UCSD, UCB, UCI, UCLA

So I just received a rejection from UCSD today and now my mom tells me that it’s hopeless to get into the other UCs that I applied to.

I’m also not sure if I should write a letter of appeal to UCSD to have my application reviewed (since I don’t think my stats are very impressive)

I just wanted to know if I should have any expectations for the UCI decision (seeing as if I got rejected from UCSD, my chances for UCB and UCLA are probably null) or if I should write a letter of appeal
If I don’t attend a UC, I did get into SDSU and I’m considering CC

Unweighted GPA: 3.83
UC Weighted GPA: 4.13
Weighted GPA: 4.37

SAT Scores (Superscore NA since I got this in one sitting):

Math: 650
Writing: 770
Crit Reading: 730
Cumulative: 2150

ACT: –

Extra curricular:
Piano: ~11+ years
Red Cross Club: 4 years
Science Olympiad: 3 years

Volunteer:
150+ hours at library
50+ hours at soup kitchens
100+ hours hosting children’s craft time each Saturday

Work:
Worked over the summer at the San Diego Zoo as an art vendor

Attended CSSSA (prestigious art summer program) in 2014

UC Prompts: Life as 1st gen Chinese, CSSSA

I’m a low income student and also 1st gen (Chinese and female)

If anyone can give me some feedback, I’d be very grateful!
I got a scholarship to be a part of the Reality Changers program at my school, so I can ask them for help, but I thought it’d also be good to hear from other applicants/parents of other students

Thank you!

This is my first time using College Confidential, so if there’s any other information that would be helpful to know, I’ll try my best to answer

bump?

@elixin54: Tell you Mom it is not hopeless. Each campus is different in how they view and accept the applicants. IF you look at many of the posts for UCSD or UCD today, some applicants were accepted to UCSD but not UCD and some to UCD but UCSD. You look like a competitive applicant and you have a good chance at UCI or UCSB. UCLA and UCB might be a Reach but you never know. Hang in there and wait until you hear from all the schools. Good Luck and SDSU is still a very good alternative.

@Gumbymom‌
Thank you for your reply!! I was beginning to think that I should give up on the thread. I’ll try to tell my mom about it (she doesn’t seem keen on talking to me for now, but hopefully there will be a decision from another UC that will change her mind? I’m hopeful)

I didn’t apply to any of the other UC schools (Merced, SB, Davis, Riverside) because of my financial situation and now I’m starting to regret it a bit. However, I’ll see how the other schools respond to me and in the meantime, I’ll work on my letter of appeal (I’ve been told there is not harm in trying)

Again, thank you for your response!

what major?
I don’t think it’s hopeless, although it seems like a lot of great candidates got rejected from UCSD or Davis or both this year. Maybe Irvine will work out? Good luck.

@washugrad‌ I applied to UCSD as a CSE (Computer Science) major with my alternate being Communications.
Thank you very much!

SDSU is a hard school to get into. You should consider looking at the school and the financial aid from SDSU. For your SAT scores and the impacted major that your picked, LA, Berkeley, and UCSD were reaches. You might be able to get into Irvine since you appear to be qualified based on your grades.

Don’t lose faith. It’s hard to get into California schools; the competition is insane so you did well to get into SDSU.

Aunt Bea: Thank you! My parents aren’t so keen on SDSU because it’s not as “prestigious” compared to the UCs in our family, so that is a huge reason why I’m so desperate to be admitted into a UC school (I went to SDSU’s Open House today and I really liked their library and overall campus atmosphere)

I didn’t apply as a computer science major, but I do think that the majors I applied to for UCLA and UCB were impacted (Would undeclared with the intention of applying into their Business school count as impacted?)
I’m not very sure about how impacted majors affect admissions (I’ve heard that it has a large influence but then also that if the school had the intention of accepting you, they would admit you as undeclared?)

I think another factor that might have lowered my chances may have been my AP test scores (I’ve passed 5 out of the 6 I took, but they weren’t amazing scores)

edit: I can’t seem to find a way to tag you, but I hope you see this

@elixin54, you can always pm me. You need to show your parents the common data set for SDSU.

http://university-stats.sdsu.edu/CDS2014_2015.pdf

Right now, people are struggling to get into SDSU-they have a huge alumni network and it is one of the best business schools with lots of community contacts.

they waitlisted almost 2000 students last year and only took 47 off of the wait-list. That means a lot of students chose to go there.

Aunt Bea: I’ll be sure to do so (or try to). Most of my college research has been done by myself (with the help of the College Apps Academy program from Reality Changers). While it’s a bit frustrating, my parents are very focused on the “prestige” of the school (coming from a traditional Chinese family, they had some hopes placed on me that I’d be able to-- sorry for the cliche-- “bring honor to the family”).

I’m just having a bit of an inner struggle about whether or not I should appeal to UCSD (I do feel that I have “new compelling information”, but I’m not sure if it would change my chances (From what I researched, only 1% of appeals are actually accepted). Sorry if I’m being extremely desperate about wanting to go to UCSD and getting accepted, but could you check my thread here on it?:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-san-diego/1751810-appealing-a-denial-from-ucsd-please-judge-my-situation-and-see-if-i-should.html#latest

If I do go to SDSU though, I’ll be sure to make good use of their business program! Thank you for the nice tidbit of information

You have a good GPA so I would not come to any conclusions.

Good luck and don’t stress it.

@ItsHydro‌ I’ll keep my expectations low for now, but thank you very much!

But also if you are considering a CCC, apply as a TAG to any UC except cal, ucla, and ucsd. Tag is basically guaranteed admission after 2 years at a CCC.

You should get into a UC.

  1. Irvine is less selective than SD so you have a good shot there.
  2. You shouldn’t count yourself out at Berkley or LA, you have a shot.
  3. You can get in to a UC campus if you did not apply to if you qualify and there is space.
    Looking at your GPA and test scores, it looks like you do meet the requirements, but you can check for yourself here:
    http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/

@sneoidiwp19011‌ Thank you again, I’ll keep my expectations low but I won’t count the other UCs out (Still waiting for their decisions)

As for the other UC campus, I’ve already looked into it and I don’t qualify (Rather than top 9, I’m in the top 15%). Thank you though!

@sneoidiwp19011‌ Edit: My bad, I thought it was overall with my scores (since my parents and I had looked into it before and we had gotten a letter from the UCs stating that I was in the top 15% (not 9%), but I just calculated it and I understand what you mean now.

I’ll be sure to look further into this, thank you very much!

Definitely appeal the UCSD decision- there is no harm in doing so, only an opportunity to gain.