dkbear

Decision: Rejected

Stats:

• College/Major Applied To: Biology (of some sort...I'm using this for multiple colleges so I can't say the exact title)
• Fee Waiver Used?: No
• SAT I (by section): Critical Reading 680, Writing 750 (Essay 8, MC 78), Math 800
• SAT IIs: Math Level 2 750, Literature 700, Physics 570, Chemistry 530
• GPA, Weighted and Unweighted: UC Unweighted: 3.5ish, UC Weighted 3.65, Unweighted 3.65, Weighted 3.78 (difficult school with very few honors or AP classes)
• Rank: 7 of 38 (smart class too)
• ACT: 35
• APs (including this year's): Calculus AB: 3, I'm taking 8 tests this year thanks to independent study (I am the first at my school to do this), but I didn't know until my applications were in, so I was able to notify a few, but not all colleges
• IBs (including this year's: None
• Senior Yr Courseload: Heavy-the two other AP classes (English Lit and Physics) offered besides the one I have already taken, Speech, Apologetics, Government/Economics, Band, Spanish 3...at my school, that is a really heavy load
• Number of Apps from Your School: for all colleges I applied to except Davis (2 others), LA (1 other), Berkeley (1 other), and Pepperdine (1 other), there was no one else who applied. They are smart...but not very ambitious.
• Other stats (Awards, etc.): I've gotten a few minor awards, but nothing really worth mentioning. I guess I'll just list what I could get:
  1st Place - Algebra II Math League - School
  1st Chair - ACSI Honor Band - Regional
  Nominee - Junior Homecoming Prince - School
  Nominee - Senior Homecoming Prince - School
  Nominee - Veterans for Foreign Wars Competition - School
  Winner- Veterans for Foreign Wars Competition - Regional
  Winner - Servant's Heart Award - School

Subjective:

• ECs listed on app:
  Honors Society - Participant - 10th-12th - 1hr*10 wks
  Drama Productions - Actor - 9th-12th - 3hr*12 wks
  Student Council - Sophomore Vice-President - 10th - 1hr*5 wks
  Ministry Council - Participant - 9th-12th - 1 hr*8 wks
  Band - 9th-10th, 12th - 5 hr*40 wks
  Political Campaign Volunteer - 12th - 3 hr*5 wks
  School Scoreboard Operator - 10th-11th - 6 hr * 8 wks
  Honor Society Service Day - 11th-12th - 2hr*1 wk
  Community Service Day - 9th-12th - 5hr*1 wk
  California Forestry Improvement Volunteer - 11th-12th - 2hr*1wk
  Yearbook Staff Member - 12th - 2 hr*15 wk
• Job/Work Experience:
  After-School Care Assistant - 11th-12th - 12 hr*30 wk
• Essays (subject and responses): they were all pretty good. my teachers all liked them. I thought they were pretty original. I don't know what else to say...
• Hook (TASP, RSI, Research, etc.): N/A

Location/Person:

• State or Country: California
• School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Parochial/Private. SAT Critical Reading Average 542, SAT Math Average 529, SAT Writing Average 552. Decent...
• Ethnicity: White. I mean Caucasian. Whatever. I wish I had gone undeclared.
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: 200,000+
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
• Strengths: SAT scores, at least one essay on each application, interviews
• Weaknesses: SAT science scores (considering my science major), GPA
• Why you think you were accepted/wait listed/denied: Sophomore and Junior year GPAs. They were lower compared to my 1st, 2nd, and 7th semesters: 4.0 weighted.

Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: THE ABSOLUTE WORST PART OF THIS ENTIRE PROCESS WAS WAITING FOR UC IRVINE FOR A MONTH JUST TO BE REJECTED. Hehe. On the other hand, I gave UC San Diego a call and they gave me the exact reason I was rejected because they could pull up my file and look at it. It was GPA by the way. And yes, the "chart" of point distribution is valid.

I knew what I was getting myself into, so I'm cool with it. If you need help with preparing for your application or college or whatever, PM me and I'll be happy to help. I wish I had had some help. Perhaps I would have pushed my GPA a bit more.