**UCSB Stats Only Class of 2025**

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Barbara
21

My Son:

Decision: Admitted

Merit scholarships awarded (if any): Not Known Yet

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Computer Science

ACADEMIC STATS::

UC Unweighted GPA: 4.00

UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.33

UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.75

ELC (top 9%): Yes

Comments about course load (including senior year): 13 AP Courses mostly 5 and 4; 13 Community College courses in Math/CS/Econ - College GPA 4.0

SAT Subject Tests (if any): Math2:800

AP exams (scores in parentheses): AB(5), BC(5), World(5), Stats(5), English Lang(5), Chem (5), Physics1(4), Physics2(3), CSP(), CSA(),APUSH(4), HumanGeo(4), Gov()

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

SUBJECTIVE::

For the following, indicate level of recognition or award (e.g. local, state, national, international) and/or leadership roles:

Extracurriculars: Trumpet 7years - District level leadership roles - Youth Symphony

Job/Work Experience: 2 years Math tutor @ Mathnasium, Own Software business

Volunteer/Community service: Local charity and community service

Summer Activities: Work/Service

Personal Insight essays (details):

DEMOGRAPHICS:: Asian

State (if domestic applicant): In State

High school type: Public

Gender: Male

Applied for need-based financial aid?:

Pell grant eligible?: No

Maximum Pell grant (FAFSA EFC = $0)?:

Highest level of parent education: Bachelors

Living with both, one, or no parents?: Both

REFLECTION::

Strengths: High School AP + GPA, College Courses + Music (Trumpet) + Work

Weaknesses: No significant awards.

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: GPA + College Course

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Purdue, UIUC, UT Austin, Georgia Tech, UCI (Regents), UCSB, Cal Poly, SJSU
Rejected: UW
Waiting for: UCB, UCD, UCSD, UCLA, Stanford, CMU.

22

Decision: Admitted

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Undeclared (College of Letters and Science)

ACADEMIC STATS:

UC Unweighted GPA: 3.96

UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.12

UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.36

Comments about course load (including senior year): 10 AP/Honors classes

AP exams (scores in parentheses): APUSH (4); AP Physics (2); AP Calc BC (na); AP Enviro (na); AP Euro (na); AP Gov (na)

DEMOGRAPHICS::

State (if domestic applicant): Out of state (NY)

High school type: mid-size/large public high school highly rated

Gender: Female

Applied for need-based financial aid?: No

Living with both, one, or no parents?: both parents

23

Decision: Admitted
Merit scholarships: nothing yet (probably wonā€™t receive anything anyways)
Major: Pre-economics (College of Letters and Science)

STATS
3.83 UW SCHOOL GPA
Rank like 69/250

No Subject Tests
2 AP Exams taken (will take three this year)
Psych-4
Eng. Lang/Comp-2 (yeah I know lol)
Will take
Microecon
Macroecon
Eng. Lit/Comp
6 AP classes in total though
Iā€™m in NHS and Spanish National Honor Society (as if that counts for anything)

Extracurriculars
Worked for my fatherā€™s company during the summers
Volunteered at an orphanage in my hometown every year
Varsity soccer for 4 years and team captain my senior year
3 years of tennis including senior year
Club soccer for a LONGGGG time
Some other stuff I forget though

Essays:
Talked about my leadership position as team captain and how I have to work at other people pace to get far

Favorite hobby/interest was photography whenever I traveled and how photography allowed me to show and open the eyes of people to new perspectives

Talked about my adoption volunteering experience and how I used soccer to bring everyone together and give the children a sense of belonging.

Talked about how being born in Ecuador and cooking with my mom will also allow people to experience new things and add diversity to the University as a whole.

Overall I talked about how I allow people to see the world from a new perspective.

DEMOGRAPHICS
I was born in Ecuador and was adopted by Ecuadorian parents before I moved to USA when I was 1yr and 8 months old
Pennsylvania
USA
College Prep High School
Male
Applied for FASFA for kicks and giggles even though the cost will not be an issue.
Mom got associates degree from a community college
Dad got a bachelors degree in Ecuador
Living with both.

REFLECTION
Strengths: Involved in athletics (I love to play sports and sports is how I have connected with my most of my friends).
Friendly and easy to get along with.
Course Rigor

Weakness:
I am quiet and shy until I get to know the person
Reserved to myself (goes along with quiet)
Can take me a while to pick up on things

Maybe I was accepted because of the diversity they enforce (I have no idea)

Accepted in:
SDSU
SJSU
Cal Poly Pomona
Penn State
Pitt

Waitlisted:
University of Washington
Cal Poy SLO

Waiting on:
NYU
UCSD
UCLA
Berkley
University of Houston

GENERAL COMMENTS
PLEASE READ

I WAS A VERY AVERAGE STUDENT, AS YOU CAN TELL I DID NOT HAVE ANY SPECIAL EXTRACURRICULARS (EX PUBLISHED RESEARCH, INTERNSHIPS AT COLLEGES, CLUBS, NATIONAL RECOGNITION). I HAD PRETTY GOOD GRADES, BUT LIKE MENTIONED NO EXTRAORDINARY ACTIVITIES.

HAVE A STORY TO TELL AND KEEP A THEME THROUGHOUT ALL YOUR ESSAYS, DO NOT BE JUMPING FROM ONE THEME TO ANOTHER. AND MAKE YOUR STORY INTERESTING (DO NOT LIE) BUT BE YOU AND BE AUTHENTIC.

2 Likes
24

Decision: Admitted

Merit scholarships awarded (if any): None

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Pre-Sociology

ACADEMIC STATS::

UC Unweighted GPA: 3.73

UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.09

UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.18

ELC (top 9%): Yes-6/345

Comments about course load (including senior year):
6 AP Classes, 8 Honors Classes

SAT Subject Tests (if any): None

AP exams (scores in parentheses): None

IB exams (score in parentheses): None

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

SUBJECTIVE::

For the following, indicate level of recognition or award (e.g. local, state, national, international) and/or leadership roles:

Extracurriculars: Student Leadership, African American Heritage Club, NHS, Link Crew, Boys Varsity Tennis, Caring for late mother, Journaling. In these positions, Iā€™ve served as a commissioner, treasurer, club president, captain, and secretary.

Job/Work Experience: None

Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering at local church since freshman year, not sure the amount of hours but heavily involved over the course of 4 years

Summer Activities: None

Personal Insight essays (details): For my special talent or skill question, I wrote about how new ways that I applied critical thinking skills from my English 9 honors class encouraged me to observe people in a new light. On my next prompt, significant challenge, I wrote about my motherā€™s death. Itā€™s impacts and what I did to overcome it as well as new wisdom I gained. Next, for the prompt about an educational barrier I faced, I talked about how having an absent father influenced my academic drive. Finally, for the prompt asking why I would make a good addition to UC, I talked about how Iā€™ve spread compassion on my campus to connect students regardless of differences (race, gender identity, religion, orientaion, etc).

Letters of recommendation/Augmented Review: None

DEMOGRAPHICS::

State (if domestic applicant): In-state, CA

Country (if international applicant):

High school type: Public, midsize

Gender: M

Applied for need-based financial aid?: Yes

Pell grant eligible?: N/A

Maximum Pell grant (FAFSA EFC = $0)?: N/A

Highest level of parent education: High School Diploma

Living with both, one, or no parents?: No parents

REFLECTION::

Strengths: Essays, Number of AP/Honors Courses, Leadership positions in activities, Class Rank

Weaknesses: Unweighted GPA, no major awards or work experience

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I gave context to my life experiences that have influenced my accomplishments and aspirations. My essays were a big help in getting these messages across. I also took advantage of the limited number of AP and Honors courses at my school.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: CPP,CSUF, CSUSM, ASU
Waitlisted: UC Irvine
Waiting to hear from: UCSD, UCLA, SDSU, Columbia, NYU, USC, Harvard, Princeton

1 Like
25

Daughter waitlisted psychology

GPA
UW 3.97
UC CAP 4.21
UW: 4.58

Top SoCal public school

12 AP

Great major-related ECs and PIQs per counselors

4 year varsity VB

Admitted: Indiana (honors), TCU (honors), SMU (honors), USD (honors), SDSU (honors); waiting on UCD, UCLA, UCB, UCSD, Northwestern and Penn

26

Sonā€™s Decision: Admitted
Intended major: Econ
UC Unweighted GPA: 4.00
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.34
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.44
In-state/OOS/International: IN STATE
Local/Non-local: NON-LOCAL (Sacramento)
Not top 10%
HS course rigor: 6 APs/Honors 1 IB class, Business Sr. Year
ECā€™s: 2 sport athlete, Volunteer, Seal of Biliteracy
Good Essays

Accepted to Cal Poly SLO, SDSU, Alabama, U of Utah, Chapman, UofA/Honors, ASU/Barrett Awaiting decision from UCLA, UCD and Cal.

27

Decision: Admitted (OOS)
Major applied to: Psychology ( Pre-Psychological & Brain Sciences)
ACADEMIC STATS: 4.5 W GPA, 3.8 UW, 34 ACT
Comments about course load (including senior year): I took all the honors and AP Classes I could throughout high school
AP exams (scores in parentheses): Iā€™ve taken 10 tests so far (will have 15 by the end of this year) and I have all 5s except for a 4 on APES and 3 on AP Gov.
Job/Work Experience: 3 part-time jobs. Lifeguarding, Piano Instructor, and Server at a Restaurant
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer EMT and Hospital Ambassador. Also a member of three service clubs. Three leadership positions
Summer Activities: Researched COVID-19 misinformation at UCSB ( virtually) this past summer, my part-time jobs, volunteering
Personal Insight essays (details): I had my peers edit mine and I also went to an information session hosted by UCSB on how to write personal insight essays and it was very helpful!

28

Daughter admitted (OOS) US citizen based out of country
Major applied to: undecided
ACADEMIC STATS: 3.5 UW went on to 4.0 in second semester
Comments about course load (including senior year): chemistry, biology, maths
Job/Work Experience: 2 internships in hospitals

Volunteer/Community service: lot of community service. Organizing Fundraisers for covid affected golf caddies, fundraiser for cyclone affected farmers, volunteering at Mother Teresaā€™s orphanage and teaching kids from low income group.

Personal Insight essays (details): Impactful PIQs

29

syracuse decisions came out??

30

Decision: Admitted

Merit scholarships awarded (if any):

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Mechanical Engineering

UC Unweighted GPA: 4.0 UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.27 UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.63 ELC (top 9%): Yes

Comments about course load (including senior year): 17 AP/IB/CC Classes, IB Diploma

SAT Subject Tests (if any): Math 2: 790, Bio: 770

AP exams (scores in parentheses): Human Geography (5),

Biology (5), Computer Science (5), Lang (5), Calc BC (5) and Physics (5)

IB exams (score in parentheses): World Religion (6) Taking HL Physics, HL Math, HL English, SL Spanish and Music now.

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): PSAT Commended

Extracurriculars: Robosub Team (Semi-Finalist), Math Club (UCSD Math Competition Team won first place), Track (JV Athlete of the Year), Youth Entrepreneur Award (city competition) second place

Job/Work Experience: TutorVolunteer/Community service: Church High School Youth Group Leadership (3 Years),
Worship Team-Plays guitar and cajon in band (4 years)
Music- Piano, Guitar, drums (from 4 years old)
Church Middle School Group Leader (3 years)
Lots of volunteer hours helping community (activities at church, food bank)
Youth Court Juror (4 years)
Trained for, raised money and ran the LA Half Marathon as part of a group to bring clean water to children in Africa. Group raised over $100,000.

Summer Activities: Summer school every summer

Personal Insight essays (details): Spent lots of time on them.

State (if domestic applicant): California

High school type: Public

Gender: Male

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: SDSU, CPP, Cal Poly Slo, UCR, UCI

Waiting to hear from: UCSD, UCLA, UCD, UC Berkeley

31

Some at least. The day my daughter got hers (Friday, March 5) they were apparently only released for those awarded Leadership Scholarships. I donā€™t know what has been released since then.

32

Decision: Admitted
UC GPA: 4.0(weighted)
Major: Pre poli sci
Courses: 4 aps(school does not have honors) 2 dual enrollment
Ap tests: 5(APUSH and Spanish lang)
Extracurriculars: Varsity sports captain, competitive dancer(national titles), student government, mental health and latinx culture club
Work experience: Actress(some small tv/movie roles) SYEP(city funded paid program)
PIQs: Honestly nothing crazy. Wrote about what I wanted to like my English class, love of history, how Iā€™m ā€œfamousā€ on Spotify, and dance.
Public high school in NYC
I am a pretty average student so I am just sharing so other average students see this and donā€™t get discouraged. My biggest advice is to find the things youā€™re passionate about, do them well and do them often. And write what you want to write about even if it might be ā€œbasicā€ or common because it is how you write not what you write about.

33

Decision: waitlisted
major: music composition (College of Creative Studies)
UC unweighted GPA: 3.7
UC weighted gpa: 4.0
ELC: n/a
7 APs, 1 honors, overall good riggor
AP world (4) APUSH (3) AP Music thoery (4) AP lang (3)
major awards: Congressional Award (Silver Medal)
EC: strong ECs, tons of club involvement with leadership roles, also had a pretty impressive internship, lots of community involvement.
Work experience: worked two jobs one customer service, one administrative assistant
Volunteer: 200ish hours
Summer activities: nothing too notable
PIQs: wrote 3 really strong essays and one pretty weak one. Played heavily into my desire to study music as opposed to STEM (probably helped excuse lower gpa)
State: CA
HS: College prep charter
Gender: male
Parent education: Masters
Living with both parents
REFLECTION:
strengths: really good essays, applied to a small unique major (I should mention I was not accepted into my major at CCS which required a supplemental application)
weaknesses: low GPA (got one C junior year + several Bs, had only pass grades to report in 2020)
Why I was waitlisted: conveyed I was a very passionate student through essays and extracurriculars. Didnā€™t get accepted because of gpa I think.

34

Decision: Admitted
Merit scholarships: Unknown. Invited to Chancellorā€™s Reception
Major applied to: Mechanical Engineering
UC Unweighted GPA: 4.0
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.33
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.42
ELC (top 9%): yes
Comments about course load (including senior year): 10 AP (out of 13 offered, 6 senior year) + UC recognized Honors PLTW Engineering Pathway
AP Exams: APHuG (4), APUSH (4), AP Chem (4), AP Eng Lang (4)
SAT: 1550
Awards: National Merit Commended, Nevada All-State Academic in Cross Country, Basketball and Track, NIAA Div 2 State Champion in both Cross Country and Track 4x800m Relay
ECā€™s: Senior Class President (officer all 4 years), Varsity Cross Country, Basketball ,Track (team captain), Athletes Committed Leader, WASC Committee Student Representative
Job/Work Experience: Jr. Ski Instructor with 8 years ski racing experience (winter), Jet Ski Rental Associate (summer), Ropes Course Attendant (summer)
Volunteer/Community service: Youth Basketball Coach, Peer Math Tutoring, Lake Tahoe Marathon Volunteer
In-State (although his high school competes athletically in NV)
High school type: 4 yr Public (Fringe Rural)
Gender: M
Applied for need-based financial aid?: No
Highest level of parent education: JD, BS
Living with both, one, or no parents?: Both

35

Decision: Waitlisted
Major: Psychology

ACADEMIC STATS
Unweighted UC GPA: 3.82
Capped Weighted: 4.11
Fully Weighted: 4.14
Course Load: All honors, No APs (not offered at my school), IB Diploma Candidate
IB Exams: Psychology SL (6), Chem HL, Math AI SL, English HL, History HL, Spanish B SL
ACT: 34

SUBJECTIVE
ECs: Model UN (president), Environmental Club (club leader), Drama Club, Spanish Club, Service Club, middle school volleyball coach, local magazine journalist, stage manager, actor, and childrenā€™s teacher for local community theatre/nonprofit organization, NHS

Awards: Leadership Award (theatre-based), Service Award (school, 4 years)

Job/Work Experience: Hostess at Country Club (2.5 years), Server Assistant at Country Club (1.5 years), Babysitting (5 years)

Volunteer: Theatre stuff listed above, arts education instructor for underprivileged elementary school students, volunteer at local homeless shelter

Personal Insight: All really well-done according to my counselors, probably 8-9/10

DEMOGRAPHICS
State: WI
High School Type: Private/Catholic
Gender: Female
Highest Level of Parent Education: MD
Lives with both parents (divorced, separate homes)

REFLECTION
Strengths: Good essays, strong theme in ECs, test scores (not applicable at UCs this year)
Weaknesses: Lower GPA, lack of ECs/awards that show my interest in major
Also accepted at UW-Madison (in state), U Minnesota, Alabama, UCI, UCSD
Rejected from UNC
Waiting on 8 more target/reach schools

36

Decision: Admitted

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Chemistry

ACADEMIC STATS::

UC Unweighted GPA: 3.91

UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.00

UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.14

Comments about course load (including senior year): 7 AP classes in total and all honors classes every year of high school (none of the honors were considered UC honors). 2 AP classes, 7 dual enrollment classes with the University of Minnesota during my senior year. Also a year ahead in math, took calc BC during my junior year.

AP exams (scores in parentheses): US history (5), Lang (3), Stats (4), Calc BC (5), Euro (5)

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Commended National Merit Scholar

Extracurriculars: Varsity swimmer for 5 years, state finalist, captain. NHS officer (secretary).

Job/Work Experience: McDonaldā€™s summer before sophomore year, Lifeguard summer before junior year, and no job before senior year due to COVID.

Volunteer/Community service: Swim coach (about 150 hours in total), and other various volunteering with NHS and my swim team (about 100 hours in total).

Summer Activities: Swim team and Job

Personal Insight essays (details): Iā€™d say 2 out of my 4 essays were strong, the other 2 were okay and kind of weak.

DEMOGRAPHICS::

State (if domestic applicant): MN

High school type: Public, about 2500 kids. Top 3 high school in Minnesota multiple years in a row

Gender: Male

Applied for need-based financial aid?: No

Highest level of parent education: Both completed a graduate program

Living with both, one, or no parents?: both

REFLECTION::

Strengths: Nothing was super strong in my application. My swimming career probably helped because of how much time I dedicated. It was 8 practices a week usually totaling in over 20 hours of swimming each week and I was also enrolled in decently hard classes every year of high school. Also being a commended National merit scholar may have cushioned my GPA a bit and shown I could do well on standardized tests during a test-blind application process.

Weaknesses: Definitely my grades. I had 7 Bā€™s on my transcript and I thought that would be my downfall lmao.

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Honestly I donā€™t know, it seems people with higher stats than me were rejected.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted to University of Minnesota, UC Santa Cruz via early admission, UCSD, UCD. Rejected from UChicago and UCLA.

37

Decision: Admitted
UC Unweighted GPA: 4.0
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.21
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.47
Comments about course load (including senior year): 9APs, incl. CalcBC, PhysicsC; 5 senior year
Tests: None taken
Major Awards: National Merit Finalist; AP Honors
Extracurriculars: Peer Health Educator, 3 years (very active!); public health programs at local university
Volunteer/Community service: volunteer at transitional shelter, 3 years; election poll worker
State (if domestic applicant): CA
High school type: Large public
Gender: F
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: UCSC (w/Regents); Oregon; Washington
Waitlisted: UCLA, Michigan, Wesleyan
Rejected: Northwestern, Tufts