TLDR: If you don’t care for my stats but are knowledgeable about admission process, I was wondering about the following: 1. Is affirmative action truly not a part of the process, or will my race and background be assessed? 2. I come from a competitive part of the Bay Area. Will my application be directly judged against my peers within my school, district, or county, or is that not considered? (Will my graduating class being “stronger” vs “weaker” have any bearing? Are certain schools better to attend if I want a shot at UCB/UCLA?) 3. As a Bay Area student, is UCB impossible without a 4.0?
4. What is the single most important part of my application?
5. Any other information regarding UC/Bay Area admissions would be highly valuable. Thank you!
Demographics
US citizen
State/Location of residency: CA
Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public
Intended Major(s)
Applied Math, Econ, Stats
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: Currently 3.92, expecting ~3.85
Weighted HS GPA: Currently 4.06, expecting ~4.20
ACT/SAT Scores: 1530 SAT (second score pending, see replies for new score)
List your HS coursework
English: 9-10 had only one offered, 11-AP Lang, 12-AP Lit
Math: Completed all offered courses (AP Calc BC, Stats) by end of 10th, Multivar, Linear Alg, Diff Eqs at CC
Science: 9-Biology, 10-Physics Honors, 11-AP Physics C Mech, 12-AP Chem
History and social studies: 10-World History, 11-US History, 12-Gov, 12-AP Econ
Language other than English: All levels up to AP Spanish Lang (11)
Visual or performing arts: Beginning Drama (9)
Other academic courses: Journalism (9-12)
General education course work:
Major preparation course work:
Awards
PVSA (Presidential Volunteer Service Award) Gold x1, Bronze x2
Extracurriculars
News editor, managing editor, and editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. Participated for all four years. As a news editor, I edited 5-7 articles for each of the 7 issues of the school year, and designed the news section of the newspaper digitally before printing. As managing editor, I managed the school’s finances and social media, growing both our overall funding and social media following. I also led 50+ students in a brand-new initiative allowing them to produce portfolios of their work to display. As editor in chief, I edited all 40+ articles in the newspaper for every issue, as well as guiding all the section editors and everyone in the class.
Track and field captain. Participated for all four years. Led the team during practices and meets, and guided younger teammates. 10 hours/week, 15 weeks/year.
Cross country captain. Participated for all four years. Led the team during practices and meets, and guided younger teammates. 10 hours/week, 15 weeks/year.
Interned at ForeOptics. Worked with VP of Supply Chain Solutions to optimize work flow model. 8 weeks, 4 hours/week.
Published a blog posting content about applications of data in the real world, and how numbers can transform fields including sports and politics. Also, held a webinar with a mentor in the field of statistics to discuss the real-life applications of data.
Local environmental services lead for a non-profit organization focused around volunteering and philanthropy. Organized and led several teenagers on environmental activities weekly, such as trash pickups and tree plantings. Consistently volunteered and fundraised, as well as helped younger individuals grow a stronger commitment to service. Volunteered for 200+ hours.
Scoreboard operator for football and basketball. Attended football and basketball games at my high school and operated the scoreboards. Paid $25/hour. Worked for 50 hours.
Volunteered at local elementary school, assisting the class. Worked as a teacher’s assistant, individually working alongside the teacher as well as specific students to help grow learning in English and STEM.
Essays/LORs/Other
Yet to be written. Not expecting any amazing LORs, but I have a decent relationship with teachers I plan to ask. I am a good writer, and intend on writing good essays.
Schools
All UCs, UMich Ann Arbor, UT Austin, USC
Any advice appreciated! Thank you again for reading!
AA is not a part of the processSince the consideration of race in admissions was banned in California 27 years ago by Proposition 209, the University of California has adjusted its admissions practices to comply with the law while continuing to aggressively pursue avenues for increasing diverse student applications, admissions, enrollment, and retention. Through a comprehensive admissions review process, we have made important strides in this area — but more work remains to be done by us all.
Yes - especially your HS
Surely not everyone at UCB from the Bay area has a 4.0 UW
Per the CDS, rigor, GPA, and essays are the three most important, not necessarily in that order.
Be the best you that you can be - and have a varied and complete list.
Missed your school list. You have a chance but there’s no assurance at any. And there are many many many like schools to these that would be likely - assuming affordability.
For example, Michigan is going to be over $300K - where an Ohio State or Florida might be just over half that. Like schools…and there’s many more.
I know that UCs tend to me highly contextual, so attending a school with more opportunities and a higher achieving culture will raise expectations. I’m not sure how much your school’s year to year applications strength contributes to this, though.
As far as UCs go, you absolutely have a shot at Berkeley but obviously no guarantee. You can look up your high school on the UC site and see how it does on UC acceptances. Your great SAT score sadly will not help you at all, but your good rigor and grades and strong ECs will be plenty.
We are also from a well-performing Bay Area high school and tons of kids go to all the UCs every year (mostly Berkeley, UCLA, UCSB, UCSD). But it’s a real crap shot re: who gets accepted.
My D22 had similar grades (3.95 unweighted—1 B+ sophomore year; 4.14 capped and 4.38 uncapped) and a similar EC profile, and applied to UCLA, UCSB and Berkeley. She got into UCLA, UCSB; rejected at Berkeley. Her friend had slightly lower stats and got into Berkeley but not UCLA.
Really focus on the PIQs and cross your fingers. Good luck!
It’s all important, but do not underestimate the importance of the PIQs.
It’s a competitive pool, not only because there are so many 4.0 students applying, but also because AOs know the opportunities available to students here. You need to show that you’ve taken advantage of that. Your ECs look pretty solid, though, so you should be OK there. Again, make sure you sell it in your PIQs.
Not by the UCs, although there is currently a lawsuit claiming otherwise. You are welcome to research that and come to your own conclusion. I do not believe race is a factor. However, things like being first generation and coming from an underperforming school district are and sometimes these things correlate with race (although far from always, of course).
Some schools have a higher than average acceptance rate for the UCs (see link above). For example, my daughter’s high school has over a 20% acceptance rate for UCB. So, essentially, yes, some schools do have greater success at certain UC campuses.
UCs do not accept LORs (with the exception of UCB and that is upon request only).
@OP, your OOS and USC are all reaches. I would suggest you add more targets and safeties among OOS and privates, such as uDub, tOSU, Oregon State, Santa Clara… Maybe also add some CSUs such as CPSLO, SDSU. Since UCs are very unpredictable, you don’t wrong to end up picking between UCM and UCR on May 1st. Good Luck.
UC Admissions are hard to predict with just GPA. Berkeley is more holistic and it is not uncommon to see a wider GPA spread in their admits. You can look at S25’s admission journey (who is from bay area) by clicking on my profile and the chance thread.