<p>-Asian Male
-1760 Sat Score (540 CR, 660 Math, 560 Writing) - above avg according to UCD’s standards
3.7 Cummulative GPA
-Took APUSH in junior year
-Senior year I will be taking - AP Econ, AP Gov’t, AP Calc AB, AP Lang, reg. biology, and regular economics
-My financial situation is not that great - my dad is jobless, and my mom works in a laundrymat (we do make ends meet though), one sister is working at safeway (went to Mills), another just graduated from UC Davis (looking for work) - though I’m not the first child to go to college, are my chances slimmer b/c my sisters went to college?
-Extra-cir: 3 years of LEOS volunteering, 3 years of Marching Units (with quite a few parade awards), 1 year in Winter Formal Committee, I got about 300 community service hours, and I’m a galley book reader over the summer. (I’m volunteering at my local library and reading non-published books and writing reviews for them), I also plan on doing one year in cross country during my last year as a senior (because it doesn’t show committment, should I still join? I still will do my other activities though), I also help my dad do work with photoshop (he is trying to sell his photography, it was his part time thing before he was laid off) *does that count as extra-ciriccular? I do spend a lot of time helping him with it…Lastly, I will try to work at my school during the school year to save $ for college (about 100 a week, not bad for min wage)</p>
<p>You might get in. I believe that being Asian will affect your chances and your GPA is rather low. I’m looking at a 4.45 and 2,100, 710 Chem, 770 Math II from June and I’m sweating about mid-tier UCs lol.</p>
<p>You never know.</p>
<p>Did you take a lot of APs throughout high school? Is the 3.7 your UC GPA?</p>
<p>I’m not sure you are going to get any hardship points. You never know, but don’t count on it. </p>
<p>You only really get credit for SIGNIFICANT awards and leadership roles. Not just involvement. Your 300 hours of community service will definitely help and earn you points. I think awards are only recognized if they are on a state or national level. </p>
<p>One year of cross country during senior year will likely not help your college app. If you are only doing it to help your college resume, don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>About photoshop… it is something you can talk about in your essays as a passion. It would be useful if you were majoring in media arts, but won’t be a major EC that will earn you any points. </p>
<p>Overall I would say you are a high match/low reach for Davis. You have decent stats so you should get in at least one of the mid tier UCs.</p>
<p>Your race will not act against you, lol.</p>
<p>Definitely agree with Cali Trumpet. Work on those SAT scores a bit, take the ACT just in case (it really DOES matter! I have a friend whose SAT score is around yours, but he got a 34 on his ACT!), and don’t let your senior GPA crash. Also, why are you taking AP econ and regular econ at the same time?
You should also apply for a lot of community service-based scholarships and start looking for leadership positions around school and your community.
Don’t let that supposedly “above average” SAT score fool you. I know and I’ve seen people who got scores in the 2200’s, only to be rejected by UCD… but your EC’s definitely shine, so just be sure to put a lot of emphasis on that and your personal life rather than academics.
It really, REALLY depends on which major you’re looking at too. Engineering is typically harder and more focused on math/science, while humanities have a pretty wide range.
One last thing - you have a good chance to get in. This means that even if you get rejected when your results come in March, PLEASE appeal because you will probably get in!</p>
<p>be confident and hopeful. dont let people like chunk scare you. I know plenty of people (including myself) who were admitted into UCD this year with similar grades as yours. My own gpa is significantly lower than yours… my SAT isnt much higher… and I was admitted to UCD, UCSB, UCSD, and UCSC (I was quite surprised o.O wanted to go to UCB but my 3.3 just doesnt break it lol.) Good luck, I think you’ll get admitted =]</p>
<p>If it’s anything like this year, you may be rejected the first time around.</p>
<p>Davis goes by a point system, and some things they award points for are high grades/SATs (arguably the most important factor), leadership positions (big ones like President/VP), academic improvement, overcoming hardships, regional awards, and being a first gen. student (i.e. your parents didn’t go to college). Grades aren’t everything, but those who get in without those high GPAs and SAT scores usually have other things that make them shine.
It’ll be tough. You can demonstrate some of the above things through your essays. For now, the criteria you have most control over are your SAT scores, so I’d try to raise those up. (Don’t forget: you need at least two SAT IIs.)</p>
<p>And Cali Trumpet is right–if you’re running XC just to put it on your college app, it won’t help much. This may sound cheesy, but stick to the things you’re actually passionate about.</p>
<p>Good luck, and start early on those essays! The UC prompts are unlikely to change, so just search them up online and start brainstorming.</p>
<p>Also, from the looks of your ECs… I think you go to my school. Does your name start with an F?</p>
<p>-Ethnicity will not affect it.
-SAT, GPA: below average.
-AP’s will not affect.
-EC’s will help
-Write some good essays</p>
<p>I give it 40% chance. Good luck!</p>
<p>I agree with hermanliu, don’t let the people in this thread scare you into beliving that you don’t have a good chance, a 3.7 GPA is great if all you are taking is AP classes. I had little ECs, took almost no AP classes, had similar stats and still got in to most UCs, so I wouldn’t worry about getting into Davis.</p>
<p>Your SAT is NOT on par with UCD’s standards.</p>
<p>Their AVGs for ACCEPTANCE is around 1800-1900, with their AVG for people who actually YIELD is around 1700-1800.</p>
<p>Based on this year, with the economy going all bad, i’d say you def. need to work on your academics (sat/grades) in order to have a favorable chance.</p>
<p>You have a very good shot. My friend got in with a 1600 SAT and 3.8 GPA, so you should be okay. However, it does depend greatly on the major you chose. I chose Bioengineering in the school of Engineering, and got rejected with a 4.1 GPA and 2080 SATs. To my knowledge, they are the only UC that admits by major, so be careful.</p>
<p>Oh, also, to people saying that you need to write good essays, that’s not true. Their admissions are point based, and the essays only serve the purpose of getting you points. So find out what you can get points for and try to include that in your essay. Family hardships are a good example.</p>