University of California at Santa Cruz

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey Guys,</p>

<p>Right now, I'm in my Junior Year (and it's been a bumpy road).</p>

<p>These are Unweighted Grades...
Freshman GPA: 2.6
Sophomore GPA: 4.0
Junior GPA: 3.0 (two C's, two A's, all B's).</p>

<p>Weighted Versions
Freshman GPA: 2.6
Sophomore GPA: 4.0
Junior GPA: 3.5</p>

<p>Sophomore Transcript:
(CP) World History: A/A
(CP) English II: A/A
(CP) American Sign Language: A/A
(CP) Geometry: A/A
(CP) Biology: A/A
(CP) Sociology of American Popular Music: A/A</p>

<p>Junior Transcript:
(AP) English Language: B/B
(AP) United States History: C/B
(AP) Chemistry Lecture: B/C
(AP) Chemistry Laboratory: B/B
(CP) Algebra II: B/B
(CP) Theater I: A/A</p>

<p>Summer Transcript:
(CC) Economics
(CC) Political Science
(CC) American Sign Language II
(CC) Math Analysis</p>

<p>Reason for Junior Transcript: My grandmother has been in the hospital all year. She was basically my mother. Not only that, but I'm at a new school. I transferred from a (very) high ranking suburban school to a low ranking one. The teachers don't teach in my style. Bad excuses, but...
I'd go to a community college first, but that would depress me and I'd probably get low grades. I need the UCSC atmosphere, the seclusion. It'll help me. It's what I need.</p>

<p>Extra Curricular:
-Debate Captain (11)
-FBLA (10)
-BBYO (11)
-CIT at local Jew Camp (11)
-Peer Counselor (10, 11)
-Announcer for Varsity Baseball (11)
-JV Football (10)
-Math Tutor (10)
-just a bunch of pretty cool things
Community Service Hours: 150ish</p>

<p>Scores:
-SAT: 2120
-United States History Subject Test: 770
-English Literature Subject Test: 730</p>

<p>AP Tests:
-Psychology (5) <em>self study</em>
-Human Geography (5) <em>self study</em>
-Environmental Science (5) <em>self study</em>
-English Language (5) <em>well, on practice tests</em>
-United States History (5) <em>well, on practice tests</em>
-Chemistry (4) <em>well, on practice tests</em></p>

<p>Desired Major: Computer Science/Economics
Desired Minor: Psychology</p>

<p>I really dropped the ball Junior Year. I know, terrible. But still. I think that UC Santa Cruz will give me the nurturing environment I need. It'll be a UC with the climate I want. I'm going to stay away from drugs (obviously?) and work my a$$ off in my dorm studying 24/7 and try to transfer to Stanford for Graduate school.</p>

<p>Senior Schedule: <em>I'm transferring back to my old school</em>
(AP) Physics I
(AP) Computer Science
(AP) English Literature
(AP) Calculus ab
(AP) Government/ (AP) Economics
(CP) Academic Decathlon <em>wow, with my bracket, I should be useful. lol</em></p>

2

<p>UCs do not take freshman year into account.</p>

<p>UCSC: Low match</p>

3

<p>Low Match: I’d get in?</p>

<p>Any other UC’s I should apply to?</p>

4

<p>Oh, and does anyone know what the dorm life is like at Santa Cruz?
I love the scenery, but know almost nothing about dorm life.</p>

5

<p>UCSB as a match/high match…</p>

6

<p>Wow, I like UC Santa Barbara, I’ts close to home.</p>

<p>I know that my SAT and AP tests are above their accepted average, but I do have two Cs. How would they view my Cs? Especially with my circumstances right now?</p>

7

<p>Bump!</p>

8

<p>@bigyonb: Check the link for the common data set for UCSC. It will show the %acceptances for a range of GPA’s, SAT and ACT scores along with what they consider important on applications from last year. When the 2014 data is posted you should also take a look to see if there is a difference. You can find UCSB’s common data set by doing a google search. They are a better indicator of your chances. <a href=“http://planning.ucsc.edu/irps/OFFICE/cds_2012-13.pdf”>http://planning.ucsc.edu/irps/OFFICE/cds_2012-13.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
You would really need to explain the reason for the low GPA in your essays and find some safeties. Good Luck. Just an FYI, the UC’s were more focused on High GPA vs. High test scores the last 2 years (based on my experience).</p>

9

<p>UCSC wouldn’t be my safety? lol</p>

<p>What could my safeties be?
I don’t want to go to a Cal State… at all.</p>

10

<p>UCSC could never be counted as a Safety anymore. Like I said, UC admissions have been very competitive with most accepting GPA’s of 4.0+. UCR or UCM would probably be a good safeties. Other than the Cal States, maybe some privates such as Santa Clara, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount or University of San Diego. Your course rigor and the upward trend in grades are significant but like I said in my previous post, high GPA was a better indicator of acceptance for the UC’s. Calculate your UC GPA at the end of year and see how you compare. Also check the accepted Thread of UCSC Class of 2018 to get an indication of what kind of STATs were accepted this year. Write a great essay about your Junior year problems and make a realistic list of colleges. You do not want to be one of those students whom gets shut out of all your choices. BTW, nothing wrong with Cal States especially Cal Poly SLO, SDSU and CPP. Highly regarded for many of their academic programs.</p>

11

<p>Can you even afford to go to an out-of-state private? Perhaps a LAC would be a good idea for your undergraduate needs… some of them may offer you some degree of seclusion.</p>

12

<p>I don’t really want to go out of state. If anything, I want to go to a 4-year university and work my ass off and from there, try to land at Stanford Graduate school.</p>

13

<p>apply to Ucsb Ucd Uci Ucsc and Ucr you should get in at least 2 of them</p>

14

<p>If I get an A in AP United States History and an A in AP English Language this semester, what would my chances be for UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara? </p>

<p>There is a very small chance that I will be able to get a B in AP Chemistry Lecture, by the way.</p>

<p>So, if I get a 4.0 weighted this semester, what would my chances be? (I’d be applying with a UW 3.625/ W 3.875 before this summer; If I’d get straight A’s this summer, which I hope to do, I’ll be applying with a UW 3.67/ W 4.03). </p>

15

<p>What about UCLA or USC? I think that my extra curricular activities are solid.</p>

16

<p>UCLA: Reach (GPA is a little low)
USC: Reach (here freshman year counts)</p>

17

<p>You have plenty of course rigor, decent SAT, mediocre grades, and semi-decent EC’s. UCSC is probably a low match/match for you which means 50-70% chance of getting in. UCSB is match. UCLA is a low reach (30%). USC is a reach because of crappy freshman grades (20% chance). </p>

18

<p>What if I write a killer essay? Start now, end in November. Emphasis this year. My grandmother (who has been like a mother to me) has been in the hospital all year. It’s caused me to miss a lot of classes. For example, I hadn’t shown up to English, math, Chem, and US all of January and March (block schedule).</p>