UC's Chances of getting in? bad EC's, OK academics

<p>I'm planning on applying to the following colleges this fall:
UCI
UC San Diego
UCLA
UCSC
USC </p>

<p>GPA: Overall unwieghted at school as of 11th grade: 3.81
Overall GPA including UC transferable and honors: 4.00 (UC)
SAT: 2190: writing- 660 math-740 CR-790 (retake?)
SAT IIs: Math 2C 730 (retake?)</p>

<p>APs:
12-English
12-Statistics
12-Environmental Science</p>

<p>Honors:
11-Precalc
12-Korean 5</p>

<p>UC transferable community college courses
summer 2004: Art 1
summer 2005: Calc 190 (aka calc AB), Sociology 1, Psychology 1</p>

<p>ECs:
Korean Club: 10-12
Volunteer work at hospital 10-12
Sunday School volunteer teacher 9-12
korean school T.A. at church 10-12
work at parents shop until they quit 9-10
Piano: 9-12 and when I was younger
Taekwondo: at least 4 years</p>

<p>Awards:
golden state exam achievement, 2 taekwondo medals</p>

<p>So you can see that I did not take enough challenging classes untill recently, and all my ECs are out of school.</p>

<p>Will my SAT's help out a little / a lot? and should I retake my SAT I
I am also thinking of dropping my Psychology class right now, without a W on my transcript. would that be a big difference?</p>

<p>What are my chances of getting in?
Thanks</p>

<p>danc5420:</p>

<p>UCLA: Slight Reach
UCSD: Match
UCI: Safe Match
UCSC: Safety</p>

<p>I'd say you have a fairly good chance at most of them... but I suggest re-taking your SAT I's if you have enough time to prep for them.</p>

<p>A few more notes. I have taken the SAT 3 times already. The scores: 1260(old sat) 2080. 2190..
should I still take it over??
thank a lot</p>

<p>Don't take the SAT anymore.
You're set with a 2190.</p>

<p>I'm kind of prejudiced against the UCs because I was told my whole life I would go there (I'm in a rebel stage). However, if you want it, I think you'll get it! The ECs are fine if you decorate them up a bit (presentation is the key), and your GPA is right in the ballpark of UC average (depending on which campus, UCLA is like 4.1 or 2).</p>

<p>I wouldn't retake the SAT MathII. 730 is fine, and scores aren't everything. The saying is, "SATs are less important than most applicants think, but more important than any Admissions Officer will ever admit." Especially for UCs, it's more important that you've taken challening courses and have steady grades.</p>

<p>You should have no problem getting into UCI, you have a chance at UCSD, and UCLA is not out of the question. I don't know much about the others. The fact that your ec's are "outside of school" doesn't make a difference.</p>

<p>Well I can't help you with much but I can try. I applied to all of the UCs except Berkeley and Merced, and also to CalPoly and SDSU. I got rejected from UCLA but I got into the 8 other schools. I'm going to be attending UCSD (undeclared) in the fall because that's the best school I got into.</p>

<p>I hope it helps you a bit by telling you about me.</p>

<p>Academics:
3.7 weighted GPA, 1360 (780M/580V, the first time was 800M/550V) SAT, 800 SAT II Japanese, 730 Math IC, and 560 Writing (I know it's horrible). I took 3 Honors courses and 2 APs which almost nothing compared to all of the people on the boards. Oh, and I started out with a 4.0 the first semester of my freshman year and my grades went steadily DOWNHILL from there. It never went up and my 2nd semester GPA for senior year was a 3.2...(I didn't really take school seriously, if it wasn't obvious enough). I have no clue about how the community college stuff affects you because I never took courses there.</p>

<p>Other:
My only extracurriculars would be sports. At school I played tennis, soccer, and softball (JV during sophomore year, Varsity during junior & senior year). Outside of school I played softball competitvely ("A" travel ball) and also recreationally for one season each, plus club soccer for two seasons. That's really about it. I was in a club or two, but not really.</p>

<p>I think you have a good shot at those schools. If you are applying to UCLA and USC, why not Berkeley too? Also this is my personal opinion but UCSC is probably unnecessary. I was afraid I would get rejected by all of the schools I applied to and I didn't have to waste money on the 5 low schools if I was actually confident.</p>

<p>I see. Well thanks a lot for your insights</p>