Chance Me for UCSB?

NiklasK · 06-03-2009, 03:44 AM

In-State

3.5 Unweighted GPA
3.75 Weighted GPA

SAT Score = 2080 (taking again in the fall, expecting 2100)

SAT II
Physics = 670
Math II = 690

Sports

9 years of Club Soccer (Class 1) - Practice Monday, Wednesday, Thursday - Games Sat/Sun
3 years JV Soccer
1 year Varsity Soccer
1 Year JV Swimming
1 Year Varsity Swimming
1 Year JV Cross Country

CLUBS

2 Years Model UN (multiple Outstanding Awards, no Gavels =[ )
(Officer, Publicist)
Cofounded the 2nd most Popular Club on Campus (Techno Appreciation Club), before being shut down by school because Techno has a connotation with raves, and raves have a connotation with drugs (***?)

Community Service

None, will me doing 30-40 hours worth in my Senior Year be worth it, or just be seen as me trying to get something to write on my application?

NOTES

UCSB is a school heavily focused on Soccer since they have no football team so I think if I angle my essay towards me being a serious soccer player/fan they might think I might fit in at UCSB very well. Thoughts?

I'm taking a Calculus and Intro to Political Science at UC San Diego over the summer and expecting to get an A in both. My High school counselor said if I get an A in those classes I could possibly transfer them to my Highschool Transcript to boost my GPA even further.

I'm a German Immigrant and have been recommended by almost all my counselors and college advisors I should write about my experience about my struggle in America with trying to come to graps with it's language and culture. I'm tri-lingual (German, English, Spanish). What are your thoughts on me doing this kind of essay? It seems a bit overdone to me, so wouldn't it be considered very fake since the admissions office probably sees 100s of the same kind of essays?

Been playing guitar for 8 years
DJing for 2 years

What do you think are my chances of getting into UC Santa Barbara? What areas need improvement, besides my grades since the semester is done and there's nothing I can do to change them (besides the UCSD Summer class which are in 3 weeks)? Will my above average SAT scores make up for my sub-par GPA?

tjdabeast · 06-03-2009, 05:02 AM

Your ECs are solid and your SATs are very good, but your GPA is a bit low. If you can ace those classes during the summer, then yes it will boost your GPA. Those two classes could boost you by a lot, actually. I say you have a good chance, but you'd have a magnificent chance if you get it to about 3.8/3.9. Just because UCSB is big on soccer, doesn't mean they'd accept you based on your outstanding soccer standings. If you write about soccer concerning a passion/connecting it to your academic goals, then yeah I'd be willing to bet you're in. And if you get the As at UCSD, then your college transcript will start with a 4.0 once you're at UCSB so that's really good. Your SAT IIs are good, also. Do the community service, I made many regrets by not adding all I could have on my application. Best of luck!

shiomi · 06-03-2009, 07:32 PM

When did you move to the US?

netsrock · 06-04-2009, 11:21 AM

my gpa is lower than yours and my SAT is around the same.

NiklasK · 06-04-2009, 05:51 PM

I moved here the year I was entering Kindergarden. So I couldn't speak any english and couldn't communicate with any of the other kids nor the teacher. I was starting to move forward a bit near the end but they felt overall I wasn't ready for 1st grade due to the language barrier, so I had to kindergarden again. My parents didn't want me to feel ashamed when I saw the other kids I knew in a different grade level than me so they moved me to a different school in our area, which I ended up attending all 7 years (elemantary schools are K-6 where I live). Even after that the first couple of years I was a bit shy and isolated from the other kids because even though I knew the language I was so used to just being alone from the previous year.

Was it too long ago for me to be able to write an essay about it, or does it still work because it directly impacted my younger years?

EDIT: Also I was considering taking the German SAT II because I know I'd get an automatic 800. Do you think it would be worth doing it, or would they not take the score seriously because they know I'm a native speaker?

shiomi · 06-04-2009, 06:39 PM

haha dude...There's no relevance to that then. Kindergarden? Come on! You're completely American now and speak fluent, perfect English. A year or two before you were in Kindergarden you barely knew how to speak anything :P.

Is UCSB your first choice? You honestly don't need a super awesome, emotionally moving essay to get in. Just write something that comes to mind and go with it.

tjdabeast · 06-04-2009, 06:44 PM

That's something good to write about if there was a requirement for promotion from k-6 to middle school, but I think you'd have a better shot if you write about something during your high school career. As for your German SAT II, you can take it and send it in. A 800 is always nice to see, but if you can get 700s/800s in math2/chem/physics or those cores it'd be better. I think your SAT IIs are pretty good enough to gain admission already, though you can re-take and improve those same ones. I've known people who got 500s on both of theirs and still got accepted. Even 400s, pretty ridiculous but who knows.

NiklasK · 06-04-2009, 09:58 PM

K so screw the immigrant crap then =p

One last question, should I apply to a particular department or undeclared for the sake of the best chance to get accepted into UCSB?

Like personally I'm juggling between Businness-Econ and Engineering (with my favorite at the moment leaning toward Engineer). Heard it's fairly easy to switch majors so, is there any advantages in admission to applying for a certain major or applying undeclared?

tjdabeast · 06-04-2009, 11:46 PM

Apply for whatever you're interested as, because they'll accept you as your stats first. My cousin couldn't get in for ChemE so they gave him undeclared. If you're going for engineering, see if you can get into the program first because it'll probably be harder after wards.

Muserz · 06-04-2009, 11:50 PM

Nik, still talk about your immigrant stuff. I bet your parents are very european in many ways and that shapes you and your life as a person.

NiklasK · 09-09-2009, 12:58 AM

I think I've decided for hte most part that my main focus about my app is going to be my social diversity involving the people around me. I can honestly say without any of the generic bs that I have the most diverse group of friends that I hang out with everyday of anyone I've known.

1. Italian
2. Brit
3. Pakistani
4. Indian
5. Iranian
6. Chinese
7. Taiwanese
8. An Israeli Vegetarian Jew with a Hunters License (lol he's awesome)
9 Me (German)

Most of the people around here are immigrants which leads to a lot of culture meshes, and resulting life experiences I can talk about.

Oh yea and I decided I'm going to apply to major in Materials Engineering so does anyone know in retrospect how hard it is to get into it since it's impacted?

dissonance · 09-09-2009, 01:11 AM

I think you should write about the immigrant stuff.

NiklasK · 11-02-2009, 09:56 PM

Hey so I just retook my SAT and got a 2190 (CR: 700 M: 750 W: 740) so did my chances just get a lot better or is my bad gpa still gonna weigh me down. Btw I just found out it's gonna be a weighted 3.65 which is even worse than I thought it'd be

QuantumArbiter · 11-03-2009, 07:45 PM

O.M.G...

"2 Years Model UN (multiple Outstanding Awards, no Gavels =[ )"

YOU're a model????? Will you date me? So so, if you get into UCSB..then if I get into Caltech...wait for me to contact you again.

yishyosh · 11-05-2009, 03:45 PM

i dont think you should write about the immigrant stuff. i mean, this is a UC school you are talking about. The UC's all have very diverse student bodies, with tons of indian, asian, hispanic, (etc.) students. The last thing they want to hear is yet another immigrant essay, unless you moved to the US much later, like in middle or high school. you should probably write about something more recent and different from everyone else.