I attend one of the best high schools in Maryland, Poolesville HS and was in a humanities magnet program. I decided this year that I had no future in the humanities and did not want to continue with the program so I dropped out of it. I am a junior and am really stressed about college because my freshman year grades as well as my highschool credited grades from middle school were terrible as well. I ended up with a 2.85 after freshmen year. I did not even know it was this bad until the middle of sophomore year. I did not do too bad the 1st semester with a 3.28, but I knew I had to try 2nd semester so I got a 3.42. Then junior year came. After I dropped the humanities program, I got straight A’s in 1st semester and Straight A’s second semester. My GPA unweighted was about a 3.4. Now, I really want to get into a better college, and I heard that UC schools only look at sophomore, junior, and senior year grades. If this is true, what do you think my chances are in getting into schools like UC irvine, davis, santa barbara, ls angeles etc. PS. I get around a 30-32 on the ACT.
My extracurriculars include robotics, varsity basketball, 3 clubs, Varsity volleyball, as well as AAU basketball. I took four AP’s junior year, 1 sophomore year, and 0 freshman year.
UC’s look at all grades but only use 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation. Senior grades are not considered for your GPA, but UC’s look for HS course rigor.
For an OOS applicant, you need a 3.4 UC GPA minimum to apply. Here is the calculator: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
OOS applicants cannot use any “honors” courses for the extra points, only AP/IB or DE courses.
Please repost with your UC GPA and intended major, ACT scores and EC’s.
Unweighted GPA: 3.61
Weighted GPA: 3.89
Weighted and Capped GPA: 3.89
intended major is computer science
Since highly competitive majors will need stats above the averages. UC’s are very GPA focused, so higher test scores will not make up for a lower GPA.
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:
UCB: 12%
UCLA: 14%
UCSD: 39%
UCSB: 49%
UCD: 52%
UCI: 57%
UCSC: 83%
UCR: 90%
UCM: 92%
UCI: High Match (average CS UC GPA was around 4.11)
UCD/UCSB: High Match-Low Reach
UCLA: Reach
You might want also consider UC Santa Cruz and Riverside for solid Match schools. Again if your intended major is capped/impacted, you will need a higher GPA. Essays, test scores, HS course rigor and EC’s are all taken into consideration as part of the admission decisions so they can help your chances.
You should also be aware that OOS students will not be given financial aid for the UC’s, so expect to pay full price around $55K-60K/year. Your stats will not get you any merit aid at these schools either. Something to think about if you want to pay that much to attend.
Good Luck.