theReach

My school calculates overall GPA with Freshman year, so according to them its 3.138 UW. My rank by that calculation is 121/491. I calculated it not counting Freshman and Senior year and only adding 8 points for 8 semesters of AP/Honors, and I got 3.041 UW, 3.375 W. Thank you very much for the chance if you do, and I will definitely chance you back.

Freshman
English 9 Honors C+/B-
Art 1 B/B
Health/Geography B/A-
Geometry A-/B
PE 9 A/A-
Biology B+/A

Sophomore
English 10 Honors B-/B+
Architectural Design 1 C/C
Algebra 2/Trig B/B-
PE 10 A/A-
Chemistry Honors C/C-
AP European History B+/B+

Junior
AP English Language B/B
Precalculus A-/C+
AP Statistics A/A-
Physics B/B
APUSH B+/B-
Psychology B+/A

Senior Schedule
AP English Literature
AP Government/AP Economics
AP Calculus AB
Journalism
Literature and Film
TA for AP Euro teacher

SAT: 2110, but I am retaking. I trust that I can get a 2200
SAT II: USH-760, English Literature-730 Math2- estimating a 750 (have not taken yet)
AP: European History-3, USH-5, English Language-5
ACT: estimating a 33 (have not taken yet)

Background
-Chinese =/
-family income less than 60,000
-my parents never went to college
-I've always enjoyed the humanities over mathematics and science, and I think my grades reflect that. I plan on majoring in political science or philosophy and entering law school as a graduate.

Extra Curriculars
I did not have much time for ECs my sophomore and junior year. I tutored and did some other odd jobs to support the family income.
-Over 200 hours of community service, 80 at the local senior citizen retirement homes where my grandma lives
-Water Polo Freshman year
-Guitar Club officer

I have 3 teachers who have already agreed to write me recommendations.

Colleges:
-UCD
-UCI
-UCSB
-UCSD
-UCLA (don't laugh at these two lol)
-UCB
-University of Southern California
-University of the Pacific
-San Jose State University
-San Francisco State University

california_life

The major weaknesses in your application, from what I can infer based upon your stats, is the lack of EC's/leadership and your GPA. Thankfully, there are schools that weight GPA more heavily than others, for instance USC, however, they like to see at least a somewhat solid EC portfolio and very much like leadership positions. The UC system will be the most difficult because your GPA is the vital factor in your admittance, I know many with 1800's that were admitted but had a 4.0 UW GPA. Based upon my own experiences, knowledge of the schools, etc:

UCD- low reach
UCI- low reach
UCSB- low reach
UCSD- reach
UCLA- high reach
UCB- high reach
USC- low reach (maybe match if you can really turn your grades around for first semester and have better ECs)
University of the Pacific- In
San Jose State University- In
San Francisco State- In

I wish you the very best of luck!

theReach

Thank you california_life! What sort of ECs do you recommend for a soon to be senior?

theReach

Bumping for great justice. Anyone else? I will chance you back.

jellxtoxthexo

You just made it into the top 25%, so try your hardest to stay in. Your grades show a slight downward curve, so senior year, try to overcome that to raise your overall GPA above your freshman exclusive GPA.

Looking at your SAT and AP's, I can see you're a really smart kid- but your low GPA either reflects you're a tad of a slacker or you have other committments which take a lot of time, such as the different jobs you had. I suggest you write an essay as to why your test scores are high and your grades lower- this can show that you overcame struggles and give a reason for your grades rather than just not being intelligent.

Do all of these things, and all of these schools are within your reach, some more attainable than others. (I'm not very familiar with the UC's, so I can't help specifically.) Add a higher reach or two, and maybe a safety.

theReach

Thanks for the reply jell. Replying individually to your points:

-So do senior year grades factor in? If an upward trend shown in my first semester of senior year affects my chances, I'll definitely try harder.

-I don't want the essay to come off as a sob story, can you elaborate on "overcoming struggles"? I wanted to do something more on the lines of a funny essay.

theReach

bump!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ilovecolegge

-UCD- low reach
-UCI-low match
-UCSB-match
-UCSD-match
-UCLA- reach
-UCB-high reach
-University of Southern California- low match
-University of the Pacific- safety
-San Jose State University- safety
-San Francisco State University- match

phillymo

Thanks for chancing me.
I think that if you stress the fact that you took on work and other jobs to support the family, then colleges won't weigh too heavily on your EC's. Also, I think your grades are up to par with testing, but, as you mentioned, your gpa needs to be brought up to get into some of these schools.

Here's what I think of your chances:

UCD- high match/low reach
UCI- high match/low reach
UCSB- high match/low reach
UCSD- high match/low reach
UCLA- reach
UCB- reach
USC- low reach
University of the Pacific- Safety
San Jose State University- Safety
San Francisco State- Safety

Just work on the gpa and your chances will improve.

graciee

thank you for chancing me(:
okay, so your gpa is a bit on the low side but you have really good standardized test scores, so there's a chance that that'll balance some things out. You don't have that many ec's but you do have a lot of community service hours, which shows that you are dedicated. Write amazing essays; start on them right now (that's what i'm trying to do haha).
You never know, the UC's are being wierd lately when it comes to admissions, so there's a chance that you'll get in where you want.
-UCD low reach/match
-UCI low reach/match
-UCSB low reach/match (they have low gpa averages but high sats, so good chance here)
-UCSD reach
-UCLA high reach
-UCB high reach
-University of Southern California reach
-University of the Pacific not sure...i dont know much about the U of Pacific so I cant say..
-San Jose State University safety
-San Francisco State University safety

92jjxx

-UCD in
-UCI in
-UCSB in
-UCSD reach
-UCLA reach
-UCB reach
-University of Southern California reach
-University of the Pacific in
-San Jose State University in
-San Francisco State University in
try taking more ap's or hp's in senior year, colleges dont c grades for them but at least will know yur willing to challenge yourself
can u plz chance back? plz chance an overachiever for rice, u of maryland, duke, caltech, and 5 uc's

theReach

Chanced you back 92jjxx!

92jjxx

thank you for the chance!

jellxtoxthexo

Senior grades DEFINITELY factor in!!!

If you can pull it off, definitely do the funny essay- it'll set you apart. Make sure it doesn't sound disrespectful/corny/awkward though, as most people can't pull it off.

The Common App has a 150 word or less short response about an EC, so I'd suggest writing about one of your more time-consuming EC's and explaining how it was necessary to complete, but in the process, took a slight toll on your grades.

nil desperandum

UCI, UCSB, San Jose and san Francisco- I think you can get into those.You really should stress your family circumstances b/c you've overcome a lot. Also, have you thought of schools outside the university of california system? Keep your options open.