What are my chances for UC colleges?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

what are my chances for UCI, UCLA, and many others if I am an out of state resident and I have a 3.6gpa along with a 29 on my ACT?
I participate in two varsity sports (swimming & track) and I am currently a part of BETA CLUB, World Language Club, Honors Society, and many other clubs.
I have been a part of the orchestra program throughout my 4 years in high school. I take AP and Honors classes.

Little background of me:
I am Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodian, and French.
Not poor but certainly not wealthy. My parents escaped Vietnam when they were younger and went to America and started working jobs without proper education. My mother went to college for one year at UCLA but my father is a high school dropout. There is more to the story of my life and my parents that impacted me but I will not post it on here due to personal reasons.

2

Your scores are kind of low…I would suggest retaking the ACT or taking the SAT.

Your ECs are typical of an appliant to the schools you are looking for, so make sure that you use your essays to stand out, and especially put in your story that you mentioned above if the topic deems it appropriate.

Hope that helps!

3

Look at the websites for these two schools and note the cost of attendance.
Your parents are willing to pay $60K per year? OOS students receive no funding.

The UC’s are public universities funded by California taxpayers.
OOS students pay full fees.
Ask your parents if they will pay those prices.

4

UC’s calculate their GPA based on a-g courses taken 10-11th grade only. Since you are OOS, in the calculation, you only get extra honors points for AP/IB or DE courses taken during this time. UC’s are very GPA focused so if your UC GPA is not around a 4.0+, your chances will be low. Intended major will also impact your chances.

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Just to give an idea of admit rates:

Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79:

UCB: 2%
UCLA: 3%
UCSD: 6%
UCD: 15%
UCSB: 14%
UCI: 13%
UCSC: 59%
UCR: 78%
UCM: 92%

Your GPA is low for all these schools. ACT within range for UCI, but below the 25th percentile for UCLA.

Also as an OOS student, you will receive no financial aid so be prepared to pay $60K/year to attend.

UCLA Freshman profile:

Admit rate — Overall 16.1%
Admits:16,494
Applicants:102,232
California Residents (% of admits):56.3%

GPA and test scores of middle 25%-75% students

High School GPA: 4.13 - 4.31
ACT Composite Score:30 - 34
ACT English Language Arts :28 - 32
SAT Evidence Based Reading & Writing: 640 - 730
SAT Mathematics: 640 - 770

UCI Freshman profile:

Admit rate — Overall:36.6%
Admits:31,103
Applicants:85,097
California Residents (% of admits):67.7%

GPA and test scores of middle 25%-75% students

High School GPA:4.00 - 4.25
ACT Composite Score:26 - 32
ACT English Language Arts :24 - 30
SAT Evidence Based Reading & Writing:590 - 680
SAT Mathematics:600 - 740

These are Reach schools to make sure you find some affordable safety and match schools.

5

I think all the UCs except Merced are reaches. The good news is that UCM participates in WUE. Not sure of your home state but, if you are a Westerner, you should definitely look into the program.

Most of the CSUs also participate and it makes the tuition less ridiculous Check it out here:
http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all

If you aren’t a westerner and your parents aren’t wealthy, move here after college - really.