Blame it on me. Chances for Davis?

18thSky
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:42:53 +0000

So. This is a really long story. -

I want to attend UC Davis.
I know I should’ve been studying for the SAT I’s since freshman year, but until the end of the 10th grade, I thought that I was going to attend a university in a foreign country.
It wasn’t until spring break of sophomore year that I realized that I should attend a university in the States, since I was born and raised here & it would be very hard for me to adjust to the foreign country’s culture.
I never really thought about taking the SATs because the university that I would attend there wouldn’t really require them;
I attend a private, Christian school in Mobile, AL; it’s a requirement here that we take the ACTs, instead of the SATs. So, I thought that I could just use my ACT scores to get in.
Anyways after spring break, I got a few prep books for the SATs, and went to visit relatives abroad over the summer. When I got back, I had the entire month of July to study for the SATs without school work and pressure.
Due to my stupidity, I failed to take studying seriously and blew most of my time on television and facebook.
I did not have a study plan and was not aware of how the SAT exam was formatted.
I did not take the exam seriously; I thought that I was going to do fine.
I decided to take the exam in December to see how well I’d do.
Ended up with a 1760. [CR: 600 M: 540 G: 620 w. 8 on essay] With my mind blown, I decided to study harder.
Cruising through CC forums, I felt the motivation to do better on the exams and try my hardest.
But, as hard as I wanted to try, some habits failed to die.
Anyways, I did work hard ~ Just not as hard on the essay and vocab portion of the exam. I didn’t memorize and practice a few grammar rules that i should’ve (past perfect crap :/). I need to work on word problems and permutation stuff for the math portion of the exam.
But, on the recent June exam, I ended up with a 1920 [CR: 610 M: 640 G: 670 w. 9 on essay].

My academic stats are:

9th Grade Subjects - i) 4.5 ii) 4.5 (Weighted)/ i) 4.0 ii) 4.0 (Unweighted)


Speech (Reg) - A/A
English 9 (Hon) - A/A
World History/Geo (Hon) - A/A
Algebra II (Hon) - A/A
Biology (Hon) - A/A
Health (Reg) - A/A
P.E (Reg) - A/A
Bible (Reg) - A/A


10th Grade Subjects - i) 4.7 ii) 4.7 (Weighted)/ i) 4.0 ii) 4.0 (Unweighted)


English 10 (Hon) - A/A
US History I (Hon) - A/A
Geometry/Trig. (Hon) - A/A
Anatomy&Physiology (Hon) - A/A
Psychology (Reg) - A/A
Bible (Reg) - A/A
French I (Hon) - A/A


11th Grade Subjects - i) 4.7 ii) 4.57 (Weighted)/ i) 4.0 ii) 3.8 (Unweighted) —> Lost my title of becoming potential valedictorian. =[


Bible (Reg) - A/A
French II (Hon) - A/A
Art (Reg) - A/A
Pre-Cal (Hon) - A/B
US History II (Hon) - A/A
English 11 (Hon) - A/A
Chemistry (Hon) - A/A


UC GPA: 3.96

Anyways, I know my UC GPA is low - My school offers only 2 AP classes (both offered during senior year - AP Cal & AP Stats). I wish I had more AP options.

Im taking AP Cal this year & dual enrollment classes at the University of Alabama for English 101 & English 102.

But the main problem is, I want to take the SAT II exams - Math II, Bio M, and U.S H.

And I want to retake my ACT (Got a 26 the first time…I took this exam a week after I took my first SAT exam).

I studied for Bio M this summer from a Barron’s AP book. Im just going to review from here on out.

I just have to study for Math II (Need to review and memorize formulas since I took PreCal last year).

But I took U.S History last year, but it wasn’t a very comprehensive course.

I plan on retaking my ACT on September the 10th. My ideal score is a 32+.

I plan on retaking my SAT I in November (the 5th). (Just a few weeks before the UC app. deadline); my ideal score is a 2100+.

And taking the SAT IIs in October (the 1st). My ideal scores are 800s. I mean, I heard that there is no point in taking the subject exams if I don’t end up getting a 700+.

My EC’s are


Art Club. (1 yr. & continuing hopefully if they don’t get rid of the club)
Piano (1 yr. & continuing if nothing bad happens to the teacher)
Religion school every saturday (during 8th & 9th grade)


I may be a part of a new club this year.

I wish that I could’ve been a part of many other clubs, but unfortunately, I have an over-protective father; once when I was in the 8th grade, my step-brother’s high school counselor told him that “EC’s aren’t important; only grades and scores are”. Or else he would’ve considered letting me a part of many different clubs.

Another thing is that, majority of the clubs in my school are Christian clubs - and im not a Christian…so I can’t be a part of them; So, i’ve ran out of options.

My community service hours are

20 hrs. - Daycare
80 hrs. - Hospital in a 3rd world country over the summer

I might do more, if my dad permits.

My achievements are

~ 9th Grade - Subject Area Awards - English
~ 9th Grade - Art Competition - First place: Collage
~ 11th Grade - Art Competition - First place: Mixed media
~ 11th Grade - Art Competition - Honorable mention: Painting
~ 11th Grade - Art Competition - Honorable mention: Color photography
~ 11th Grade - District Art Competition - Third place
~ 11th Grade - Subject Area Awards - English

Im considering on applying to:

UC Davis
NYU
University of South Alabama

and maybe Irvine…not sure.

So my main questions are: Should I take the SAT II U.S history exam? Do you think I have enough time to study for it, considering the other exams and stuff I need to review on?

Do you think I can make it to UC Davis, based on the scores and stats I have now?