I’m applying to 10 schools, with my top four “reach” schools being UCLA, USC, Claremont McKenna, and Scripps College
I don’t want to waste money on paying app fees for schools I can’t get into, so I was wondering what my chances of getting in are:
White female
“Priveledged” background, most likely won’t be eligible for need based scholarships
GPA: 3.72 UW, 3.91 W (Low I know)
ACT: 31, 32 superscored (only UCLA doesn’t super score)
35 on the English section
29 on math
29 science
34 reading
Intended major: biology, pre-Med emphasis
Classes: Upon graduation I will have taken:
1 Honors Class
4 AP Classes and Tests
2 Dual-Enrollment Weighted College Level Classes
1 other weighted class not considered honors or AP
I had a full schedule junior and senior year, no study halls or late arrival/early release, TA, anything like that
EC:
4 year varsity cross country and track runner, senior captain for both
NHS and Spanish honor society member
Honor roll/ high honor roll student
I’ve spent many hours volunteering for several nonprofits, including an animal shelter and tutoring refugee children
2 paid jobs while in high school (camp counselor and worked at Target last holiday season)
Editor on the school newspaper
“Freshmen advisor” for my schools student gov (leadership position)
Clairement McKenna and Scripps Colleges look good.
Your GPA and ACT isn’t competitive with current students at UCLA. USC would be a toss-up.
Get some safeties.
Remember that you want a college where you will be a strong student and end up with a PERFECT GPA for med school.
The UC’s are jam-packed with “pre-meds” who are uber competitive and have stronger scores. Get a school where you will be a star and possible receive some merit dollars.
Good Luck!
I actually disagree with the above comment about your ACT score not being competitive. A 31 at UCLA will put you well above average (28 average).
CMC will be the hardest to get into IMO. Mean ACT is 31 and median is 32. It’s also a little less predictable than bigger schools. Good luck!!
I also believe that Clairement McKenna will be your toughest to get in. However, your stats are not good enough for UCLA and USC either.
@ap012199, those averages (ACT 28) include students whose (URM) SES schools, in LA Unified, have decision agreements with the local UC’s. It also includes recruited athletes who are needed for Division I sports. The typical applicant, who is in neither group, has to have above average performances to gain entry.
@“aunt bea” I do understand that, but the average is also pulled up by out-of-state applicants, internationals, etc. I still believe that she has above average test scores for an unhooked in-state applicant. I go to school in CA, and the average ACT for accepted students from my school is 28 for UCLA and 29 for Berkeley (average is 31). Being from CA is hook within itself.
The Common data set for UCLA 2015 shows an ACT score of 33 at the 75th percentile for admission.
Is your school one of the LA County schools? Hooks are something the school needs. Being from California is not really a hook because our schools are public schools, intended and built for California residents, so it’s expected that 90% of UCLA’s admitted students are California residents.
I’ve been working for a while with students in California. To actually be competitive and gain admission, my students had a minimum of a 32 ACT. @uclaparent9 is very familiar with the stats of LA admissions. GPA is low for UCLA
I do not attend school in CA. Rather, I go to the #1 ranked public school in the state of Oregon. My counselor warned me that despite going to the most academically rigorously school in the state, not being from CA would greatly weaken my chances of being admitted. UCLA and the other schools I mentioned are all “dream schools”’ for me so I honestly don’t expect to get in to them, but its worth a shot! Thank you so much for your advice I really appreciate it!
I agree with @“aunt bea” in regard to the competitiveness of the top UCs (such as UCLA) for the instate students. Actually the average stats of the instate admits in UCLA is higher than those from out of state!