Hi! So right now I’m a junior and I’m taking AP Calc AB, AP Lang, and 3 DE courses. My schedule is half high school classes and half DE classes because I’m part of a program where I can finish 1 year of my college credits by the time I graduate high school. I ended with all A’s in my DE classes and regular classes but with a C in AP Calc and a B+ in AP Lang. In previous years, the lowest grade I’ve ever gotten was a B+ in Honors Pre Calc, otherwise I’ve gotten all A’s. I want to major in public health and my dream schools are UCSD, UCSC, and UCI. I’m worried I won’t be able to get into any colleges because of how low my GPA is (4.2w, 3.7uw), how low my SAT score is (1410 but I plan on retaking), and how weak my extracurriculars are. Right now my extracurriculars are 4 school clubs (related to my interests outside of med), volunteering at the hospital, and orchestra. I know my extracurriculars aren’t that strong so do you guys have any suggestions on how I could make them stronger to make up for my poor grades. Also, knowing all my stats, do you think there’s still a chance for me to get into my dream schools?
Next semester I’m hoping to get all A’s to balance my poor grades from this past semester. I think it’s doable for most of my classes besides AP Calc because there’s just something about it that doesn’t click. For my final, I started studying a week before and did 2 all nighters so that I could review and retain all the information. I also went over all the resources my teacher provided (lecture notes, past homeworks, review worksheets, etc.). I also was able to go and teach most, if not all, the concepts to my friends who were confused about topics for the final. I honestly felt pretty confident going into the final because I had prepared so much and felt as if I truly understood the material but I ended up fully failing and ending the class with a C (75%). I feel very discouraged about this class because it seems like no matter how much time and effort I put into this class, I always manage to fail. I’m not really sure why either and I’ve talked to my teacher about it as well (all she told me was to go over the lecture notes which is what I’ve done before every test, quiz, and the final). What am I doing wrong? Do you guys have any advice on how to improve my grade in AP Calc next semester (to an A hopefully)?
One C and B for 1 semester are not going to exclude you from being admitted at the UC’s listed however, improving your grades 2nd semester will definitely help your academic profile so finding out what your weakness are in Math especially will be important to succeed in College.
A few things you need to know about the UC system.
UC’s only use 10-11th a-g course grades for their GPA calculation so to get a better idea on your UC chances, you need to wait until end of Junior year to see how you compare.
Please note that if you are a California HS student, then UC approved Honors, AP, IB or DE UC transferable classes will be weighted in the calculation. You can look up which courses qualify for your HS here: University of California A-G Course List
The UC’s consider the Unweighted, Capped weighted and Weighted uncapped UC GPA’s in their application review.
UC’s are test blind so your SAT score will not be used for admissions or scholarship consideration, only course placement.
How were your grades in Pre-Calculus and Algebra 2? Having a strong Math foundation is important to do well in the higher level Math classes. You might also want to check out Khan Academy for extra help.
At the end of Junior, come back with any updates or questions. Good luck and keep working hard.
I got an A+ both semesters of Algebra 2 and a B+ both semesters of Honors Pre Calc (which I’ve been told is the hardest math course at my school by my AP Calc teacher). I’ll look in Khan Academy next semester, thank you.
I know the UCs are test blind but would it be better if I sent in a decent SAT score compared to no SAT score?
They will not accept SAT scores during the initial UC application submission. After submitting your application, you can go back into your UC application and self report your SAT scores which will be only used for course placement or for meeting the UC Entry Level Writing requirement but not for admissions.
Once admitted and enrolled, you will submit an official SAT score report.
Yes. You can still get in college with a C in AP Calc. FYI, your GPA is still in the acceptance range of UCSC. Plus there are many good UCs and CSUs. You just need to focus on bringing up your Calc grade for the rest of the year. Can you get a math tutor? S24’s high school provides free tutor service, not sure about yours. Good Luck.
There are plenty of colleges where a lot of the kids had something like a 3.7 UW in HS, or indeed less. Such GPAs typically involve some Bs, and not infrequently a C or two.
So you should continue to do your reasonable best in your classes, and then over the summer you can assess how it all turned out, and put together a reasonable list of Likely, Target, and Reach schools in light of your transcript and other factors.
I will gently suggest the only real problem here is basically an avoidable problem, namely that you have prematurely picked three particular colleges to call your “dream schools”. To be very blunt about it, all these schools are just schools, they all have pros and cons, and so no school can really match up to the expectations of people who put them on too high of a pedestal. Conversely, though, there are many, many colleges that can provide an excellent education and good overall experience to kids who are well-prepared and well-motivated, and thoughtful about what really matters to them.
OK, so I don’t know if those particular colleges actually should be on your ultimate list or not. Maybe, maybe not. But even if they do all make your ultimate list, I am dead sure they are not the ONLY colleges that could possibly work out really well for you.
So, again, do your reasonable best, then come up with a good application list. And then you can’t lose, whether it ends up being one of those colleges or not that you attend.
Your worry is far overstated - as far as college in general.
You could even get into UC subs, such as the Arizona schools, with much lower credentials than you do.
Your SAT is solid (but UCs and CSU won’t consider) and for many colleges ECs are not relevant to admission - just academics are.
Btw you don’t even need Calc to get into college.
You’ll be fine - and don’t have a dream college. All have warts - bad food, roomie, profs etc.
But there’s hundreds (at least) colleges that you’d get into.
You are putting way too much pressure on yourself.