Which are safeties/targets?

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

<p>I am a senior looking into applying to some UC schools. I am from CT and plan on going into Computer Science. Which UC schools are best for computer science (obviously Berkeley) and which should I avoid? I also need to know which ones I can call safeties, targets and reaches. Thanks.</p>

<p>ACADEMIA</p>

<p>Freshman GPA: 3.52
Sophomore GPA: 3.52
Junior GPA: 3.75 W, 3.7 UW
Overall GPA: About 3.6</p>

<p>SAT Critical Reading: 610
SAT Math: 680
SAT Writing: 680
Total: 1970</p>

<p>My School does not rank.</p>

<p>AP Courses:
Biology (This year)
Computer Science A (Next Year)
Economics (Next Year)</p>

<p>3 letters of recommendation (math teacher, club advisor, guidance counselor)</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULAR:</p>

<p>President of Support our Soldiers Club (10,11,12)
-Interviewed WW2 Veteran, contributed to National Archive</p>

<p>Red Cross Volunteer (8,9,10,11,12)
-Office management, computer database organization, phone duty, etc.</p>

<p>Varsity Swimming (9,10,11,12)
-Not a recruit!</p>

<p>Member of School Atmosphere Committee(11,12; Club was founded this year)
-Group of students selected by faculty
-Helped create a video to send to New England Board of Accreditation to display information about our school
-Spread word about school ideals and beliefs in various ways</p>

<p>HOOKS:</p>

<p>I am of Hispanic descent.</p>

<p>I will not be applying for financial aid (UC wants that high OOS tuition, right? RIGHT!?).</p>

<p>Here’s What I think (correct me!)
UC Berkeley - REACH
UC Davis - TARGET/SAFETY
UC Irvine - TARGEY/SAFETY
UC Los Angeles - REACH
UC Merced - WONT BE APPLYING
UC Riverside - WONT BE APPLYING
UC San Diego - TARGET
UC Santa Barbara - TARGET/SAFETY
UC Santa Cruz - SAFETY</p>

2

<p>UCB - High reach
UCLA - High reach
UCSD - Reach
UCSB/UCD/UCI - Reach/match
UCSC - Safety</p>

<p>I can’t be sure from the info you provided but I’m guessing your UC GPA is around 3.6ish, which is low for the mid tier and higher tier UCs (average is 4.0+ for UCB, LA, SD, SB, D, and I). The SAT is good but you should still take it one or two mroe times to improve your chances. Your extracurriculars are excellent so that’s gonna help. Letters of recommendation aren’t used in the UC application process so you won’t need those.</p>

<p>My advice would be to try to raise your SAT score as much as you can and write essays that make you stand out from other applicants. I got into SB and SC with a 3.7 GPA and a 2100 SAT and rejected from Davis (waitlisted first, then rejected), Irvine, and San Diego (I didn’t bother applying to LA or Berkeley) and my extracurriculars weren’t nearly as good as yours. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thanks. It’s amazing how people with 2100 SAT’s and good GPA’s are rejected from Davis when the mid 50% isn’t too high.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, it’s getting tougher and tougher every year for UC applicants</p>

<p>With that said, I think you’ll get accepted by at least one of the mid tier UCs (SB, D, I) and maybe SD if you can get your test scores higher.</p>

<p>You may also want to look into applying to Cal Poly SLO. They have one of the best engineering departments in the country and it might be somewhat easier to get accepted (although, I was rejected).</p>

5

<p>GPA matters depending on your rank. I’ve noticed that for UC admissions, they look at how you compare against your classmates. I know people who got into my UC and UCLA and UCB a low GPA because their high school wasn’t that great and they happened to be pretty highly ranked. And then I have friends who had 4.1+ GPAs but got rejected to like UCLA and UCB because they went to a very competitive high school and they ranked lower than their other classmates.</p>

6

<p>My stats are about the same or better than yours (my GPA and SAT were higher). I ended up going to UCSC. IMO don’t be surprised if you get into UCI and not UCSC, we are getting stricter with admissions. A lot of my friends last year who thought of UCSC as a safety didn’t get in but got into SB.</p>

<p>UC admissions are just getting more and more difficult =&lt;/p>

7

<p>Of the less selective UCs, Santa Cruz has the advantage of being near Silicon Valley, which can help in finding internships and post-graduation jobs for CS majors.</p>

8

<p>Your safety/target is UCSC. Everything else is a Reach or High Reach.</p>

9

<p>Not sure why you’d even consider paying those OOS fees, but that is up to your parents. To increase your odds, write an essay about overcoming some sort of adversity.</p>