It’s unclear what subject you would be targeting at Oxford, but the 4 in APUSH is a problem for history and if you lack Calc BC that would make PPE a no-go. More generally Oxford focuses on your “core” APs: Calc BC, English (Lang and lit), foreign language, history (typically MEH and USH, in comparison world history is less highly rated). You’d need to start preparing now, especially lining up a reference that needs to be in UK style and finding a test center for the admission test (will your school proctor this for you?).
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in response to UIUC - I’m just not interested in remaining in Illinois at all. I might consider it as a safety going forward but I know way too many kids from my high school going and I would love to avoid that. As of right now I was planning to ED to one of my reaches (all of which are sub20%), but you’re making it sound like this isn’t advisable - this is largely because of a lower GPA, correct? Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep it in mind moving forward.
I’d be interested to hear what you think, but as far as I know I have enough fives in social studies ap courses (taking AP Euro next year as well) that I should pass the requirements. I wasn’t aware that AP scores impacted you past hitting the minimum. I do have a test scheduled for the fall. I’ve just started the entire UCAS process but have some possible references in mind.
I think you do have a chance at the top schools. Your record makes me think that you could wind up being someone that prestigious schools would be proud to call their alumnus, and I suspect that admissions committees will think the same thing. You clearly have the grades and scores (doesn’t matter if you didn’t take AP sciences if your school only offered honors, especially since you’re not headed towards STEM).
I think that you would improve your odds if your essay conveyed some sense of your ambitions in life. Politics? Activism? Environmentalism? NGO to help the developing world? You’re clearly driven, but in several directions, which is totally fine in high school, but I think that an admissions committee would like to have some sense of your future plans. If your dreams are even starting to take shape in your mind, think about writing about that, and how your past experiences tie in, and how that specific school will give you the education and experience that you need in order to make that dream reality.
For top schools, 4 years of Foreign language is recommended to be competitive and it should be the same language. Starting a different language at this stage will not helpful.
Below are the 2021 overall admit rates by UC campus but not major or residency specific (IS/OOS/International). This information will help gauge your chances and possible other target schools. The GPA posted are based on the Capped Weighted UC GPA only:
| Campus | 4.20+ | 3.80-4.19 | 3.40-3.79 | 3.00-3.39 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | 30% | 11% | 2% | 1% |
| Davis | 85% | 55% | 23% | 10% |
| Irvine | 60% | 31% | 14% | 1% |
| Los Angeles | 29% | 6% | 1% | 0% |
| Merced | 97% | 98% | 96% | 89% |
| Riverside | 97% | 92% | 62% | 23% |
| San Diego | 72% | 25% | 2% | 0% |
| Santa Barbara | 73% | 28% | 4% | 1% |
| Santa Cruz | 91% | 81% | 46% | 9% |
Yes, you have to declare all scores and six 5s is better than four 5s and four 4s. In fact six 5s will likely even be considered better than six 5s and four 4s. That isn’t going to rule you out, but not having a 5 in the subject you want to study very likely will, since APs are considered much easier than UK A levels and you’d better have an A* in your main subject if you were taking those.
Your lack of certainty on major is also a big concern. In the UK, many people spend a lot of time shaping their activities, subjects and reading around their planned university subject from age 16-18. After all, they have to be certain they just want to do that and nothing else for three years.
yes - i was familiar with this. fortunately, my school counts my 3 years of middle school instruction as a year in foreign language, and my audit will hopefully make me a little bit more competitive, but i’m otherwise just stuck w a lack of proficiency in spanish and only two years of full honors language classes in high school. like w/ other class issues, i can chalk this up to having to transition schools btwn semesters and not being offered language instruction as a senate page, but it’s still a sticky point that i suspect will majorly hurt changes at highly competitive schools.
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I’m going to be applying for history and politics and - outside of school - am quite interested and prepared for the subject. i wasn’t aware that the 4 in apush would hurt me, especially since i feel pretty confident in american history. quite frustrating. thanks for the info. i appreciate everybody offering feedback/advice.
thank you for the encouraging words. gpa is still my main concern, and my thinking right now is that my essay really needs to knock itself out of the park if i have any hope at schools that i shouldn’t reasonably be really hoping for. early drafts focused on my previous work and work i hope to do, but i decided to go in the direction of an essay more focused on highlighting struggles earlier in high schools (basically subtly explaining why i got a bunch of Bs freshman year) and some stronger prose.
4.08 capped weighted gpa - not bad by any means, but obviously not ideal for berkeley.
What about your Fully weighted UC GPA? The link below allows you to select Academic indicators, then New Freshman, Select College of L&S to see the breakdown of admits based on the Fully weighted UC GPA.
https://pages.github.berkeley.edu/OPA/our-berkeley/ug-admissions.html
Fully weighted is 4.61 (i think?? i just closed the document) which is a lot more inline w average applicants then the capped gpa. suggests i have a roughly 1/4-1/3 shot at admission, all other things being equal
If you take one thing away from this thread, DO NOT write your common app essay about the struggles that led to getting Bs.
ETA: I’m not saying you can’t mention some early HS struggles, but use a sentence or three for that and then move on.
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You said you needed to think more about your safeties. Based off your current list, I sense a preference for schools in the northern half of the U.S., preferably with easy access to beautiful outdoor opportunities. As you’ve worked as a senate page and have several extracurriculars related to activism and governance, it seems as though proximity to a state capital might also be of interest.
I focused my energies on schools where you are likely or extremely likely to be admitted. You have schools ranging from very small to huge, so that doesn’t seem to have much weight with you. Also, I edited my earlier post as I had mischaracterized my view of your chances at Bates. I thought it would have been in one of the lower probability categories but was surprised when I saw 44%…missing the fact that it was 44% of admitted students who enroll. Thus, I added a few schools for the toss-up category. Washington & Lee is a low probability school, but it’s located between two national forests. U. of Richmond was added because it offers a PPE major, a semester in D.C., is in a state capital itself, and isn’t far from outdoor opportunities (though not as close as Washington & Lee).
And although you’re interested in leaving the Chicago area now, it would probably be a good idea to have at least one or two schools closer to home in case you decide you don’t want to be quite as far away, something that happens not infrequently to high school seniors. Thus, I put a couple of closer possibilities to this list.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
- Boise State (ID)…in the state capital
- Carroll (MT)…in the state capital
- Evergreen State (WA)…in the state capital & CTCL
- Hope (MI) & CTCL
- Montana State
- Muhlenberg (PA )
- Syracuse (NY)
- U. of Colorado
- U. of New Hampshire
- U. of Oregon
- U. of the Pacific (CA)
- U. of Utah…in the state capital
- Willamette (OR)…in the state capital…CTCL
Likely (60-79%)
- College of Idaho…about 30m from state capital
- St. Lawrence (NY)
- U. of Wisconsin…in the state capital
- Union (NY)…about 30m from state capital
Toss-Up (40-59%)
- Bucknell (PA )
- Skidmore (NY)
Low Probability (20-39%)
- Washington & Lee
- U. of Richmond
Lower Probability (less than 20%)
ETA: Forgot to note which schools are members of the Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) organization, a group of schools that you may also want to explore for other possible schools like U. of Puget Sound, Reed, Lawrence, etc.
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Did I miss it? Did you take a year of visual and performing arts that is required by the UCs?
Also, in general, book awards don’t mean that much in admissions.
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sorry, i wasn’t super clear. it sound like i used my personal statement to explain why I got Bs, lol. essay is more about moving past struggling early in high school through activism + nature. it doesn’t directly address poor grades - it just explains where i was at earlier in high school and the process of moving past that.
i took performing arts two years of high school - just didn’t state in original post, sorry.
Your reaches are probably high reaches. Tufts is also a reach.
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What draws you to the UC’s?
- If it’s the fact that they don’t consider freshman grades, then consider Emory as well - great for your areas of interest and also doesn’t figure 9th grade into the GPA.
- If it’s California, then why not some private schools in CA? The Claremont Colleges are terrific for history, PPE, etc - CMC especially has an amazing seminar-based PPE major - and Pitzer & Pomona could be excellent too. USC is a reach but not as reachy as your big reach schools. Santa Clara could be worth considering too.
- Or, is it just ranking?
I would think hard about whether you want to shoot your ED shot at an ultra-reach school where REA/ED still doesn’t give you a great chance, vs. taking a closer look at excellent schools where ED would help a lot, and you might find a great fit. Wesleyan CSS, for example, sounds like everything you say you’re looking for: College of Social Studies - Wesleyan University Emory, Hamilton… CMC gives a big ED bump… so many great options. If there’s a particular super-reach that you just have to take your shot at, then go for it… but definitely ask yourself whether there’s a meaningful reason that you think that’s the absolute best option for you, other than just wanting to win the coveted prize of getting in.
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With only 4 AP classes it is very unlikely that you have 4.61 UC GPA.
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