Hi, I am a rising senior in high school. I wanted to see if anyone could tell me if I have any chance of getting in. I am mainly interested in (civil or mechanical) engineering.
GPA (10-11): UW: 3.83 and W: 4.17 Top 9% of my class, but my school is removing class ranking.
I took the SAT once and got a 1190. I plan on retaking.
Was only able to take 5 APs and take 4 senior year.
Taking a community college class online currently and plan on taking two more senior year.
My extra-circulars:
-UNICEF Club: member in 9th grade and president in 11-12th grade
-Garden Club: All 4 years, Building officer in 11th grade and Co-president 12th grade
-Varsity Volleyball and Cross Country in 11th grade: Most Improved Player in 11th grade
-Church youth leader: All 4 years, mentored younger students and coordinate activities
-Member of NHS in 9th grade and Member of CSF in 11-12th grade
-Lead middle school tutoring at a Navajo Reservation for a month: 8-10th grade and this year cancelled due to COIVD (Only received 300 community service hours)
-Lead a construction crew at a Navajo Reservation: helped designed irrigation layouts and pipeline construction for homes. Also reinforce trailer walls.
-Volunteer for Caltrans (9th-10th grade): opportunity to shadow civil engineers in the office
-Co-founder of an outreach program: prepared bag lunches for 400 homeless people in SF
-Vocational bible study instructor (9th-10th grade): Helped coordinate themed activities
-Joined Californians For All: (11th grade) currently volunteering at the food bank (50 community service hours)
-Jobs: Math and English tutor and Babysitter
-I also have a learning disability unfortunately that makes it hard for me to see from far distance.
What are your 3 UC GPA’s? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Since UC’s are test optional this admission cycle, if you plan to send, definitely work on some test prep and retake. An 1190 would not be worth submitting.
Engineering will be competitive for all the UC’s so you want above average stats for the best chances.
You have good EC’s but other than shadowing some civil engineers, nothing STEM related.
What level of Math will you reach by Senior year and how were your Math grades? Have you or are taking a Physics class?
Definitely mention your learning disability on one of your personal insight essays.
Here are some 2019 UC admission stats. Updated 2020 stats will not be available until closer to application time.
2019 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 12%
UCLA: 7%
UCSD: 33%
UCSB: 32%
UCD: 47%
UCI: 35%
UCSC: 72%
UCR: 87%
UCM: 96%
2019 UC capped weighted GPA averages along with 25th-75th percentile range:
UCB: 4.23 (4.15-4.30)
UCLA: 4.25 (4.18-4.32)
UCSD: 4.16 (4.03-4.28)
UCSB: 4.16 (4.04-4.28)
UCI: 4.13 (4.00-4.25)
UCD: 4.13 (4.00-4.26)
UCSC: 3.96 (3.76-4.16)
UCR: 3.90 (3.69-4.11)
UCM: 3.73 (3.45-4.00)
2019 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT totals:
UCB: 1340-1540
UCLA: 1330-1550
UCSD: 1300-1520
UCSB: 1280-1520
UCD: 1230-1490
UCI: 1250-1510
UCSC: 1200-1450
UCR: 1130-1400
UCM: 1020-1290
Best chances based on your post would be UC Merced, Riverside and Santa Cruz. Possible schools would be UC Irvine, Davis and Santa Barbara. Reach schools would be UC San Diego, Los Angeles and Berkeley.
I will be taking AP Calc AB my senior year. I took AP Stats, Pre-Calc, Geometry, and Algebra 2 Plus. Algebra 2 Plus was a class that had Pre-Calc and Algebra 2. I got a C I first semester and a B my second semester. I do plan on writing in my essay why I didn’t perform well my sophomore year and how it my experience helped me during my junior year. As my teacher wasn’t willing to help me withy accommodations. I was able to get all A’s my Junior year and had a C and two B’s my sophomore year. I took regular Biology, Physics, and Chemistry and got all A’s. I will be taking AP Chem my senior year.
Are my EC and stats good enough to apply as a major in the College of Letter and Sciences? I also might consider just applying as a major in the College of Letter and Sciences and not go to the engineering route.
College of Letters and Sciences does not admit by major but if you are leaning towards Engineering, apply for the tougher admit. Much easier to switch out than to switch into Engineering.
If your UC capped weighted GPA is 4.17, then the admit rates above are what you should base your chances for the UC’s. Since they are test optional, more emphasis will be placed on your GPA, HS course rigor, EC’s and essays. Having a higher than average SAT will help your chances so definitely retake.
Being top 9% will make UC Merced as a safety since that is the UC default campus if you are not accepted into any other UC.
Your target UC’s are still Riverside and Santa Cruz while Irvine, Davis and Santa Barbara are definitely possible. I also think Fall 2021 admissions are going to be more competitive due to Covid and students either deferring or taking a gap year.
UC’s are not the only schools you should consider. Your GPA would make you competitive for many of the Cal states and most offer Civil and Mechanical Engineering. SDSU, CSU Long Beach and both Cal Poly’s (Pomona and SLO) would be good options.
In a normal year - with a slightly higher SAT, you’d be a solid candidate for most of the UCs (perhaps not B and LA). Of course, this isn’t a normal year - this is the wild west and nobody knows how the ‘test optional’ plus the surge of covid gap year kids will impact things.
I encourage to apply really broadly - maybe 6 UCs and 3ish CSUs. Perhaps a private (USD and LMU come to mind) or two in the hopes of some merit aid.
It is going to be a crazy year.
good luck.
If you want to study engineering, then I would apply for engineering. I think that it would be better to go to Merced or Riverside or one of the top CSUs with the major that you want rather than to attend Irvine or Davis or even Berkeley with a major that you do not want.
“Lead a construction crew at a Navajo Reservation: helped designed irrigation layouts and pipeline construction for homes.”
I think that this is really cool.