Freshman year of high school I struggled when finding out that I had various mental illnesses (bipolar disorder, depression. anxiety, ADHD, etc.) and was ultimately hospitalized. My GPA that year was a 3.4. Sophomore year I was still getting my act together so I took all on-level classes, except for Honors English and got a 3.7. This year I’m taking 3 AP Classes and have gotten straight A’s all year, despite moving to a new state. My weighted GPA is a 3.97 and my unweighted GPA is a 3.6. Is this too low to even be considered for UCLA? My ACT score is a 31 but I’m working on raising that to at least a 32. I’m hoping that my improvement and high-ish ACT score will make me eligible, but I’m worried that freshman year ruined my chances forever.
Don’t the UCs only consider grades 10-11?
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/gpa-requirement/index.html
UC doesn’t consider your freshman year in its GPA calculations. So hurrah. Look into UC admissions more carefully, including how they calculate GPA and weigh test scores. If you are applying from out of state, know that the UCs don’t give aid to out of state students, so your family will need to be able to pay the full $59,000 / year.
Congratulations on overcoming such a rough start. Your current GPA and ACT will give you a lot of college choices, and getting the ACT up by a point or two will give you even more options. Don’t pin all of your dreams on a single school. Figure out what you can afford then select a range of safety, match and reach colleges to apply to.
I wouldn’t be worried. Your freshman year gpa is not factored into your overall gpa for UC’s (as far as I know), but even if it were, you would be fine as long as you explained your illnesses. I’d say that writing about how you overcame them would make an excellent essay.
Also, it is hard to say your chances given that you have listed no EC’s. If you could share those, it’d be much easier to chance you.