I’m a rising junior who’s very worried about my chances for some high- and mid- tier UCs and privates, since my sophomore year didn’t go so well, with 3 C’s on my transcript- 2 in AP Chem and 1 in Honors Pre-calc.
I just want to know what I can do better next year.
Asian female, CA
Large public school, competitive
W (9-12): 3.72
UW 9-12: 3.56
W 10-12: 3.64
UW 10-12: 3.35 :’(
PSAT: 1410
SAT: taking it this August after prep, took some practice tests and getting mostly low 1400s
ACT: took 1 practice test… got a 34; might take it in September
ECs: (no leadership position, and might have to quit all of them bc of parents and how this year went :'c)
Track
Volunteering at the local library (about 70 hrs)
Amnesty International
GSA
Self studying Esperanto
Will join more clubs/activities next year if I can convince my parents
Junior yr courseload:
AP Lang
APUSH
AP Bio
AP Calc AB
Spanish 3
My dream schools are:
Pretty much all the UCs except for Berkeley, SC and Merced
USC
Cal Poly SLO
Cal Poly Pomona
Pomona College
Claremont McKenna
Yes I’m aware that most of them are high reaches…
I don’t plan on applying to engineering or other competitive majors (like CS or business), especially after this year, unless Poli Sci is a competitive major at these colleges
Subject tests:
Korean- 790
Chemistry- isn’t out yet
Forgot to add it oops
I gotta tell you- all of those are indeed high reaches. By all means, still apply to them if you love the schools. But realistically, those are all high up there. If I were you, I would diversify your list a little. Get a private school or two with an acceptance rate around 50% on your radar, and apply to a CSU campus or two as well (besides the cal polys).
Your test scores are looking great! The main concern is just with your 10-12 GPA.
Don’t add more clubs and activities; this will look like you are doing it to pad your application and not because you like them. Stick to what you have and do well.
For the UC’s, they center around your 10th and 11 grade performance. So study hard and do well.
Why Esperanto self-study? You need to focus on getting good grades. I would drop this unless you really like it.
I agree about adding more CSU’s and privates. The CSU’s are also tough admits.
If you speak Korean at home, that subject test will be meaningless to colleges. Honestly, I think you need to lower your sights. Pomona and CMC are probably not happening due to GPA.
For the Mid-tier and top UC’s even with a Political Science major, you want to be around 4.0+ with your UC GPA.
Even Cal Poly SLO will be tough since their average CP GPA for College of Liberal Arts was a 3.95 for 2016 Freshman. 19% projected acceptance rate for SLO Political Science majors. You have your sights too high based on your stats so you need to find schools where your stats (especially GPA) put you at the 50th percentile or higher for the best chances.
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79:
UCB: 2%
UCLA: 3%
UCSD: 6%
UCD: 15%
UCSB: 14%
UCI: 13%
UCSC: 59%
UCR: 78%
UCM: 92%
Target UC’s: UCSC/UCR and UCM. Cal Poly Pomona is within Reach. You might want consider some of the other Cal States such as Fullerton, Sacramento, San Francisco and your local CSU as a safety.
USC/Pomona/CMC are not happening even with outstanding test scores. How about Chapman University, University of San Francisco, University of San Diego, Occidental College which could be options.
@Trafficlight24
Most important things to do:
- Find out what you/your family can afford. No sense chasing schools you can’t pay for even if you get in. USC is 70k a year all in, even if you were to get in. Can you swing that (don’t need to answer here. You just need to know for yourself.)
- In general the best things you can do going forward to strengthen your application are:
A) Make sure you GPA at worst doesn’t slip, and be better if it rose. Showing a “recovery” from a poor year will looked on positively.
B) Take a few more ACT practice tests. If you consistently score 32 or above, for sure take the ACT “for real.” A 31-32 on the ACT is about mid-1400s on the SAT. If you could get a 33 or 34 that is a very strong ACT score, more in the 1500-1550 range.
C) make sure, when you get to summer between Jr. and Sr. year you start your UC essays as soon as they come out and work very hard on them. You can’t bring your GPA to a 3.9 UW, but you can write awesome essays.
D) Make sure you get great recs. Give your teachers as much info and lead time as you can to help them write them. Make it easy for them to write positively contexualized recs.
E) Think about your story. Who are you? What makes you unique and will give a school a reason to take you over all the other mid-3 GPAs? What will you get out of your college and what will you give back to the school.
F) Once you know your financial constraints (and maybe geographic etc.) figure out what you really want in a school. You’re going to have great choices (though may not all the ones on your list) make sure you’re picking because you actually want to go to the school, not just because you want to wear the T-shirt.
Other thoughts:
Why so down on UCSC? I would give that school a second look. The over-subscription/application to top UCs is raising the student level at SC and it has very good instructors.
CalStates also should not be discounted, esp CalPomona. Also very strong students and instructors that can go under radar. If you like the school/area, either of those are great choices. (We know students at both who are very happy.)
If you keep up/raise slightly your GPA and get test scores in the 1450/32 ranger, you’ll have a shot at some interesting schools if you can afford and like them (UCSC - and maybe Irvine or Davis, CalPolyPomona, Santa Clara, Occidental etc. etc.) You’ll need to decide what is important in a school (location, rural, LAC, research, size, student make-up) and hone in on those that make sense that you can afford.
Thank you @newkidnewtrix @“aunt bea” @intparent @Gumbymom @CaliDad2020
I’ll try to raise my gpa next year; if I get 0-2 B’s next year, my uc gpa will be a 3.8-3.9.
@Trafficlight24 Just keeping working hard and “be you.” You are going have interesting choices. But choose the school(s) you want to attend, not the ones you want wear on a T-shirt. Fit is everything.
Good luck!
Just saw this bc my son is considering Univ of San Diego. Wanted to ask if there is some unusual reason your sophomore yr grades were low. Were you sick? (My son’s friend had a sports-related concussion and after-effects affected his ability to study.) If there is any explanation, you should include that in your app. (An admissions officer at Brandeis University told the visiting families that in our info session.)
Good luck!