DEC ACT out! Chances at UC schools- Low GPA/Mid Test Scores/Great ECs+story?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Chances for:
UC Berkeley
UC LA
UC Irvine
UC Davis</p>

<p>Applied for:
Pre-Business/Undeclared at Berk
Pre-Econ/Pre-Business Admin at LA
Business Info Management at Irvine
Sociology at Davis</p>

<p>My story:
GPA jumped from a 2.9 Sophomore year to a 4.2 Junior year. I briefly mentioned the passing of my grandpa during sophomore year (didn’t want to go into detail) and the ending of my first relationship as a few of my hardships during my rough sophomore year. I also mentioned how I became stronger as a person and now know how to respond when I encounter similar events in the future. I also mentioned how I started a business to distract myself from negative emotions, and began to love business and commerce.</p>

<p>Personal Statements:
1: World I come from…
I talked about a boy whom I teach martial arts to who has autism. I talked about how his determination in his training motivated me to be just as determined etc etc… not the strongest essay, but still solid.</p>

<p>2: Personal quality etcetc…
I talked about the business I started, juggling between junior year and all the administrative duties, being recognized by my city’s Rotary Club, landing an internship+job at a Real Estate firm, attending a prestigious business camp taught by a Haas School of Business professor, receiving a full scholarship from the Rotary Club etcetc… basically, this is where I tried to shine. I feel this is a pretty good essay. Opinions vary though.</p>

<p>Stats:
High SChool: Public
GPA 3.401 Weighted No Cap
GPA 3.310 Weighted UC Cap
GPA 3.000 Unweighted</p>

<p>SAT (1710)
Math 620
Reading 560
Writing 530</p>

<p>ACT (26)
E- 23
M- 32
R- 23
S- 24</p>

<p>AP/H classes taken (6 Courses, 12 Semesters)
AP World Hist/AP Biology/Ap US Hist./AP Statistics/H Pre Calculus/ H English III</p>

<p>Senior Year load: (3 APs, 1 H)
AP Literature/AP American Gov/AP Calculus AB/H Physics/Spanish 3</p>

<p>Work Experience:</p>

<p>Martial Arts Academy Junior Instructor
April 2008- present</p>

<p>Realty World Regency INTERNSHIP
June 2011- August 2011</p>

<p>Realty World Regency Marketing Analyst Position
August 2011- present</p>

<p>Apparel Business Owner- Founder and CEO/Manager
July 2009- present
*Raised monthly revenue from 2k to 4k. Over 1000 clients. International. One person business.</p>

<p>Titan Template Newspaper
2009-present
-Staff writer and layout editor</p>

<p>Adidas Footwear and Apparel- Model
Summer of 2009</p>

<p>Extracurricular:
2011 Camp Venture Business Retreat (June 2011)
2010 Interact Club’s District Conference (Dec 2010)
Martial Arts- advanced student(2003-present)
Badminton Team- team captain and varsity player (2006-present)
Piano/music theory- student (2001-present)
Chamber Choir- Base Section Leader (2009-present)
High School Musical Production- singer (April 2010)
Interact Club- member (2008-present)
Chinese Club- member (2010-present)
Environmental Club- member (2011-present)</p>

<p>Awards:
Best Written Business Start-Up proposal award</p>

<p>Hercules’s Rotary Scholarship</p>

<p>2010 18th Annual University of California Berkeley Regional Chinese Martial Arts Tournament
-Intermediate Male Traditional Southern Fist
Gold Medalist</p>

<p>-Intermediate Male Traditional Northern Fist
Silver Medalist</p>

<p>2011 19th Annual University of California Berkeley Regional Chinese Martial Arts Tournament
-Intermediate Male Traditional Southern Fist
Gold Medalist</p>

<p>-Intermediate Male Traditional Northern Fist
Bronze Medalist</p>

<p>-Intermediate Male Traditional Long Weapon
Outstanding performance recognition</p>

<p>2010 San Francisco International Chinese Martial Arts Competition (ICMAC)
-Advanced Male Traditional Southern Long Fist
Outstanding performance recognition</p>

<p>-Advanced Male Traditional Northern Long Fist
Outstanding performance recognition</p>

<p>2011 San Francisco International Chinese Martial Arts Competition (ICMAC)
-Advanced Male Traditional Southern Long Fist
Outstanding performance recognition</p>

<p>-Advanced Male Traditional Northern Long Fist
Outstanding performance recognition</p>

<p>Best written Business Start Up Plan (Camp Venture 2011)</p>

<p>Seventh Place Badminton League Tournament 2011
-North Coast Championship qualified</p>

<p>Languages:
English Fluent/Cantonese Fluent/Mandarin Fluent/Spanish Limited Ability</p>

<p>Community Service- Plenty. About 200-300 hours.</p>

2

<p>Anyone wanna provide me some insight?</p>

3

<p>Unfortunately, the UCs are mostly academic-oriented and your GPA and SAT I are below average. I understand that the UCs are taking a more holistic approach of reviewing apps, but their main emphasis is still going to be on GPA and test scores by far. Your ECs are amazing and unique. If your essays are extremely good, I think you may have a shot at Davis and Irvine. I think you should consider applying to some privates because they focus more on ECs than the UCs. </p>

<p>Berkeley-high reach
LA-high reach
Davis-low reach/high match
Irvine-low reach/high match</p>

<p>Good luck to you!</p>

4

<p>With both your GPA and scores below average for all of these schools, they’re not realistic. UCs are not looking for an upward trend, they want a strong performance soph and jr years and scores that indicate you can succeed in a range of courses.</p>

<p>They are highly quantative in approach to admissions and your stats must be competitive. Hopefully you also have some safeties you love or are OK with taking the CC to UC approach.</p>

5

<p>Honestly, after reading 2930840932483 posts by kids who got into these schools, </p>

<p>I do believe you have a good shot at Berkeley. (Truly, I am no one to being giving “chances” to people, especially for UCs since I am applying to the schools this year, and I applied to all of the same schools as you).</p>

<p>Your ECs & work experiences are amazing! Your essay topics sound great, just make sure you presented everything well. </p>

<p>I honestly think that your ECs & experiences make up for your GPA…</p>

<p>You have a really good chance at Irvine & Davis.
UCLA seems kinda sporadic in its admissions…so not too sure about that. </p>

<p>Berkeley does place importance on GPA, but from what I know, as long as you’re a resident & you show passion…you should be in. It’s a passionate & diverse environment, I reckon, and they are probably looking for someone well suited in his/her specific niche. </p>

<p>Don’t let the posters above discourage you, even though they do speak truth…</p>

<p><strong>edit: Actually, I think you have really good chances for UCLA…UCLA places importance on ECs (as far as I read)…Gosh, this is tough…but you will never know until March. But, you definitely won’t have to take the community college route && your upward trend will be taken positively! 2.9 → 4.2 w. APs = impressive</strong></p>

6

<p>Bump it up. Looking for more insight? What privates would I have a good shot at?</p>

7

<p>People being a little idealistic, spectacular ECs but grades don’t add up.</p>

8

<p>For privates, LACs ranked below 35 and U’s in the 50-100 range.</p>

9

<p>Hmmm… Anyh other inputs?</p>

10

<p>Bump it up again please need more input!</p>

11

<p>Bump it up. Any more inputs?</p>

12

<p>BUMPITUP! Would like more inputs~!</p>

13

<p>I think you have a decent shot at Davis and Irvine, but Berkeley and LA are big reaches for you. At best, you’ll get into LA but I wouldn’t hold my breath.</p>

<p>chance back:<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1233558-my-story-will-my-dream-schools-understand-7.html?highlight=my+story[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1233558-my-story-will-my-dream-schools-understand-7.html?highlight=my+story&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>Bump it up!</p>

15

<p>Bump it up. Need more inputs!</p>

16

<p>Bump it up. ANyone?</p>

17

<p>You have great ECs! However, your GPA and test scores will really drag you down. I think Irvine and Davis can be within your reach. You’ll have to be a lot luckier to get into Berkely or UCLA. Good luck!</p>

18

<p>bump it up! Need more input. FEel free to be harsh I know my GPA and scores are low… >.< But can the ECs + story help for acceptance?</p>

19

<p>Your ECs are amazing so don’t even worry about those. Unfortunately, your GPA + SAT/ACT are on the lower end for the UCs. :confused: I can see you getting in to UCSC but UCD, UCI, and UCSB might be a long stretch. UCLA, UCSD, and UCB are almost impossible in your case. :frowning: But hey, you never know right? Luck plays a huge role in UC admissions so keep your chin up and you just might end up in the mid-tier UCs! :D</p>

<p>Chance me back please? I have almost the same stats: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1267836-last-uc-chance-thread-my-life-make-one-meaningful-useful-one-please.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1267836-last-uc-chance-thread-my-life-make-one-meaningful-useful-one-please.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

20

<p>You need to read the common data sets. These schools admit mostly numerically. see how your stats line up. UCs are not schools where a strong essay trumps numbers. What can help is being from a rural area, being very low income and/or first gen. They are tip factors.</p>