markyang27

Bio Major

HS
GPA: 3.4 UW 4.0 W
SAT: 2020 Single composite (700 M 700 W 620 R)
2090 Super Score (760 M 710 W 620 R)
SAT II: Math 2 710, Bio E 680, Korean W/ Listening 740.
Took 9 AP Classes/tests. Passed all tests but 1.
EC: Volunteer at hospital, volunteer at therapeutic recreation center, taught Korean to kids. 3 Years of track and field.

College (this is where i start to worry): California CC
GPA: 3.12 from 17 Units
13 Units in progress all with A's so far (so if I do get all A's, it brings me up to 3.52)
EC:Unpaid Internship at a hospital, separate from the volunteering at the hospital mentioned above, which i still did in college...
Essay: I think it was decent. My sister who was an english major at UC Berkeley said it was good. It was long though...
Recs: Good-Great.

What do you think? I have learned that since I have less than 40 units, they're gonna most likely look at my high school record more. Do they use weighted or unweighted GPA's?

seatac

Yes, they will indeed pay significant attention to your HS grades and your test scores. So, you can estimate you chances by looking at the stats of those admitted (right in this forum..) For what quarter are you applying?

UW considers unweighted GPA only.

markyang27

Fall 2012! what do you personally think of my chances?

Do they highly consider EC's?

XaviFM

That's 30 semester credits. I thought the policy was that at that point they don't consider your HS transcripts anymore.

markyang27

well either way, i don't have enough credits for them to dismiss my high school transcript, so what do you think?

XaviFM

I think you should check UW's transfer policy.

"We use this record to check that an applicant has completed the minimum College Academic Distribution Requirements for admission and to learn more about an applicant’s educational background. For applicants who have completed fewer than 40 transferable credits, high school grades play an important part of the admission review."

So, the number is 40, but UW is on a quarter system, and you will have 45 Quarter credits when your 30 Semester credits are converted. So, you should contact them and see what role your HS graded will play.

markyang27

How are you calculating the conversion from semester units to quarter units?

sumzup

Semester credits * 1.5 = Quarter credits

markyang27

yeah when i do that i get 25.5. not 45 so...
anyways what do you guys think of my chances?

XaviFM

17 + 13 = 30

30 * 1.5 = 45

30 Semester Credits is 45 Quarter Credits.

It depends on how the UW counts your application. If what I'm told is correct they will only consider your high school record for purposes of areas of knowledge, but not for admissions. In that case you'd better get your GPA up. But, if they consider your HS marks then you'll stand a better chance.

markyang27

I think that they're only gonna consider my college transcript up till what i have finished... i haven't finished my second semester so I don't think they're gonna consider it since the applications are already finished.

Right?

XaviFM

I don't know.

seatac

markyang27, yes. It should be what you have completed, not what is in progress (because they don't know the grades of what is in progress and whether you will complete it at all).

Now, it's hard to chance you just like everybody. Your GPA is pretty low for UW, but you have excellent ECs. I hope that you had a good personal statement where you wrote everything about what influenced your education and your GPA.

The problem is that since you are applying as a freshman, UW will pay a lot of attention to your HS grades and test scores and some attention to your college grades. That means it brings you into the same pool of other freshmen applicants, which is very competitive even for in-state.

The good thing is that biology in UW is not competitive - it has minimum admission requirements and GPA of those who transfer here you can see by this link: http://admit.washington.edu/files/PDFs/BIOL.pdf (it's in your range).

I have been told that admission to the desired department almost always means admission to the university itself in case of a transfer student. So, since the avg. GPA for Bio is so low, you would have a much better shot applying as a transfer student for the 3rd year.

But you know, no one from us here is from Admissions, so we can't really chance you well...

micylt

After you have more than 45 college credits the UW doesn't consider your high school GPA. They only want your high school transcript to make sure you have completed your general graduation requirements - like english, math, science, etc. Sending your test scores after 45 credits is optional, but recommended if you have above average test scores.

XaviFM

The fact that Biology is not competitive will only help him if he's considered a transfer applicant. If it is after you have completed 45 credits and not after you have attempted 45 credits then he should re-apply for Biology after having completed 45 and getting those higher grades. That would put him (1) into a different pool (2) would show he was prepared for the major and (3) would mean that a non-competitive major would show he could be a safe bet to be successful here.