Hello!
I am going to be an out of state applicant applying to four UCs – Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and UC San Diego.
What do you think my chances are?
UC GPA is a 4.0 (i think this is what matters most and the regular school gpa isnt taken into account)
Regular weighted GPA is about a 3.7 (3.3 freshmen year, 3.95 sophomore year, 3.95 junior year)
Took 2 AP Classes, got an A in chem and a B in english language (didn’t pass the exams with a 4 or 5 on either). Taking 5 APs my senior year
My SAT scores aren’t very good at all but I am getting consistent 30s on my ACT practice tests.
My extracurriculars : President of one of my school’s business clubs (FBLA, National Organization)
Founded a technology club at my school and am president.
A certified EMT with lots of hours and president of my cadet core (about 12 cadets) at a local first aid squad
VP of another business club at my school (DECA) Won a 2nd place state award
VP of school’s science club
I was a member of 2 other clubs at school but no leadership position
Had an internship at a nonprofit over the summer
Also a part of national science honor society
Yeah so this is basically me! What do you think? Some other schools i’m applying to are : NYU, BU, Northeastern, Boston College, UMD.
You are within range for UCLA and UCB with GPA and test scores, although slightly on the low side. Your HS course rigor looks a bit lacking with only 2 AP courses by Junior year unless they are not offered until Junior year. You have decent EC’s.
If they are affordable, $55K/year with no financial aid, I would say they are probably a Low Reach . You do not state your intended major which could impact your chances.
@Gumbymom At my school, there are no AP Classes offered freshmen year, and sophomore year the only choice available is AP History 1 (Half of the apush course 10th grade, half 11th grade). Since history was not a topic of interest for me i decided to take honors(which will not be recognized as a uc-approved honors course since i am out of state)
I am still undecided as far as major is concerned. I am not doing engineering and i am not doing pre med. I am most likely doing political science or business. But either way, i would be applying to the college of letters and science at UCLA and Berkeley
Both schools are selective and competitive so getting the ACT in the 32+ range should help. It may come down to your essays, so make the shine.
Good luck
Thanks for your input 
@Gumbymom
You can have 1 part of the app be slightly weak if you rock out all the other parts. Polish those essays, and have a couple of superb recommendations lined up. If one of your SAT scores is low, consider asking for a recommendation in that area to mitigate a low score by someone talking up your willingness to work on that area or other things you do in that area that are stellar. Good Luck.
UC’s do not accept LOR’s so no help there. UCB did invite applicants to submit LOR’s as a trial last year, so not sure this will be true this year. Present the best application possible and all you can do is hope for the best.
No, that’s not true. Yes, UCB is asking for rec letters, up to 17% of candidates. My daughter was one of them, so I am speaking from experience. Let’s see if more are asking this year…Jury not in yet, but yes, I am talking about other top college approach as well…
So you’re saying that after your application is sent, UCB will ask 17% of the candidates for letters? Youre not supposed to send it with the app right?
Last year, UCB invited applicants to submit LOR’s. I have not seen the UC application for this year, but if they ask for LOR’s as part of the application process, then you can send them in. If not, then you will have wait for them to request them.
There is no spot for LOR on the UC App. But for that matter, there is no spot on the common app eaither
From UC Website:
Transcripts & letters of recommendation
Don’t send official transcripts when you apply. If you’re admitted to UC, then you must submit final transcripts to your campus admissions office.
UC does not require (nor read) letters of recommendation at the time of application. A campus may ask for them later as part of a supplemental review, so be sure to check your email.
Hi! I just started at UC Berkeley as a freshman. I was asked to send a LOR after my application was submitted. They asked me in mid-December. They don’t ask everyone, and I don’t know their criteria for asking for LOR. I have heard it may be if you are in the “borderline” zone but don’t worry LOR should never hurt your application, only help you. It must have helped me I guess. To be frank, your GPA is pretty low. So you might not get into UC Berkeley or UCLA (I didn’t get into UCLA lol). But you have a better chance at UCSD and UCSB. Also major is a HUGE factor. To most of the UC’s I applied for engineering so you should be near the top 25% for sure if you apply for a competitive major.