Will it be UCSB, or a job at McDonalds... Chance me

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Im currently a Junior and will start applying fall next year and was just curious what my chances were.</p>

<p>Freshman year</p>

<hr>

<p>-health/geography (A,B)
-english 9 (A,A)
-algebra 2 (A,B)
-spanish 1 (A,A)
-PE (A,A)
-Chemistry (A,A)</p>

<p>Sophomore year</p>

<hr>

<p>-AP Euro (B,A) [3]
-Pre AP English 10 (A,A)
-AP Calculus AB (B,B)
-AP Chemistry (B,B) [2]
-Spanish 2 (A,A)
-PE (A,A)</p>

<p>Junior Year</p>

<hr>

<p>-AP US (B,B) [no score yet]
-English 11 (A,A)
-AP Calculus BC (B,B) [no score yet]
-AP Physics (B,B) [no score yet]
-Spanish 3 (A,A)
-Student Government (Commissioner of publicity) (A,A)</p>

<p>Senior Year (Next year)</p>

<hr>

<p>-Government/Economics
-ERWC English
-Multivariable Calculus (Calc D)
-Ap Environmental
-Ap Computer Science
-Ceramics</p>

<p>SAT:
-1740 (first try no studying)
-Reading-570
-Writing-550
-Math-620
-Math level 2 subject test (no score yet)
-Physics subject test (no score yet)</p>

<p>ACT - 27 (first try no studying)
-English 26
-Math 30
-Reading 28</p>

<p>I plan to take the sat once more but I want to focus on the ACT after that because I like the test more and my math score on the ACT translated to a much higher math score than my 620 on the SAT. My top choices are as follows: UCSB, Cal Poly Slo, UCSD, CU Boulder, and SDSU. All of which would be for industrial and/or mechanical engineering. Just curious based on my current academics as to what my chances may be. I plan on improving my act to a 30 and sat to around a 1900. Thanks to everyone who replies!!!</p>

2

<p>I’ve calculated your UC GPA to be 3.88, which is a bit low for UCSB, I’m afraid.</p>

3

<p>CU Boulder/SDSU: Match
UCSB/SLO: High Match/Low Reach
UCSD: Reach
For UC’s and SLO need close to a 4.0 GPA and SAT 2000+ for Engineering.</p>

4

<p>Sorry. Forgot to put my GPA!!! I may have mislabeled some courses but my weighted is 3.95 and unweighted is a 3.6 according to my transcript. also my class rank is top 7% if that matters at all.</p>

5

<p>These posters are idiots.
UCSB is a match for you given your course rigor. If you can bring your SAT to 1900, which shouldn’t be hard for someone so smart, then you’re almost guaranteed.</p>

6

<p>@temecoola‌ : Check the common data set link from last year to see the breakdown of GPA/ACT/SAT scores for the in-coming Freshman to give you a better idea of your chances (see pages 8/9). Note GPA listed is unweighted. Also UCSB does not offer Industrial Engineering and ME is the most difficult engineering major to be accepted. <a href=“http://bap.ucsb.edu/IR/CDS.pdf”>http://bap.ucsb.edu/IR/CDS.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>@bluberaptor‌
You should not insult other posters. Many students take calculus BC in junior year. The course rigor is good, but not amazing. In addition, temecoola got two B’s in both Calc AB and Calc BC. Also, temecoola probably did not qualify for AIME. As a result, colleges will not think that temecoola is great at math. Math is important for engineering majors.</p>

<p>@temecoola
Your GPA is too low for UCSB, SLO, and UCSD.
SLO only looks at UWGPA and SAT score. With such a low GPA, even with a near perfect SAT score, you will probably be rejected.
UCSB is perhaps the only UC that cares about SAT scores. However, you would need a 2250+ SAT score or a 34+ ACT score to make up for your low GPA.
UCSD values GPA much more than SAT scores. Your GPA is too low, so you will probably be rejected no matter what your SAT score is.
How is your class rank so high and your GPA so low?</p>

8

<p>@Mangiafuoco‌ My weighted gap puts me in the top 60 of an 800 student class for the year. Maybe my class is just dumb but my weighted gap for 10-12 (not including freshman year) which is about 4.05 is 49. I know many kids take calc bc but i know not many take calc D at all. at all three high schools in my area only one teacher offers the class and each year only about 14-15 kids take it as seniors. will colleges look at this? I have friends this year who got into ucsb with high 17, low 18 sat scores who had still only taken calc bc so i felt like with a 1900 I would be a solid candidate. maybe you know more, just curious. Thanks for the help! </p>

9

<p>@Gumbymom‌ thank you for the link. It was really helpful in understanding where i fit.</p>

10

<p>One more thing… does community service hold a lot of weight on acceptance? i know I have around 200hrs community service. Is this average/high/low for uc’s?</p>

11

<p>@Mangiafuoco‌ To get into UC’s, you don’t need to take Calculus your junior year. Most kids that kid into UCSB take Trig/PreCalc their junior year, and Calc AB their freshman year. Kids that take Calc BC junior year are considered competitive applicants. Also, standards for grades at schools are different. It’s the AP scores that count. I got an 86.9% in Calc BC, but at the same time, I pulled a 5, which qualifies people on the same measuring stick. Similarly, I had a B+ in Statistics AP, but yet again, I also pulled a 5. When I talked to my college counselor, he said that getting my 5 and B is more impressive than a 3 or 4 and A. Of course 5 and A look the best, but it’s not too bad to get a B in one of the most challenging math courses in high school.</p>

<p>Colleges also look at class ranking. I have a 3.83 UW, 4.28 W, but I’m ranked in the top 0.16% of my class. Another kid I know is ranked 62/815, and he has a 3.4 UW, 3.87 W. Different schools have different difficulties.</p>

<p>Also, you’re over your head on where you’re pulling that data from. Go collect samples from multiple sources that aren’t collegeconfidential, and then come back and say you need a 2250+ to get into UCSB, but getting a 1900 would solidify your chance of getting in. A student on the 75th percentile would have a 2020.</p>

12

<p>About the 2250+…I got into the honors program at UCSB and I had a 2240…</p>

<p>That being said, your GPA is still a little low, and likely could hurt your chances, so any little bit you can get helps.</p>

13

<p>I never said taking multivariable calculus is required. I only said that it is not impressive enough to make up for a way below average GPA. I never said that a 2250+ SAT score is required to get into UCSB. I only said that with such a low GPA, a 2250+ SAT score is perhaps the only way to almost guarantee that a person will get into UCSB. There is absolutely no way a 1900 SAT score will make up for a far below average 3.88 UCGPA.</p>

<p>I do not use collegeconfidential to collect my data. I mainly use scatterplots from parchment.com, common data sets, and my school’s Naviance. From these sources, I believe that there is strong evidence to suggest that UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, and UCI care a lot about GPA but not much about SAT scores. UCSB seems to be the exception because the data suggests that unlike the other UCs, UCSB is willing to accept students with low GPAs (3.5-3.7 unweighted) if they have exceptionally high SAT scores (2250+).</p>

<p>I know someone with AIME qualification in junior year, A’s in all math classes, IB Math HL (two year course that includes Calc BC in JUNIOR year), 5 on both AP Calc AB and BC exams, SAT score in the high 2100s, and a horrible GPA similar to teemecoola’s. He got rejected by UCSB.</p>

14

<p>@Mangiafuoco‌ I feel like those numbers are a little high. I’m sure you know what you’re talking about but I know kids who had similar cumulative gap and sat scored from 1780 to 1910 who got in. I have a hard time believing I need a 2250 to get me in. That’s the kind of score for berkely, la, and ivy schools, average sat score at ucsb is more like 1900</p>

15

<p>If you are in the top 7% of your class, you should qualify within the “local context” (ie. top 9%) for a UC. Although you took a very rigorous course-load, your test scores and GPA aren’t going to get you into the top engineering programs. You might get into a less “impacted” department at Cal Poly-SLO, but I don’t see 30/620 Math scores getting you into most of the schools you want. Your AP work will allow you to place into higher-level classes, but it probably won’t gain you admission to UCSD Engineering or San Luis Obispo’s Engineering school. UCSB, SDSU, and Colorado are likelier (although UCSB might be a reach). I’d recommend looking at other public universities with more generous acceptance rates. With AP credits, you can double-major or finish early. I sound like a broken record on CC, but please don’t base your college plans on the test scores you hope to receive in the future. You will not be flipping burgers unless you willfully apply only to colleges where you stand little hope for admission. You can get into lots of solid engineering schools. </p>

16

<p>@OP
Why did you skip PreCalc/Math Analysis and jumped to AP Calc AB when you had a B in Algebra II? </p>

17

<p>@temecoola‌
If you had a better UCGPA (4.1+), then I would say that you only need a 1700+ SAT score to get into UCSB. The problem is that your UCGPA is 3.88. This is way below average. The only way to show UCSB that you are not below average is to do exceptionally well in other areas. A high SAT score is one area to set yourself apart from the other below average students.</p>

<p>I understand that the average SAT score at UCSB is about 1900. However, someone with a below average GPA and an average SAT score is still considered below average.</p>

<p>Your friends who got in with a low GPA and an average SAT score probably have some really impressive ECs or wrote some amazing essays or are extremely lucky. ECs and essays are other ways to make yourself stand out among the students with a below average GPA.</p>

<p>Also, getting a high SAT score will only get you into UCSB. It will not get you into the other competitive UCs such as Berkeley and Los Angeles because they do not seem to care much about test scores.</p>

18

<p>@2018dad‌ our school has a program where if your algebra 2 teacher recommends you, you can go into “accelerated calculus” which briefly goes over pre calc for half a semester and then goes into calc ab. I had a slip up in alg 2 which brought my grade down but the rest of my year was solid so my teacher recommended me. </p>

19

<p>Just an update on my stats, I recently got a 1920 sat, 4 on AP Us History test, 3 on AP Physics, and double 2’s on ap calculus. Hopefully that will all help my chances rather than hinder them</p>

20

<p>I’m afraid that just doesn’t sound like enough for UCSB to me.</p>