chances with good academics but bare minimum ECs?

fORKnSCISSORS · April 24, 2005, 2:15am

Weighted 10-11 GPA: 4.0 (I might be able to achieve a 4.1 if I get A's in AP Biology and Math Analysis this semester...... I'd say it's a 50% chance, otherwise my GPA will be a 4.0)
Unweighted GPA: about 3.6 - 3.7
Class Rank: about 100/700 (no... I don't think there is grade inflation. It's just that many people strive and/or are pressured by their parents to get good grades at my school)
SAT: 2070. retaking in June, aiming for 2150+.
SATII (predicted scores. taking them in June): Biology: 750-800 US History: 650-700
Predicted AP scores: Biology 4 or 5, US History: 3 or 4, Psychology: 5, Computer Sci.: 1 or 2

I'm not sure about the difficulty of my courseload. But here's what I've taken.

Freshman year I took all regular classes:english, computer applications, orchestra, geometry, french II, integrated science.
courses for grade 10: world history, algebra II/trig, french III, english, orchestra, biology.
this year i'm taking: english, orchestra, AP Bio, AP US History, AP psych, AP Comp. Sci, Math Analysis
Courses taking next year: AP Gov/Econ, AP Stats, AP Literature, AP Environmental Science, AP Art History, Badminton, Chemistry

ECs:
- swim team(9) - 10 hours a week for 4 months.
- key club(9,11,continuing senior year) - 4 hours. total. hahaa
- CSF member (10,11,continuing senior year) - 0 hours. note the keyword: member.
- character counts - (10,11,continuing senior year) - 8 hours total. i told you my ECs suck.
- freshmen mentor (11) - about 25 hours total.
- planning on volunteering/community service 50-100 hours this summer and beginning of senior year.

Can you guys please rate my chances at the following schools? I'm planning on majoring in either General Biology or Evolutionary Biology.

UCI
UCSB
UCSC
UCD (my first choice)
UCLA
UCM
NYU
U. of Arizona
U. of Colorado at Boulder
Syracuse
Pepperdine

mathwiz · April 24, 2005, 11:47am

your EC's arent bare minimum, but it would be nice to get more depth in them (eg, 0 hours just doesnt cut it)

u shouldnt take the comp sci ap if u seriously think the most u can get is a 2

im not too familar with ur colleges, but i think u've got an ok shot at them

btw, take AP calc, not AP stat, if u can

unlimitedx · April 24, 2005, 12:22pm

Become an officer in your favorite club, and do something important you can talk about in your personal statement.

Do that and you should be able to get into UCD.

cob · April 24, 2005, 1:40pm

I am only familliar with the UCs, and I am pretty sure that you have a great shot. I had somewhat similar ECs that were pretty weak, and I got into the UCs that I applied to (ucsd and ucberkeley). I think when applying to UCs, the main thing they will look at is academics and test scores. Your academics and test scores are above average for UCs, but of course if you could get it a little higher it would increase your chances. Also becoming a part of that one top 4% thing in your class (i forget the name but it's guaranteed admissions to a UC) will help you since admissions for UCs are based on a points system I believe.

unlimitedx · April 24, 2005, 1:59pm

its elc- eligibility in local context. get that and you will get into ucd.

its 96.2% acceptance rate for elc students

cob · April 24, 2005, 2:03pm

There ya go. Yeah even though I definitely qualified for it, I wasn't in it because I forgot to sign some paper by some deadline. I was a little worried haha. But also there's another ELC that is based on your testing scores that you can qualify for if your gpa won't cut it.

fORKnSCISSORS · April 24, 2005, 3:56pm

is there any way i can get elc with my low class rank?

flopsy · April 24, 2005, 4:36pm

fORKnSCISSORS:

UCLA: Slight Reach
UCD: Safe Match
UCSB: Safe Match
UCI: Safe Match
UCSC: Safety
UCM: Safety

NYU: Slight Reach
Arizona: Safe Match
UC-Boulder: Safe Match
Syracuse: Safety
Pepperdine: Safety

unlimitedx · April 24, 2005, 7:15pm

"is there any way i can get elc with my low class rank?"

the school sends your class' top 12.5% to the UC office, and they decide the top 4% of of your class to be elc.

If you are an ELC, the acceptance rate for all the UCs are above 90% except for SD which is 86%, LA about 50% and Cal about 60%. So unless all you have been doing for the past three years was just study and didn't partipate in any clubs/sport, you should be able to get into Davis.

grimreefer · April 24, 2005, 7:19pm

u can definatly go to arizona

cob · April 24, 2005, 8:55pm

like i said, there's an ELC based on test scores... I forget what it is exactly but if you look around on the UC site you can find it, I think you need a combined SAT score of around 2100 or something... I'm not quite completely sure, just check it out.

fORKnSCISSORS · April 24, 2005, 9:31pm

^ wow, i didnt know that. thanks!!!

stambliark41 · April 25, 2005, 1:39am

do you go to tesoro?

fORKnSCISSORS · April 25, 2005, 1:42am

I go to Troy

stambliark41 · April 25, 2005, 1:44am

nm then. do you have a 10th/11th rank...that might help you.

fORKnSCISSORS · April 25, 2005, 1:46am

Ahhh.... no :( Our school ranks cumulatively.

stambliark41 · April 25, 2005, 1:48am

yeah like my school im ranked 103/733 for 9th-11th but 38/733 for 10th-11th. i think that'll really help me out.

gigante · April 25, 2005, 2:18am

It may help some, but not a HUGE amount.

For UCD, why not calculate yourself on their admissions table?

<a href="http://www.mrak.ucdavis.edu/senate/ra/admissions_enrollment_annual_rpt02.htm#_ednref2%5B/url%5D">http://www.mrak.ucdavis.edu/senate/ra/admissions_enrollment_annual_rpt02.htm#_ednref2</a>

There was a similar one online from Patrick Henry HS in San Diego for UCSD but they took it down.

fORKnSCISSORS · April 25, 2005, 2:52am

^ according to that scale I got 9500 points (9000 points if SAT courses don't count as pre-collegiate programs). Also, would I get points for Marked improvement in 11th grade (Cs or less to B or A)? I had a 3.3 freshmen year, this year I got a 4.4 but got a C in AP Comp.Sci.

Also, what is the cutoff for Davis?