Hispanic Rising Senior Chances for UCLA and Berkeley [CA resident, 3.68 GPA (3.60/4.13/4.20 for UC); business]

In State, California

Underrepresented High School, low funding

Hispanic, Male

First Generation

only using sophomore and Junior year grades (UC GPA calculator)

Majors: Business, Finance, Marketing

UW : 3.68
W: 4.01

Rank: 98/500

AP’s and Honors:
4 APS (WH,USH,LANG,SPANISH LANG) 2 Honors (English 2, Spanish 3/4)

Senior Courseload : AP Comp sci, AP Env Science, AP English lit, AP SPANISH Lit, AP Euro

1 Dual Enrollment course

EC’s:

  1. Creative Director for my School’s Yearbook (member for 2 years)

  2. Creator and co Host of a Podcast that focuses on spotlighting staff (70k + views on multiple platforms)

  3. Worked for the city over the summer as a camp counselor (1 summer)

  4. Worked at a pizza place (2+ years)

  5. President of Film Club

  6. Founder of Podcast Club

  7. Anchor for the School News (2+ years)

  8. Captain of JV Tennis (2+ Years)

  9. Creator on Tiktok (60k followers)

  10. 300+ Hours Volunteering at my Local Church food drive

  11. Member of the College Agency for 3 Years

  12. Author of a trilogy of books based on Podcasting

  13. Speech and Debate member (2+ years)

  14. Academic tutor (1 year)

Awards:

  1. Dean’s Honor Roll x3
  2. Outstanding Achievement in Tennis x2
  3. Community Service Award for 200+ hours
  4. Seal of Biliteracy

What are all three of your UC-recalculated GPAs (see GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub )?

Have you check the net price calculators for each school?

However, with a 3.68 GPA, UCB and UCLA are likely to be high reaches.

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Just got them from Roger Hub.

My UW is 3.60
W is 4.20
W and Capped is 4.13

I agree with @ucbalumnus that UCLA and UC Berkeley are High Reach schools.

I have linked the Freshman profiles for both schools.

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Look at admissions from your high school. That will give you an indication of how many students apply and are admitted:

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Not only are UCLA and UCB high reaches, but they may also not be the best choices for your interests.

UCLA has business econ, but not a full-blown undergrad business school. (Quote from website: “The Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics offers a major for students seeking a business orientation in their study of economics. It does not replicate the traditional undergraduate business school curriculum. Instead, it offers a more tightly focused curriculum that is guided by the rigorous logic and integrative perspective of economics. It is designed to prepare students for graduate education in business, economics, and law.”)

At Cal, direct-admit to the business program is even more competitive than getting into Cal generally; and barring that, there’s a competitive secondary admissions program for Haas, sophomore year.

Have you checked out the business programs at UCR?

And, probably the reach program to be looking at would be UCI:

Congrats on your strong record, and good luck!

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Thank you so much! I’ll definitely look into them.

No math senior year? What math did you have junior year?

My senior year math would be AP Computer Science (my counselor said it would count) but I could also take AP Stats. I’m currently doing Algebra 2.

Take precalculus. Business at UCB and business economics at UCLA (and business at many other schools) require calculus in college, so you will be behind if you are not ready for calculus.

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I agree with ucbalumnus. Your application for business majors will be at a disadvantage at many schools without precalculus. AP CS does not count for math…many, maybe most colleges consider CS an elective.

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Have you looked into the Cal State schools? Two you may want to take a closer look at include:

Cal Poly - Pomona

Cal State - Chico

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this 100%

Pre-calculus for sure.

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Your stat is “low” but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a chance. I don’t know you, but I suspect you will be the kind of candidate UC’s “holistic” review will be favoring. So if I were you, I’d still apply. If you qualify for UC fee waiver, I think it’s 4 schools free: I would apply to 2 reaches (LA, B) and 2 safety UC (M and R) and forget the rest unless I had extra money in my pocket.

Having said that, if you are taking Algebra 2 as a junior, you will likely be unprepared for UCLA or Cal even if you get in, especially if you are erroneously trying to use CS as math pre-req. There is no “remedial” math at UCLA or Cal and starting calculus there without prior exposure will not be good for your academic career. It’s not like the kids will be smarter, they just would have taken classes you have not.

My bias opinion here is low performing HS generally has little incentive to direct you into difficult classes because they really just want their students to “pass” and graduate. From the sound of what your HS counselor is telling you about CS counting for math, I think you should be cautious in any future advice from that person.

To increase your chance for success and demonstrate college readiness, are you able to take math at local community college? Take trig over summer and enroll in the “easy version” of calculus in Fall (in case you don’t know, most colleges offer 3 versions of calculus: engineering, life science, humanities/business but your local course offering will vary. Any showing of calculus on your application will likely make you a more competitive candidate. Look at Assist.org and find the transferable Math class to take will also make your life at UCLA / Cal easier if you do get in. And honestly, if you can’t do well in a CC math class, you will not do well at any UC campus and that’s time to re evaluate your educational plans.

Once you covered all the basics then it’s up to your PIQ essays to show who you really are as a person. Hope they move the Readers and get you a chance. Remember, write something interesting, you want them to spent more than 2 minutes reading your stuff.

Lastly, if you are set on Business, do not apply as any other major because if you get in, the chance of switching into a impacted major will be low because you will need a high GPA to apply. Although I’ve said the kids there are not smarter, here is where I will say, a few will be wicked smart and those are the ones you will be competing for a spot shall you try to switch into a impacted major.

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Thank you so much! I will definitely not do AP Computer science anymore and I’ll be cautious when taking advice from my counselor. Would you recommend taking AP Pre calc? Besides my math, what else can I do to improve my app? Thank you again for the advice!

You can still do the AP because it is offered at your school. You just need to do “more” to show you are a viable candidate. If you read a lot of these posts here, you need to show UC AO that you are better than the person you are sitting next to from your school who is also applying for a spot.

Yes! Take precalc - the fact that it’s available as an AP now is all the better for GPA-weighting. I don’t agree with the advice to rush the math sequence and take an “easy” version of calc. If you do this, you’ll still have to take a more rigorous calc class in college, and your foundation will be weak because of cutting corners on the prereqs. AP Precalc 100% - it is fine not to have calc, but it isn’t find not to be 100% ready for calc.

Regarding the UCLA/UCB/UCR/UCM application strategy that was suggested, I strongly disagree with skipping UCI, which in my opinion is the strongest undergrad business program that you have any realistic chance at. I do agree with applying to UCM, since they have developed a fairly business-y business econ major UC Merced Management and Business Economics Degree Program and, as a smaller UC with excellent supports for FGLI students (and vastly more affordable local housing than LA/Berkeley/Orange County/etc.) it could be a great option for you. If you only have three spots, apply to UCI/UCR/UCM, and a fourth campus of your choice. (I recommend UC Davis, which has added an undergrad business major Business Major | UC Davis Graduate School of Management). LA and Cal are not the Holy Grail. Add them if you want to and can afford the application fees, but not at the expense of better-fit options.

Lots of options in the CSU system as well. Try running the Net Price Calculator for Merced (typically the most affordable UC option) and comparing it with the NPC for Chico (not the be-all and end-all, but in a similarly-affordable Central Valley location, for an apples-to-apples comparison). For your financial situation, which is more affordable?

In addition to CPP, which was already recommended, Cal Poly Humboldt now has a range of concentrations in its undergrad business program as well Bachelor of Science in Business Administration | School of Business If you’re open to being as far from home as you can be without leaving California, Humboldt has quality-of-life advantages over Pomona, because of the lovely surroundings and less of a commuter culture.

But first of all, do the UC vs. CSU affordability comparison.

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I had my son do one semester of Algebra, one semester of Trig and straight onto Engineering track calculus at CC. At least at our local CC, Precal is the same class as Algebra + Trig, but covered in one semester instead of two. Are you good at math? That’s the question you have to ask yourself. For reference, my son actually sucks at math which is why I had him do math at CC to avoid getting his butt kicked at LA or Berkeley. Even he said (now) calculus is actually easier than algebra which is what I have told him.

I’m not saying don’t apply. The Thread title asks about chance to LA and B. I specifically mentioned about eligibility for a fee waiver which allows (I think four campuses) OP to apply for free. If he wants to take out R and substitute I, that will be fine. Or if he has extra money, he can apply to as many campuses as he sees fit.

I agree CSU campuses are great options for Business. In fact, my own personal opinion is CSUF, Cal Polys, and CSULB probably offer better Business training than any UC other than Berkeley.

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Yes, take precalculus so that you will be ready for calculus in college, which you should expect to have to take for a business major.

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Historically, NPCs tended to suggest that CSU commuter < UC < CSU resident for net prices for high FA need situations. But each student should check for their own situation.

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