I had a horrible freshman year that ended with a 2.0 gpa but i’m finishing my sophomore year with mostly A’s. if that continues for my junior year would i be able to get into UCI because they don’t count freshman grades.
also the same thing with UCLA
UCs focus on the grades you earned in grades 10 and 11 but, they do look at your entire transcript.
you can read about the 'UCGPA" here:
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/q-and-a/calculating-gpa/index.html
and use this tool to mock yours up.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
In order to be competitive for UCLA, you will need a UCGPA above 4.2, have a high SAT score and have a bunch of other boxes checked. UCI will require a 4.1+.
It is important to understand that the UCs by charter are looking for the top 5% or so of CA high school graduates. By definition, they aren’t a fit for the other 95%.
Do your best and don’t obsess about one school or another at this point. If you don’t meet the UC admission threshold, there are lots of other paths to a quality education. CSUs and CCs among them.
Good luck.
I thought it was the top 9%. If you are closer to the 9%, it is more difficult to get into the most selective UC’s such as UCB and UCLA.
Though the ELC ‘guarantee’ is available to the top 9%. That designation doesn’t really ‘guarantee’ anything, if you look closely, you’ll notice they have added some ‘space available’ verbiage,
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/index.html
I was surprised to learn this too - thanks to @gumbymom for pointing it out.
The way it works now, if you are rejected from a UC and are ELC, you receive an email asking if you would like them to forward your application to UCM for consideration. If you agree, Your application is treated like a direct application and you need to get in on your merit.
Take a look at the Admitted Student Bar Chart.on page 2, you will see Merced had 909 Referral applicants (meaning they said Yes, send my ap over) and admitted 659 - not too far off their overall 70% admit rate.
http://irds.ucmerced.edu/docs/facts/UC%20Merced%20Profile.pdf
In truth, maybe it is 7% or even 8% if you extend it to UCM but, UCM is getting more selective each year. I used 5% to make the point that the vast majority of CA high-shoolers won’t be admitted to a UC, and that is especially true at UCLA and even UCI. I want the OP to not be so myopic. Finding yourself excluded from UCI or UCLA at the age of 15 is not a sentence to a life of mediocrity.
what if i am from out of state
I wonder if I’ll get in too. Ucla was my dream school. If I get into UCI I am considering going there probably
There is no ELC designation or referral for OOS applicants. To be competitive, you will need to be above mid-point for both GPA and SAT/ACT.
Sophomore year I had a 2.7 GPA with no club or community involvement. Took 12 AP classes (1 Soph, 5 Junior, 6 Senior) bringing my GPA up to a 3.9. Took various club positions and did community service, it was a lot of work but I just got accepted into UCSB (Financial math) and some other UC, CSU. I’d say work on your GPA and SAT scores as much as you can, especially for UCLA.