@Studious99 I’m not the one paying for the college apps and they’re quite expensive. Many of the mid-tier and lower-tier uc’s seem quite identical to me with minor advantages and disadvantages. I plan to apply to Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UCI, and UCSB. Maybe UCR as a safety. The bad thing about Berkeley is that I can’t put a second choice major. I would like to apply for the MET program and I need to apply to EECS for that which is crazy competitive, so I could end up outright rejected. I know UCSD admits to second choice majors if you don’t get into engineering sometimes. Not too sure about UCLA. I know Berkeley and LA are holistic and that they might be a tiny bit forgiving, but I’m not sure to what extent. I’m also unsure whether my ec’s will have a non-negligible impact for them since I have a C.
Also, I’ve been thinking about retaking the first semester of physics at the local community college and can include that in my UC gpa, but it won’t wipe out the C. Would this be a good use of $230 and 80 hours? Will it mitigate the effects of the C to some extent? But then with an 800 on the physics subject test I’m not sure if the C is a big deal. UC’s claim that gpa is the most important factor, but what percent of your application they are is unknown. Same thing with MIT. If it was a C in a humanities class, I probably wouldn’t care as much but the thing is math, computer science, and physics are my primary interests and my ec’s are centered heavily around them.
@Gumbymom would there be any benefit of applying to all uc’s? I don’t think Davis can would really work because of the location and I didn’t really like it there. Plus it’s pretty much identical to Irvine No one I know applied to Merced even the kids with the 3.2. They went to ucsc and riverside and I’ll apply to one of those as a safety. $210 isn’t a lot but it just seems a little unnecessary. Do you think I have a decent shot for the Berkeley and la engineering programs with my overall profile, despite the c and the slightly lower than average gpa? I know the uc’s used to use a point system where your gpa would carry the most weight and if you passed a simple threshold you’d get in. Now it’s much more ambiguous but if your numbers are in range and your essays and ec’s are good should you get in? Will a c have a negative impact? Also, my counselor can’t submit a rec for uc’s so I’m not sure how I’ll explain the c without making excuses. I’m a bit hostile with the teacher but I don’t want to make myself look bad and blame it on him. I shouldn’t appear lazy as my academic record is mostly good but I also want to appear proficient with the material. Will an a next semester and an 800 on the subject test prove proficiency?
@billcsho I’m applying to Michigan at Ann Arbor for engineering. I also saw on their website that you can apply with a 3.0. Are they just trying to lower their acceptance rate by having more unqualified people apply? Would 3.78 uw be sufficient? Stem uw gpa including some community college classes should be 3.82 if you include 9th grade and 3.81 if you don’t. Also will being out of state help me since I’ll be paying the extra tuition? The cost is not a problem and if it’s a quality education and I didn’t get into berkeley or la then it’s worth it. But is it better than ucsd?
Also, is someone with higher grades necessarily more competitive than someone with lower grades of both applicants demonstrate they can do the work and graduate in four years? This is excluding the subjective factors. Will both applicants make it to the second round and be on the same playing field in terms of stats?
Also, I read the MIT forums on here and MITChris said that an applicant with a lower gpa (definitely not a 1.0 but not I’m sure of the exact numbers) might make it in if they’re particularly compelling. I’m not sure how compelling my ec’s are, but I do have a passion of using technology to make the world a better place and am demonstrating it through my various endeavors. I didn’t have any circumstances that would make these look extremely impressive, but a lot of it is self-motivation. From what I know, someone does occasionally slip in with a 3.5 but I’m not sure if they had any C’s, especially in calc or physics.
You can apply to UMich CoE with 3.0, but their admission average uwGPA is 3.9+ and they do put more emphasize on GPA than test score. It is one of the top engineering school in the country with most major, except ChemE, within the top 10 in the nation. They have plenty of high quality OOS applicants to choose from and they don’t really care if you are full pay or not.
@billcsho acceptance rate seems to be around 30% so it’s not terribly selective, but my gpa might be a tiny bit of a concern. I hope my ec’s can help to make me a strong applicant. Definitely a good option though. I visited the campus and it was very nice. My parents don’t want to pay 60k though unless it’s HYPSM so I hope the uc’s take me. Umich and ucb both seem pretty comparable.
Not for OOS, and not for this year. The overall admission rate was near 30% in previous years. The EA applicant pool size at UMich increase 20-25% this year and the OOS admission rate is around half of in state students. You are looking at the mid teens. The CoA of CoE is $65-$70k at UMich and their engineering is better than at least HY.
The total UMich CoE admission rate for 2017 was 21% including in state and OOS. The number is for sure going lower this year. Its definitely not terribly selective when compare to Stanford, Caltech, or MIT.
@Prestigious Nerd
You are definitely a qualified and competitive applicant for many schools. UCLA/UCB should be considered Reach schools regardless of your GPA and test scores. A C will have an impact but how much no one can say. If your overall application is good, then the C could be seen as an anomaly.
If you are ELC eligible, then UC Merced would be the default campus if you are not accepted into your choice UC. I do not think you should apply to all the UC’s, although UC Davis is an excellent choice as an Engineering major. What is important is that you like the school you attend and feel it is a good fit. If UCD is not one of those schools, then do not apply. A happy student= a successful student.
I also feel you are overly obsessive about the whole college admissions process. Concentrate all your efforts on doing well in HS and enjoy participating in your EC’s. At the end of Junior year, reevaluate your college list and identify some true safety schools where you would be happy to attend no matter what.
You seem like a very capable individual, so you will succeed where ever you end up. Your success will not be defined by where you go for undergrad, but what you do with opportunities you are given.
@“Prestigious Nerd” I would say your C will hurt your chances at some of these schools because of the fact that it is AP Physics - a class that is quite relevant to your choices (EECS, etc.) especially your engineering choices. All of your choices right now seem pretty high reach. I would suggest you take a look at some safeties and less “prestigious” schools that have good special programs for your area of interest.
For now, focus on your grades and ECs and SUMMER PLANS (cannot stress this enough). If you would, please clarify exactly which programs at which schools you are now looking at (I see that you have revised quite heavily your application list because of that C).
@7eeer33 can one c really have this much impact? I practiced for the subject tests and have been getting 800s so content isn’t a problem. The problem is the many failed homework assignments and lab reports. I have huge tensions with the teacher as well. But I learned my lesson and can get straight A’s next semester including physics. I also have a bunch of other stem related achievements like my ec’s. Can this be seen as an anomaly semester and can everything else, including the math research paper, outweigh it? Especially the c. This is not a consistent pattern. The C is not the reason I revised my application list, but rather just because of the hyper competitiveness.
Her are the specific schools I’m looking to apply to. I don’t think all of them admit by major. For most I’m applying to computer science/engineering.
Super Reaches: MIT, Stanford, Princeton (SEAS), Caltech
Less Reachy: Cornell (Engineering), Upenn (SEAS), Columbia (SEAS), Brown, Berkeley (EECS & MET), UCLA (CSE), CMU (SCS), Umich (EECS)
As a match I’ll apply to UCSD for CSE. I’m also applying to a few other UC’s as safeties but I’m not focused on those since those require barely any effort.
Can I still get into one of these programs despite this blimp grade? How can I prove that I have the prowess and that this truly is an anomaly. I don’t want to make excuses in my essays because I had a bad teacher. I know the the upper Ivies and equivalents are huge Reaches but I at least want to get into Berkeley or LA or a low to mid tier ivy like Cornell or Penn. what can I do specifically to put myself in a good position for these schools. I seriously don’t want to be the most accomplished person at a CSU or Merced.
@“Prestigious Nerd” Yes, it has been told many times to you already that the C will impact your chances. How much, I don’t know. In addition, “practiced and got an 800 so there aren’t problems there” is not a guarantee of getting 800 on the actual tests. I’m sure you had the same thinking going into the Physics C class, but that didn’t turn out as easy as you thought.
In addition, with what @ucbalumnus said above, completely agree. All of the schools you have listed from your matches to your super reaches are ALL VERY LIKELY REACHES. You must understand that Berkeley MET has an acceptance rate of 2%, and many of those schools in the “Less Reachy” area including your qualification of “low to mid tier ivy like Cornell or Penn” are extremely difficult to get into. UPenn and Cornell both regularly reject people with more qualifications and higher grades and scores than you. Your application is made even more difficult with your current grades, low GPA & SAT score, and lack of focused/high level ECs.
I am not saying that it is impossible, just that you must stop thinking that your schools are remotely matches or low reaches. As I said previously, find some schools that are actually safeties and matches. Perhaps someone else will give you a list that accurately match your profile.
@7eeer33 the current semester is an anomaly but i should have straight A’s every other. I’m not a c student. I’m a normally a student who happened to receive one c. Honestly is a 3.78/4.5 really that low? And how is a 1540/1600 a low sat? Also, how are my ec’s unfocused and low level? I do have depth in quite a few ec’s and have committed time to them. Also, I have leadership and am doing graduate level research. I thought my only problem was my grades, not ec’s or test scores. My teachers have commented very positively on my ec’s in letters of rec for summer programs. What can I do to improve my profile specifically?
@ucbalumnus what about getting into the top uc’s for letters and sciences? Ucsd is literally right next to me and I don’t think my stats are horrendously low. Plus I can go in undeclared if I don’t get cse. I also found out that you can’t transfer into eecs from outside engineering at Berkeley. What about applying to materials science and engineering and try to transfer from within the coe?
@ucbalumnus should my qualifications be enough to get me into ucsd/ucla/ucb for engineering or at least stand a fighting chance? My weighted is a 4.5 and it seems to be about average for admitted students. Also, was the capped major applicant information for ucsd based on high school gpa or college gpa? Do you really need a 4.0 in high school?