It’s nearing the end of my Junior year and I feel like my options for University are definitely limited. I know I have some time before college apps but if some of the schools I am looking into are UCI, UCSD, CALPOLY, SJSU, SDSU. I also haven’t set my eyes on a major yet but it will probably be a STEM major, which is pretty competitive I think… (haha, sorry I’m just a clueless, stressed out junior!)
My UW CUMM GPA as of right now is a 3.34
my UC GPA as calculated by rogerhub is 3.39 UW and 3.52 W
I’m taking the SAT this upcoming summer
I run track
I am a board member for a volunteer club and I will be their Secretary for the upcoming 17-18 school year
Also I plan district wide events for that club outside of the home-club (if that makes sense?)
I think I might get a C for pre-calculus this semester but I’m about to work a lot harder to make sure that I raise it up to a B. However if I do end up with a C, how will I make that up senior year? How do you think my chances for U.Cs are looking? Would States be a safer choice? How could I raise my chances of admission at this rate? What should my goal SAT score be?
thanks for any tips!
The schools you listed should all have Common Data Sets you can access. Compare your stats with those who have been admitted.
All CSU’s admit by major and Eligibility index except SLO.
(CSU x800) + (SAT Math+CR)
SJSU list their EI threshold by major so you can see if you are competitive.
http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/impactionresultsfreshmen/index.html
For SDSU, aim for a minimum Eligibility index of 4100 to be competitive.
For the UC’s, your UC GPA is below the averages of 4.0+ and if you are leaning towards a STEM major, you need to be above the averages.
SLO’s average GPA (they use 9-11th grades) for STEM majors is anywhere from a 4.09-4.17. SLO is a Reach at this time.
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%
You should target UCR/UCM and UCSC and consider the rest of the UC’s as Reaches. Your EC’s and essays are considered in your application review but GPA is king with the UC’s along with competitive test scores.
I would target also more CSU’s: Chico State, San Francisco, Sac State to name a few.
Lookup the Freshman profiles for all schools and see where you stand, apply widely and best of luck.
What makes you lean toward STEM majors? A possible C in Pre-calc (and previous D in Geometry) do not bode well for success in most STEM majors… be honest with yourself about your aptitudes and interests. What do you really like to study?