D is currently a junior in HS in NYC. She has had a rough couple of years with anxiety issues plus having to miss approximately 2 months of school due to having spinal surgery. Here are her stats:
UW GPA: 3.0 (school does not rank or weight)
ACT: 28
SAT: 1260
Taking AP Bio next year.
ECs:
All Star Cheerleader (huge time & travel committment so her EC hours are very limited)
Volunteers with elderly 2 hrs/week
This summer she will be interning with NYU Dept of Psychology
She wants to major in Psychology with the hopes of becoming a therapist eventually. She’s also thinking about a minor in Chemistry. She also does not want to go to school anywhere near NY so…
Her choices (and my opinion):
UCLA (reach)
Georgia State (match)
UT Austin (possible reach)
Howard (match)
Hampton (safety)
UMichicgan (reach)
UTampa (match)
NC State (possible reach)
Temple
Cal State LA
FSU
Loyola Marymount
UMBC
Not sure if cheerleading is recruitable sport, but if it is, would she be at the level where colleges might recruit her for that? If so, that would help balance the grades and test scores. If she isn’t a recruited athlete, just based on grades and scores she might not want to waste the app fees applying to UCLA, UT Austin or UMichigan as those would be very, very long shots. I’m not as familiar with the others since they weren’t ones my son considered, but for those three, I know the out of state acceptance was very tough and required high grades and test scores.
Cheerleding is recruitable but since she had her surgery, she is physically unable to tumble (she has titanuim rods in her back). Most if not all schools require tumbling in order to make the college squads unless some exception could be made.
Based on the GPA and scores alone, I’d say she has a good chance of getting into Georgia State, Howard, Hampton, and UTampa. NC State and FSU will definitely be more difficult, but I think worth a shot. Now, UCLA and UMichigan are super competitive. For those, maybe take SAT or ACT one more time? I’m not sure how many times she already took the tests… On my second try, my SAT improved by nearly 200 points. But that also depends on how recently she took it.
From my experience, however, stats can be deceiving. A friend of mine got into Northeastern University with SAT score of only 970. He does not have any extraordinary extracurriculars or hooks… Just a good GPA. Therefore, I’d say, that some of the more competitive schools might be worth applying to. Maybe it will work out for her as well.
Only 3 or 4 of these are great chances of admission.
@Kate0615 she’s only taken the SAT & ACT once each. She’s taking the ACT again next Saturday with hopes of breaking the 30 mark. We’ll definitely apply to UCLA since it’s her first choice. Georgis State is 2nd so I think that’s where she may end up.
@cinn124 even with 28 on ACT, she is well above the average for Georgia State. I would even say in the top 25%. Thus, her chances for Georgia State are quite good. I would just advise working on the GPA. Average admitted student’s GPA is around 3.4. Overall, Georgia State is a nice school. Atlanta is a beautiful city.
For UCLA, 30 on ACT would be above average… The average GPA for UCLA is a lot higher, closer to 4.0, especially for the out-of-state students. However, as I have mentioned before, anything can happen. So it might be worth a try, if that is her first choice.
Best of luck!
UCs including UCLA have a 3.4 GPA minimum for baseline eligibility for non-California residents. GPA for UC purposes is calculated by the method shown here: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/ (weighted and capped is the one normally used). UCLA is highly competitive, so that applicants need much higher GPAs than 3.4 to have a reasonable chance of admission.
CSUs use the same weighted capped GPA calculation. Baseline eligibility for non-California residents is shown at https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/eligibility-index/Documents/non-residents.pdf . However, most CSU campuses (including CSULA) are impacted, so they may have higher thresholds for admission.
Non-California residents should not expect any need-based financial aid at UCs or CSUs, and merit scholarships are uncommon.