<p>I go to a NY high school that is ranked at about 50 on the gold medal list on news week (not sure how accurate their ratings are, but any way) and I have a few relatives that go to California public schools. I have a UGPA of 3.6, and my cousin had a UGPA of 3.9, but she only took 1 AP class. I’m just wondering is this common among applicants to the UCs, because when looking through some of the average GPAs of applicants, the SAT scores are good, but not outstanding, but the GPA seems off the charts. For example, at UC Berkeley 91% of attending freshman had a GPA of 3.75 or higher. NYU, which I believe is also a great school, only has 32% of its attending freshman class with a high school GPA of 3.75 or higher. Is it that CA schools are easier compared to NY, or is it just that UC Berkeley looks more at GPA than SAT?</p>
<p>Did your cousin get into Berkeley? If so, she’s probably an oddity. All the kids I know who got into Cal and UCLA had lots of APs.</p>
<p>She didn’t apply there. She got into U Miami and a couple of other schools. I was just using her high GPA as an example.</p>
<p>It also depends on the number of APs offered at the school itself. For example, say your cousin’s school only offered 2 AP courses, she’d be taking 50% of what’s available to her already. On the other hand, say your school offers 10 AP courses and you’ve taken only 1, you’ve only taken 10% of the challenge offered to you.</p>
<p>I live in Cerritos, CA. My school offers well over 10, close to 20 AP courses. I’ve completed 3 (taken 4 tests) and am enrolled in 4 currently. Therefore I’ve taken about 50% of what’s offered to me. I have fair GPA (3.84 non-weighted), 2130 on SAT from 1 seating, 800 on Math IIC and Chinese with Listening, 740 on Chem, 680 on Bio. I got accepted to all the UC’s I applied to except Berkeley. So…</p>
<p>But I also hear that some schools recalculate your GPA based on their standard and difficulty of the high schools. For example, my high school is the 2nd highest-ranked in difficulty in the area. Not too far from my school is another high school where all the trouble students and JDs go. Therefore, it’s expected that a B in one class at my school does not equal a B in that same class at that school. You get the idea.</p>