Hello! I am fairly new to these forums, so please tell me if there’s any formatting issues or if there’s any important information I’m leaving out. Thank you!
Background: Latina/Hawaiian female, upper middle class income bracket (150k+?), from the Bay Area, California.
Stats:
3.36 UC GPA (weighted and unweighted)
1400 SAT (700/700) w/ 17 essay (6/5/6)
Senior Course Rigor:
Symphony Orchestra
CSU Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum
Honors Physics
Economics/Government (1 semester each)
Calculus
AP Japanese
AP Computer Science
Extra Curriculars:
4 Years of Varsity Swim on a competitive swim team
9 years of competitive swimming
8 years of playing the viola in orchestra
2 years in guard (color guard and winter guard)
Senior year as color guard captain
Work Experience:
2 years lifeguarding
2 years as swim instructor
High reach/ dream schools:
UCLA (Aerospace engineering)
Cal Poly SLO (Aerospace Engineering)
UC Berkeley (Mechanical Engineering)
UC San Diego ( Aerospace Engineering)
UCSB (Mechanical Engineering)
Reach schools:
UC Irvine (Aerospace Engineering)
UC Davis (Aerospace Engineering)
UC Santa Cruz (Computer Engineering focus in Robotics and Control)
Match schools:
UC Riverside (Mechanical Engineering)
San Diego State University (Aerospace Engineering)
Safety Schools
San Jose State (Aerospace Engineering)
Your CSU eligibility index is 3.36 * 800 + 700 + 700 = 4088.
http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/impactionresultsfreshmen/ indicates that the threshold for SJSU AE was 3800. Because the thresholds may change from one year to the next, you probably want to put SJSU in the match category instead of safety.
Based on recent past admission rates by GPA, a 3.36 would make UCM a match to high match and all other UCs reaches or high reaches. See http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/freshman-admissions-summary
SFSU would be a safety with mechanical engineering, since it is not impacted and mechanical engineering is not an impacted major there, so baseline CSU eligibility of 2950 should admit. http://www.sfsu.edu/~prospect/apply/impacted.html
The above assumes that they are affordable to you and your family.
Your list is very Reach heavy with no true safety school. Although your SAT is within range for all schools on your list, Engineering of any specialty is extremely competitive and your GPA will be a huge issue.
UCLA/UCB: Super High Reach
UCSD/UCSB/SLO: High Reach
UCI/UCD: Reach
UCSC: Low Reach
UCM/SDSU/UCR: High Match -Low Reach. (SDSU EI target of 4200+)
SJSU: Match
You have no safety so as suggested, SFSU would be a good option since ME’s work in the Aerospace industry.
This is the reality:
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.00-3.39 (UC capped weighted) and not major specific:
UCB: 1.1%
UCLA: 0.9%
UCSD: 0.9%
UCSB: 1.4%
UCI: 3.1%
UCD: 4.1%
UCSC: 14.3%
UCR: 22.9%
UCM: 56.7%
2018 UC capped weighted GPA averages:
UCB: 4.23
UCLA: 4.23
UCSD: 4.16
UCSB: 4.13
UCI: 4.13
UCD: 4.11
UCSC: 3.96
UCR: 3.81
UCM: 3.71
2018 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT:
UCB: 1360-1540
UCLA: 1340-1540
UCSD: 1300-1520
UCSB: 1270-1500
UCD: 1220-1480
UCI: 1230-1490
UCSC: 1210-1450
UCR: 1130-1380
UCM: 1020-1280
You need to par down your list to schools where your stats put you at the 50th percentile or higher especially for GPA. If you have a compelling reason for your lower than average grades/GPA, for the UC’s it can be addressed in one of your personal insight essays. Unfortunately for the CSU’s, you do not have that option and they will admit based on your EI and major.
Best of luck but I would look closer at the Cal States that are not impacted for ME so you will have options from which to choose in the Spring.
https://www.calstate.edu/sas/documents/impactedprogramsmatrix.pdf
What would a compelling reason be? I explain in one of my essays my poor grades sophomore year because I wasn’t aware of my colorblindness, but I don’t think that is enough.
Color blindness would not result in bad grades only Sophomore year since you had the condition throughout your school years. It may have become more pronounced but I think the adcoms would consider it more of an excuse. You could still write about it, but do not use it as an excuse but a learning experience.
There are many very good schools out there that will fit your criteria, you just have to be willing to temper down your expectations.
In the end, most employers will consider your job skill set that you acquire more than the name on the diploma. If you are able to get some hands on experience through internships while pursuing your Undergrad degree, that will be far more important in helping you succeed as an Engineer.
There are several CSU campuses where ME Engineering is not impacted: SFSU, Chico State, Sac State, CSU Northridge. Add these to your list and drop the Reach/Super Reach schools.
Thank you for the detailed reply! I am using the educational barrier prompt to write about how I have “overcome” ("." Because I can’t overcome it, more so adapt) this.
the UC application process has some subjectivity to it so, if you make a compelling case for yourself, a few of them may accept you. Just understand, the odds are tilted the other way - so apply broadly and be sure to include a couple of the CSUs listed above.
good luck.
I got into UCSD, on a full ride, I had a horrible SAT and ACT and an okay GPA (3.7 weighed) I think your personal statements matter a lot.
Alright, thank you so much! I’ll make sure I focus on those. Does anyone know if cal states take December sats?
The only Cal States that do not take the December SAT is SDSU and Cal Poly SLO.