Where in California should I apply to?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

<p>I am planning to attend either Cal States or UCs. But I’m having a hard time deciding which too apply to and get in? My reaches?</p>

<p><strong><em>GPA</em></strong>

  • Total Unweighted GPA [3.55]
  • UC GPA (10th-11th) [3.57]</p>

<p><strong><em>Test Scores</em></strong>

  • SAT Reasoning Tests
    ----Test #1 [640 CR, 670 M, 600 W] = 1910
    ----Test #2 [650 CR, 680 M, 580 W] = 1910
    ----Test #3 [Will be taking December]</p>

<p>SAT 2 Subject Tests
----Chemistry [730]
----Biology [700]
----Math Level 2 [710]</p>

<p><strong><em>Extracurriculars</em></strong>

  • Violin for 8 years (in school orchestra)
  • Table Tennis for 5 years (joining Tournaments)
  • Not much extracurriculars :(</p>

<p><strong><em>Other Info</em></strong>

  • Asian(Chinese)
  • First Generation Student
  • Born in California, Resident of California
  • Go to a competitive public high school</p>
2

<p>Match: high-tier Cal States and low-tier UCs.
Reach: UCSB, UCI, UCD</p>

3

<p>^I agree with jyng. Match at UCSC, Match/Safety at UCR and UCM, with UCI a Reach. If you feel more comfotable with a higher percentage of Asian students, UCSB probably isn’t as good a choice and many kids tend to party a lot there. CSU Fullerton and Cal Poly Pomona solid Matches. You may also want to consider S.F. State. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>I agree with the Matches of Fullerton, UCSC, UCR, UCM, and Cal Poly Pomona. I’d say Cal Poly SLO is anywhere from a low reach to a rather high reach, depending on your intended major. HOWEVER, you should apply to the schools that you see yourself honestly enjoying attending, even if they are somewhat of a reach.</p>

<p>Here’s my info. Rather than pollute the board with extra threads, I thought I’d tag my own stuff on to here, if that isn’t considered rude. Of the UCs I’m applying to, I personally predict UCD, UCI, and UCSD as matches, with Berkeley as a relatively low Reach (Providing they like my essays/short answers, as UCB actually reads them for what they are, not skim them to see if my dog ran away when I was five.)</p>

<p><em>Numbers!</em>
4.03 UC GPA
2140 SAT I
750 Bio-M Subject
690 Math 2 Subject (Taking it Sophomore year was a bad idea >.<)</p>

<p><em>Extracurriculars</em>
-COSMOS @ UCI
-Intel Independent Research Grant
-Co-Founder and Captain/President of Science Olympiad Team/Club
-Speaker at 2009 California Nobel Laureate Dinner (At which I told the Chancellor of Berkeley I wanted to go to Stanford- Yeah, I’m smooth! >.<)
-Participate in Structural Biology research program through Scripps Research Institute and UCSD (Program just started this year)
-Founding Member of Gay-Straight Alliance
-Ambassador to schools and community for Local Theater organization
-Tech crew volunteer for Youth Theater Organization for 6 years.
-Math Tutor at school (Not-for-Profit)
-Math Tutor outside of school (For-Profit)</p>

<p><em>Other Information</em>
-First Graduating Class of High School (Basically, an excuse for why most of my involvement with organizations at school doesn’t start until 11th and 12th grade- they didn’t exist yet!)
-White(White)
-CA Resident
-Go to a new Charter school</p>

5

<p>@AtSPX1: UCD and UCI are definitely safeties for you. UCSD is a high match.</p>

6

<p>Thank you! I calculated my points as conservatively as possible, and it was right on the projected cut-off for UCSD, so I agree with your conclusions. At least I have a good chance of getting in somewhere ^_^</p>

7

<p>I want to get into UCI, but would that be a reach/high reach?</p>

<p>I am actually applying to UCSB as well and was wondering if that would be a reach for me too?</p>

<p>and should I even try to apply to Cal or UCLA? or would that be a waste of an application :(</p>

8

<p>Well, I’d like to say that UCI and UCSB are possible because you are a first gen student, however, you need to realize that when you’re applying to those schools, you’re up against some very tough competition. It really isn’t in your favor, but it’s possible. The same applies to Berkley and LA, however, you would have to have excellent essays or some additional factor to increase the weight of your application.</p>

9

<p>The problem is that I have almost no extracurriculars. No working, achievements, leadership, community service…</p>

<p>How much is that going to ruin my chances for the UCs</p>

10

<p>That reduces your odds quite a bit for schools that use the points system (UCSD), and reasonably so at the other UCs</p>

11

<p>so is UCI or UCD point based? or holistic?</p>

12

<p>only UCSD is point based… (99.99% sure)… but im not 100% sure… the rest are most likely holistic…</p>

13

<p>Oh. Would it be wise to apply to all the UCs? I mean it’s going to cost alot, but I don’t want to apply if I know I’m going to get rejected. So would it be stupid to apply to Cal or UCLA or UCSD? Considering my lack of extracurricular and bad SAT/GPA scores</p>

14

<p>I think UCB and UCLA are probably out of range, given your stats. If money is a factor, you could probably leave those unchecked and just apply to the other UC’s.</p>

15

<p>Yeah. I kind of guessed that UCB and UCLA are super reaches. So do you think that I should apply to all the other UCs? I actually have a shot at the other ones? (like UCSD which is pretty hard to get into)</p>

16

<p>I think UCSD is also a reach, but I would take a shot at this one anyway, and yes apply to all the other UC’s. Good luck!</p>