Hi I am a sophomore in high school and was wondering what my chances are in getting into a university such as Cal Poly SLO or University of San Diego. I know that freshman year doesn’t count but I had a gpa of a 4.3 first semester and a 4.0 second semester. Right now I am taking two AP classes, and English honors. The first semester is almost over and I already know that I am probably going to get either 2 or 3 C’s. I play golf, waterpolo, and swimming. I have been a girl scout for 11 years and plan on getting my Gold Award. I have also been involved in my church choir for many years now. I also volunteer for an elderly home starting this year. I don’t know if this matters but I am also a lifeguard. I know that I’m not a straight A student or anything but I have challenged myself by taking advanced classes. I would just like to know what my chances are or what I would need to do next year as a junior.
Cal Poly SLO and University of San Diego both use 9-11th grades in their GPA calculation for admissions so your Freshman year grades will count.
Also SLO has their own weighting system so your HS GPA stated above will not be the GPA that SLO uses to determine your acceptance. For USD, calculating your Unweighted GPA is the best indicator in comparing your stats.
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SLO uses grades 9-11th from the a-g courses including any Math (Algebra/Geometry) and Foreign Language courses taken in Middle school into their GPA. You get up to 8 semesters or 4 year long courses of extra honors points for UC approved Honors courses/AP/IB or DE courses taken 10-11th grade. The easiest way to determine your CP SLO GPA is to plug all your a-g course grades at end of Junior year into the Roger Hub calculator.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
SLO admits by MCA points (will post the link to calculate) and major. Some majors at SLO are very selective <10% acceptance rate and some are not, so your intended major will weigh heavily for your admission decision.
MCA link and look at post #52: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/cal-poly-san-luis-obispo/1694769-confused-about-mca-score-p4.html
EC’s are a small part of the SLO application. HS course rigor, CP SLO GPA and test scores are the most important factors. I would try to bump up your grades but continue taking challenging courses as long as you feel you can do well in them. Make sure you do some test prep for the SAT and ACT and give each test a try by end of Junior year. Definitely continue with your EC’s and see where you stand at the end of Junior year. SLO publishes their Freshman Profile for each prior year on their website so you can see how you compare.
https://admissions.calpoly.edu/prospective/profile.html
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USD is a private university so EC’s, essays and letters of recommendation along with GPA and test scores will all contribute to your chances.
According to the common dataset:
Most important are Academic GPA, Test scores and Essays
Important: Class rank, Letters of Recommendation
Freshman Profile for 2017:
Average Weighted GPA: 3.9
62% admitted students had a 3.75 GPA (4.0 scale) or higher
- 25th and 75th percentile GPA: 3.66-4.16
Average SAT I score: 1263 - 25th and 75th percentile SAT I scores 1190-1340
Average ACT composite score: 28 - 25th and 75th percentile ACT scores 26-30
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My advice for any prospective student starting the college search:
- Talk to your parents about college budget. How much are they willing to pay/year for you to attend. For most students, this is the limiting factor when selecting colleges.
- Take a challenging HS course curriculum but not at the expense of your GPA. You have time to get your grades up so work hard. Take classes that you are interested in and have a good chance of doing well.
- Participate in EC’s you enjoy and not for the sake of looking good for any college(s).
- Visit several different types of colleges to see which ones could be a good “fit”.
- Do not get hung up on the “dream school”. There are so many choices out there so be open to the possibilities.
Best of luck.