What are my chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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1

Hi! I was wondering what my chances of being offered admission to UC Berkeley, UCLA, UVA, University of Southern California, University of Michigan, Wake Forest, Boston College, Georgetown, and Wesleyan are. I understand that these are very selective schools, so I also did apply to safety and target chools.

Demographics

  • US citizen
  • Location: Berkeley, California
  • Type of high school: Private college prepatory school
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Woman, half white and half Asian (Chinese)
  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): My parents attended UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara, so no legacy status.

Intended Major(s)

  • History
  • Pre-Law
  • Alternate Majors: Sociology, International relations

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.85
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.26
  • Class Rank: Not done at my school.
  • ACT Score: Composite 32 (English 35, Math 26, Reading 34, Science 34)

Coursework

  • AP Classes: AP French, AP Calculus AB, AP Environmental Science (AP classes are being phased out at my school, so there are not many AP classes available to take. However, my school does offer honors classes, so I took every honors class that I could.)
  • AP Scores: AP French (3), AP Calculus AB (not taken yet), AP Environmental Science (not taken yet), self-studied for AP US History (4).
  • Highest level of math reached: AP Calculus AB
  • Highest level of foreign language reached: Honors French Cinema and Literature (a seminar class taken after AP French)
  • Electives: Photography every year of high school, finishing with Honors Photography Portfolio in my senior year

Extracurriculars

  • I attached a resume of my full activities list to all the colleges I could. I listed the first ten activities on the Common App.
  • Self-Taught Music: Guitar, Ukulele, Piano, Singer/Songwriter (Grade participation: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)
  • UC Berkeley Art History Internship (Grade participation: 11th, 12th)
  • Community Engagement Board Executive Member (Grade participation: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)
  • Varsity Track & Field (Grade participation: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)
  • Student School Ambassador/Tour-Guide (Grade participation: 10th, 11th, 12th)
  • Music Appreciation Club President/Founder (Grade participation: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)
  • Lifeguard (Grade participation: 10th, 12th)
  • English Tutor for Youth in Ukraine (Grade participation: 10th, 11th, 12th)
  • Part of an initiative that creates and distributes personal protective equipment for San Francisco Bay Area communities in need (I sewed 250+ cloth face masks) (Grade participation: 10th, 11th, 12th)
  • Multiracial Club (Grade participation: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)
  • Asia Club (Grade participation: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)
  • USA Swimming (Grade participation: 9th, 10th)
  • Junior Varsity Soccer (Grade participation: 10th)

Essays/LORs/Other

  • Essays: I think that I had strong, but not decision-making essays.
  • LORs: My junior year Honors English teacher and my junior year AP French teacher wrote my LORs. My college advisor read them both and said that they were both very strong.
  • Included a note to colleges about how AP classes are being phased out at my school.

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • Did not apply for financial aid
  • Did not apply for any scholarships

Schools

  • UC Berkeley (RD)
  • UCLA (RD)
  • UVA (was deferred ED)
  • University of Southern California (RD)
  • University of Michigan (was deferred EA)
  • Wake Forest (RD)
  • Boston College (RD)
  • Georgetown (RD)
  • Wesleyan (RD)
2

I was also accepted to Northeastern University EA and deferred from Tulane EA if that provides any added insight.

3

Can you calculate your 3 UC GPA’s? GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

The admit rate table posted below (courtesy of @ucbalumnus for putting into a table format) shows admit rates for 2021, Capped Weighted UC GPA and not major specific. Competitive majors will have lower admit rates.

As you know UCLA and UCB do not consider test scores but overall you are competitive but so are the majority of UC applicants. Best of luck.

98%

Campus 4.20+ 3.80-4.19 3.40-3.79 3.00-3.39
Berkeley 30% 11% 2% 1%
Davis 85% 55% 23% 10%
Irvine 60% 31% 14% 1%
Los Angeles 29% 6% 1% 0%
Merced 97% 98% 96% 89%
Riverside 97% 92% 62% 23%
San Diego 75% 35% 5% 1%
Santa Barbara 73% 28% 4% 1%
Santa Cruz 91% 81% 46% 9%
4

I.e. Northeastern is now your safety, assuming that it is affordable and otherwise suitable?

5

Thank you so much for your insight! Here are my 3 UC GPAs. I did not include my freshman year grades, since I have been told they are not evaluated for the UCs. Let me know if that was incorrect!

Unweighted GPA: 3.96
Weighted GPA: 4.50
Weighted and Capped GPA: 4.27

6

Yup!

7

9th grades are not used in the UC GPA calculation but they are considered by admissions in your application review for completion of the a-g course requirements and HS course rigor. Both schools should be considered Reach schools but Reachable. Having one EA school option already, anything else is icing on the cake.

8

Great, thank you so much!

9

Odd that you applied to huge and small. So you have no cost constraints? These are all very expensive (except UC). Maybe the huge (UCs) because they are the elite of the UCs so that would make sense. Given where you applied, I’d have thought maybe W&M over UVA…but that’s ok.

If you got into Northeastern, you are very impressive. I wish you could get your math score up. Did you submit (the non UCs) or apply TO (other than Gtown).

These are all great schools - including Northeastern. Outside of the UCs I can see you getting into a few - but also into none.

So that you got into Northeastern, maybe you’ll grab a few more - like WF and BC. Northeastern is an impressive admittance.

Good luck.

10

Thanks for your insight! Yes, I fortunately have no cost restraints and found myself liking both large and small schools. I didn’t mention it earlier, but I did apply to W&M. I also wish that I could have raised my math score, but I decided not to apply test optional to any schools. Definitely holding out hope for WF!

1 Like
11

Curious… would the math score really matter if she’s applying as a history major?

12

Every school is different - some, like UGA, only look at two sections - math and english.

Others look at composite. Others look at individual sections. School specific.

The big thing about math - if you can get it up, you get more points onto your ACT - best area for growth possibility. OP got into Northeastern - so that’s a fantastic get.
And then test scores won’t matter for the UCs.

13

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