
9-12: 9 Honors 7 APs</p>

<p>*AP tests:
AP language and Comp - 2 yea.. i dont know what happened. lots of ppl from my school failed :/
AP bio - 4
APUSH - 3</p>

<p>*Extra Curricular Activities:
2 years of CrossCountry</p>

<p>4 years of Orchestra (Flute)</p>

<p>10 years of Piano</p>

<p>4 years of Key Club</p>

<p>Founder of RedCross Club on campus
- secretary
- president</p>

<p>400 volunteer hours
- YNIA 120+
- clubs 50 +
- hospital 200
- Library summer reading program 30</p>

<p>3 years of NHS</p>

<p>Currently taking a Psychology class at a community collge</p>

<p>um.. i cant think of anything else. there might be few
i thought consistency counted so i took 4 years of few things andd i heard finding a club and holding a position for 2 years in a row might help too.</p>

<p>*Work experience:
Tutor since 8th grade</p>

<p>*others
- came to u.s. in 2001(7th grade)
- very good~excellent rec letters
- low income family</p>

<p>well this is it. and can anyone see my chances at UCs too?
though some might say my gpa and sat are too low for ucla, i dont know if its only my school but lots of 3.7 gpa and low 1900s got in to ucsd (which supposely has avg of 3.9 gpa and high 1900s). if ucla is a extreme reach school for me, what are my chances at ucsd bio major? </p>

<p>thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>You'll probably get into UCSD. They have a formula to determine admission. If you want to be sure, look it up and plug your stats in.</p>

3

<p>To determine your "UC GPA" which is what you need to know in order to understand where you are likely to be admitted among the UC campuses, you throw out the freshman grades, throw out the PE courses and Health courses, and throw out the Orchestra/Band courses. Then you cap the honors courses you took at 8 for the sophomore and junior years.</p>

<p>This means that your UC GPA would be computed as follows:
Sophomore year
English C A
Algebra/Trig A A
World History B B
Chemistry A A
Spanish B A</p>

<p>Junior Year
Lang and Comp AP B B
Pre Calculus HP A A
APUSH B B
Biology AP A A
Spanish 3 P A A
Anatomy B A</p>

<p>So you got 13 As, 8Bs, and 1 C, and you did more than 8 semesters of honors/APs.</p>

<p>Your UC GPA is [(13 x 4) + (8 x 3) + (1 x 2)+8] / (13+8+1) =
[52+24+2+8]/22 = 86/22 = 3.909090 or 3.91</p>

<p>The rules can be found here:
<a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/scholarship_reqs.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/scholarship_reqs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The admit profile of those admitted the last few years can be found here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2006/freshman_admit_profile_2006.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2006/freshman_admit_profile_2006.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Looking at these charts and your stats, you are a match for UCSB, UCD, and UCI--a very slight reach for UCSD (your two SAT II scores move you above the averages on the sheet)--and a reach for UCLA and UC Berkeley--especially in the sciences and engineering. You are a safe match for UCSC, and UCR and UCM are safeties for you.</p>

<p>Personally, since UCSB has one of the top-rated chemistry programs in the whole country, I'd apply there if I were you--or I'd apply for biology at UCSD. (I'd also apply to both UCI and UC Davis--and maybe UCSC as a safety).</p>

<p>As far as USC, now you compute the GPA the way you've done it for weighted (but not for unweighted). Anyway, USC is a match to a slight reach--you are almost right on the borderline of admit/reject applicants.
Since I don't know what is the least popular major there, I can't help you with that one.</p>

4

<p>yeah I agree, UCSD is probably a slight reach. UCLA, Berkeley, and USC are all reaches.</p>

5

<p>conf123:</p>

<p>UCLA: Reach
UCSD: Slight Reach</p>

6

<p>i thought my uc gpa was 4.0
i did it with my counselor and she once worked for uci admissions
i thought it was because orchestra counts as arts and chem and precalc counts as 5s</p>

<p>im so confused now.. dang what was she talking about?!</p>

7

<p>okay i found out that orchestra does count (f-visual and performing arts)
and i did it for 2 years so.. its gonna be
3.92.. yea not much different from 3.91 but yup.</p>

<p>anyway.. so sd is slight reach and la reach?
i think sd with better sat score would be match for me
i am aiming for around 2100
thanks ppl</p>