What are my chances of getting into a good UC/College

Going into Junior year high school, the idea of college has been getting into my head on my options preparing to get into a good school. With some searching, I’ve found some critical info for UC’s that the only weighted years towards GPA are Sophomore and Junior and the fact that PE doesn’t count towards GPA and I think it’s important to state that I’m 2 years ahead than the standard curriculum in mathematics putting me at Calculus instead of Algebra 2.

Under my current situation for Sophomore year for the 1st Semester, I got (A’s-History, Chemistry)(B-English)(C-Pre-Cal)(D-French) and understand these are bad grades for colleges.

Going into the 2nd semester looking for a big turn around and improvement I started studying much harder and maintained my previous 2 A’s and the B I had in English and managed to grab a B in french showing upward improvement but hit my biggest slump in my life due to the COVID classes preventing me to take previous tests which I missed before the lock down which ultimately made me fail and brought my GPA down and overall was a hugely difficult situation. Wanting to retake it and grab an A it would bring my 2nd semester GPA of 2.8 to a 3.6 which is quite good? And I assume would show colleges my determination but already is just a super unfortunate situation I hate to be in

Planning for Junior year to work hard and show an upward improvement how would my chances look to colleges if I grabbed a solid 4.0+ for both Junior semesters and did well on my SAT and ACT. My overall dream college would be UC Berkley but I know my stump doesn’t show a reason why I outshine other students. And on a good chance that I wouldn’t be accepted would it be a smart move to take a community college to save money and show my excellence and transfer?

And is there anything else I can do to add to my resume which makes colleges interested which I can start today and be a true stand out?

Welcome to College Confidential as a first time poster.

First off, all the UC’s are “good” along with the Cal states and the many private universities here in California.

The UC’s use 3 GPA’s in their application review which are Unweighted UC GPA, Capped weighted UC GPA and Fully weighted UC GPA. You will need to complete your Junior year to correctly calculate your GPA’s so at this point, no one can gauge the chances at admission at any school.

The UC GPA calculator uses 10-11th grades for the a-g course requirements (excluding courses like PE/Health etc…).

Below are the minimum UC a-g courses needed to apply:

** Required “A-G” Subjects:

a)History/Social Science– 2 years required Two years of history/social science, including one year of world history, cultures and geography; and one year of U.S. history or one-half year of U.S. history and one-half year of civics or American government.
b)English– 4 years required Four years of college-preparatory English that include frequent and regular writing, and reading of classic and modern literature. Not more than two semesters of ninth-grade English or no more than one year of ESL-type courses can be used to meet this requirement.
c)Mathematics– 3 years required, 4 years recommended Three years of college-preparatory mathematics that include the topics covered in elementary and advanced algebra and two- and three-dimensional geometry. Approved integrated math courses may be used to fulfill part or all of this requirement, as may math courses taken in the seventh and eighth grades that your high school accepts as equivalent to its own math courses.
d) Laboratory Science–2 years required, 3 years recommended Two years of laboratory science providing fundamental knowledge in two of these three core disciplines: biology (which includes anatomy, physiology, marine biology, aquatic biology, etc.), chemistry and physics. The final two years of an approved three-year integrated science program may be used to fulfill this requirement. Not more than one year of ninth-grade laboratory science can be used to meet this requirement.
e)Language Other than English– 2 years required, 3 years recommended Two years of the same language other than English. Courses should emphasize speaking and understanding, and include instruction in grammar, vocabulary, reading, composition, and culture. Courses in a language other than English taken in the seventh and eighth grades may be used to fulfill part of this requirement if your high school accepts them as equivalent to its own courses.
f)Visual and Performing Arts (VPA)– 1 year required Two semesters of approved arts courses from a single VPA discipline: dance, drama/theater, music or visual art. Students entering in the fall of 2006 or later must satisfy the VPA requirement by completing an appropriate single course in a year-long sequence (i.e., the second semester must be the continuation of the first semester). If scheduling challenges demand, students may divide the year-long course in two different academic years, as long as the course curriculum is designed as a year-long sequence and approved as such by the University.
g) College Preparatory Electives–1 year required One year (two semesters), in addition to those required in “a-f” above, chosen from the following areas: visual and performing arts (non-introductory level courses), history, social science, English, advanced mathematics, laboratory science and language other than English (a third year in the language used for the “e” requirement or two years of another language).**

You get extra weighted honors points for UC approved Honors/AP/IB or Dual enrollment courses taken 10-11th grade.

The Capped weighted UC GPA gives a maximum of 8 honors points (8 semesters or 4 year long courses) while the Fully weighted UC GPA will have an unlimited # of Honors points for these courses.

Below is a link to determine which courses at your HS will be weighted Honors:
https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist

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

Below are the 2020 admitted student ranges for the UC Capped weighted GPA and you should use these as target GPA’s:

**2020 UC capped weighted GPA averages along with 25th-75th percentile range: **
UCB: 4.22 (4.13-4.30)
UCLA: 4.25 (4.18-4.31)
UCSD: 4.18(4.04-4.28)
UCSB: 4.17 (4.03-4.27)
UCI: 4.11 (3.96-4.26)
UCD: 4.11 (3.97-4.25)
UCSC: 3.94 (3.71-4.16)
UCR: 3.88 (3.65-4.11)
UCM: 3.68 (3.40-3.96)

The UC’s use 14 areas of criteria (minus test scores since they will be test blind this year and probably next year) and they are very GPA focused.

https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/applying-as-a-freshman/how-applications-are-reviewed.html

There are many variables that go into the admissions process including choice of major so the more competitive the major, the lower the admit rate and the higher required stats.

My advice is continue working hard, do what you love when it comes to EC’s, be open to many type of schools, do not fixate on any so called “dream” school and enjoy your Junior and Senior year.

Best of luck.