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.