What should I do to make myself more competitive for colleges?

Pre-College Issues
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(I’m new to this website so I don’t know if this is the correct forum to but this in, but I’m just in need of some realistic advice.)

Ok so just some background information about me: I’m currently a Junior at a large public high school in Southern California, and recently I’ve been pretty stressed about the rapidly approaching task of college admissions (yikes!). I know I want my major in college to be something STEM-related (likely engineering), and I’m doing a few extracurriculars related to this - I’m a member of my school’s Science Olympiad team and math competition team, a member of my school’s engineering club, and I have recently applied for a volunteer position at the California Science Center (it is likely I will be accepted and start volunteering next semester). I love rock-climbing, and I’ve been on a team since 9th grade. I also have a passion for painting - I’m currently in AP Art and I’ve submitted a couple pieces to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards this year. I also did good on my PSAT, and it’s highly likely I will be a NMSC semi-finalist based on California’s previous selection index cutoff scores. I’m two years ahead of the standard math curriculum at my school (though that’s not that rare), and I’m taking 4 AP classes this year including AP Calc BC and AP Physics Mechanics. I got straight As first semester, and second semester has yet to start. But here’s my problem: 11th grade is the only year of high school where I’ve actually done stuff. I was honestly a complete mess in 9th grade. It was really difficult for me to stay focused with distance learning, and I was also dealing with some pretty traumatizing stuff at home. I ended up getting 2 Bs both semesters (thankfully neither of them were in math or science) and I was super antisocial, wasn’t in any clubs, and didn’t do any extracurriculars other than starting to rock-climb. 10th grade was the same in terms of clubs and extracurriculars (I didn’t do anything), and I didn’t take any AP classes, though I did at least manage to get all As. In 11th grade I finally pulled myself back together, but I don’t know if that’s enough. I just wish I could go back in time and not waste half my high school years.

I was not expecting to write so much here; sorry about that. Anyway, I guess my main question here is: What can I do over the summer and next year to make myself more competitive and hopefully make up for my messed up 9th and 10th grade years (Regarding this summer, I’m planning on applying to COSMOS, a pretty competitive STEM summer program in California, but I’m wondering what else I could do.) Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

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^ please ignore any errors in that absolute monstrosity :sob:

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Tell us more about what you mean by “more competitive for colleges.” Which colleges? Based on your accomplishments, there are already at least a half dozen quality schools that will pay you (free ride + stipend) to attend. Congrats!

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What’s your Gpa ? Just keep doing what you are doing, grades and activities that interest you.

For so many colleges grades and / or grades and gpa are all that matter. But your ECs seem solid.

You’ll be fine - you’ll have options. Depending on your gpa/test you’ll have varying levels of affordability.

Btw I’m not sure why kids today think getting a B or two is a crime. My HS GPA was under a 3. Different era. You all put too much pressure on yourselves.

Good luck.

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As you are in California, keep in mind that UCs don’t use your freshman year grades when calculating your GPA. They do look at those grades, but they care far more about your sophomore and junior years grades so, if you are interested in UC, that’s good news for you. Also, since you are in LA and interested in STEM, I will mention Amazon AHEAD x TKS, if you happen to be part of a group that has been historically underrepresented in STEM (defined as Black, Latinx, and Native American students and those that identify as female). It is actually a pretty amazing opportunity for STEM students - even my daughter, who has really never been a STEM girl, has really enjoyed the work. You do a number of projects in the program - all of which are potentially great fodder for your college essays.

Another possibility is taking dual enrollment courses at your local community college over summer. You can usually take up to three and in many places those courses are free for high school students and there are a ton of options. They are also transferable credits for UC/CSUs.

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Adding, I see you say Southern California, and I was thinking LA, but obviously that’s not necessarily the case. For Amazon AHEAD x TKS, you need to be in the LA area. If you are not, you can still do TKS - that is open for everyone - but without the Amazon part, it is a paid program (although they do offer need based financial aid).

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You sound pretty competitive to me! This is what I am hearing from what you wrote,

  • AP Calc BC and AP Physics as a junior
  • strong test scores
  • As in 10th/11th grades
  • STEM ECs + rock climbing and painting

Keep doing what you enjoy! Just make sure you keep up with the math and science courses in 12th grade. (Sometimes accelerated students run out of classes to take in HS.) What math and science do you plan to take next year?

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You are fortunate to be on CAMPUS which has so many fine public universities!

You just need to continue to be YOU. If there is something you really want to do, then pursue it. But don’t do it just to impress college adcoms.

I will tag @Gumbymom she will give some info that could be helpful to you.

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You can look to see if there are any MOOC that interested you.

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Oh cool, thank you! The main colleges I’m thinking about (though I don’t really know how realistic they are for me) are Harvey Mudd, Columbia, and Cornell. UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis are also on my mind. But yeah, I’m just kind of worried about applying to these colleges because I feel like I don’t really have any huge accomplishments that will make me stand out.

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Thanks for responding! I think my unweighted GPA so far is around a 3.9(?) I don’t know what my weighted GPA is though.

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Oh cool, thanks for letting me know!

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Thanks for your advice! As for my math and science next year, I’m going to be taking Multivariable Calculus, which is the highest level math my school offers. I also want to take AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism, though it’s unclear if my school actually offers it :sob:

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You don’t have any issues. Will be lots of schools for you.

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Congratulations on being a competitive applicant and as a California resident, you have some wonderful school options ranging from the Cal states to the UC’s to Private colleges that will all give you a great education.

You already have some very good EC’s so select an activity that you would enjoy pursuing this summer and not something that you think looks good for college admission.

I would also try to visit some college campuses to get an idea for what you are looking for in your college experience. Start thinking about forming a college list and start with finding 2 safety schools where you are willing to attend, affordable and where you have a high chance for an acceptance. Usually your local Cal state makes a good safety since you get priority as a local.

At the end of Junior year, you need to calculate your UC and CSU GPA’s to help target possible schools. If you have not taken any DE/Community College courses than your Capped weighted UC GPA = CSU GPA using this calculator. The UC’s will consider all 3 UC GPA’s and the Cal states will only consider your CSU GPA based on the a-g course grades taken 10-11th grades only. The exception to this is Cal Poly SLO. SLO uses 9-11th grades for the a-g courses with a cap of 8 semesters of honors points for approved classes taken 10-11th grades.

You can look up your HS and their approved Honors/AP classes here: University of California A-G Course List

UC GPA calculator: GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

The UC’s and CSU’s will look at all grades from 9-11th grades and will consider your in-progress and planned Senior year courses when they review your application but only 10-11th grades will be calculated into the GPA with exception of SLO.

The Cal states and UC’s are test blind, so your test scores will not be considered in the application review. The Cal states use a Multi- Factor criteria to determine their decisions. I linked the supplemental criteria considered by each campus but in General, CSU GPA, HS course rigor, English/Math GPA, Local admission priority, First generation are most important.

The UC’s use 13 areas of criteria when reviewing UC applications. In general, UC GPA’s, HS course rigor and Personal insight essays are the most important criteria. Each campus determines how they weight each area of criteria so the UC’s tend to be unpredictable when it comes to decisions.

How applications are reviewed | UC Admissions

Once you have calculated your Capped weighted UC GPA, you can compare your admission chances based on the 2021 data (latest available) here. This is overall admit data and not major specific. STEM major admit rates in general will be lower.

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 72% 25% 2% 0%
Santa Barbara 73% 28% 4% 1%
Santa Cruz 91% 81% 46% 9%

Here are the 2022 admit rates for the UC’s as a California Resident.
CA Residents:

UCB: 14.5%
UCLA: 9.2%
UCSD: 23.8%
UCSB: 26.7%
UCI: 18.2%
UCD: 32.3%
UCSC: 43.2%
UCR: 66%
UCM: 100%

The UC’s do not recognize National Merit for scholarship opportunities but it will still make you a competitive applicant. Cal Poly SLO and Cal State Long Beach do offer small scholarships to NM scholars.

Best of luck and do not hesitate to ask any questions about the UC’s or CSU’s.

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Oh wow this is incredibly helpful, thank you so much!!!

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First of all, you’re doing great currently - just keep it up! Don’t do activities that you don’t want to do, only in an attempt to “buff” your applications. Do what you love. A summer STEM program or two? A rock climbing camp? Sure.

If your artwork is considered to be exceptional, you might want to look into the Young Arts competitions. Apply to the National Arts Competition | YoungArts

The reality is that you’re surely going to get into one of the public California U’s, for a bargain education at in-state tuition rates. You might get into one of the tippy-top schools you’ve mentioned, because you’re a great STEM student, and being female will help. Taking multivariable calc and both semesters of Physics C will help, too. If you qualify as an underrepresented minority (assuming that the Supreme Court hasn’t ruled against this by the time your class is applying to college), you really would have a decent shot at even the absolute top schools for STEM, including MIT.

So no, you don’t have to do anything differently from what you’re currently doing. Certainly, summer STEM programs this summer will help. So will any other programs in which you take a leadership role, so being a coach/counselor for younger kids will help. Continue submitting your artwork to competitions - an award would look nice. Also, if you want schools outside of the UC system, you should prep for and take either the SAT or ACT, so that you can submit a high standardized test score, in addition to your PSAT.

Begin the financials conversation with your parents. If you’re low income, or even low-middle income, you could get a full ride at a tippy-top school which meets full need. That means that expensive private schools could wind up costing you LESS than a UC. If you’re upper middle income, then the UCs might be your best bet, since you could be deemed full or near full pay at a private school, but your parents might not be able to afford what the school thinks they should pay. If your parents are high income or have rental real estate or business assets, you would be deemed full pay - but your parents might not want to pay over 360K for college for you! So in addition to keeping up the excellent work you are doing, it’s time to talk finances with them.

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This is super informative, thank you so much!