Compensating for a Poor GPA through Test Scores

kluge
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:49:20 +0000

UC posts very informative charts on their recently admitted classes. Here’s UCLA’s: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles/ucla_chart.pdf

As you can see, applicants with over a 4.0 UCGPA are admitted just over 50% of the time. Under a 4.0 that drops below 10%. I’ve known of just respectably bright kids with 4.0’s in undemanding high school courses accepted while a student with numerous honors and AP courses (some of which resulted in B’s) got rejected. UCLA uses “holistic” admissions, so if you have some interesting attribute that could make a big difference. (If you’re a recruited athlete, of course, that makes all the difference.) I’m just a dad who has been looking at this stuff since my oldest kid was old enough to apply to college, but it looks like GPA is the gold standard at the top UC’s, plain and simple. (Of course, they say that, too, which tends to support the theory.)

3.9 is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. But don’t consider UCLA or Berkeley to be a “match” with under a 4.0, no matter what your test scores are.