Seeking advice about my chances of getting into the UCs [3.84 UW (3.88/4.21/4.38 for UC), FGLI, Cognitive Science (or similar major)]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US citizen
  • State/Location of residency: CA/Orange County resident
  • Type of high school (Public High School)
  • Other special factors: FGLI (first generation, low-income student)

Cost Constraints / Budget
Single parent makes under 60k annually

Intended Major(s)

Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Psychology, Biology, and Neurobiology

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.8378
  • Weighted HS GPA: weighted out of 5; 4.5946
  • Class Rank: N/A; however I received a letter in the mail from UC encouraging me to apply because I’m a high achieving student?
  • ACT/SAT Scores: N/A

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English: Honors English 1 & 2, AP Lang, and currently taking AP Lit
  • Math: (completed Algebra 1 requirements in 8th grade) Geometry, Honors Algebra 2/Trig, Honors Pre-Calculus, and currently taking AP Calculus AB
  • Science: Honors Biology, Honors Chemistry, AP Chemistry, and currently taking Honors Anatomy/Physiology as a senior.
  • History and social studies: Honors World History, AP European History, AP US History, and currently taking AP American Government/Politics
  • Language other than English: Spanish 1, and then Elementary Spanish taken at local community college over the summer (counts at 2 years at HS)
  • Visual or performing arts: Newspaper 3 (only one year)
  • Other academic courses: Medical Core and Medical Hospital Careers. Currently taking Biotechnology and Medical Assisting as a senior.

All A’s in science/math classes. However, I earned one B in Honors World History first semester. Another B in AP US History and AP Lang first semester.

Awards

Earned two awards for Honors Chemistry (a school wide one and another for the program I’m in)

Earned one award for Honors Biology (program specific)

Superintendent/Principal’s Honor Roll all 3 years (6 semesters)

Unsure about this but:

Earned a certification in Patient Care through Medical Core/Medical Hospital Career classes.

Currently have my CPR certification. I also have a vital signs and suturing certification I earned through the program I’m enrolled in at my home HS. (certificate was only awarded if the doctor reviewing the video passed you).

Also, my school offers an opportunity if you take a DE Biotechnology class offered during school hours, you can get a lab assistant certification (i’m currently planning to take the class)

Extracurriculars
Currently treasurer of a forensics club. I’ve been working since July 2025; I actually got hired through my volunteer service. Completed 40 hours of volunteer service at a medical office and then offered a job.

Currently have a project in plan but it has to be executed during second semester senior year :frowning: ; however I already did informal research about this with my group!

Schools
Currently unsure. Only school I’m slightly sure about is UC Riverside and Merced. Also applying to 5 CSUs (CSUF, CSULA, SDSU, CSULB, and Cal Poly SLO)

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forgot to mention I got an AP Scholar award

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@Gumbymom

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This is a good sign! Why apply only to UC Merced & Riverside?

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Isn’t ONE application for all of the UCs? If so, apply to any or all. @gumbymom can clarify, but I believe you will be accepted to at least one.

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I’m fairly certain that the biology & psychology major is offered at every campus but not sure about the other majors (likely no).

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Please calculate your three UC GPAs here:

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Yes, but one has to pay a separate application fee for each school one applies to…$80 each.

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Apply to all of the UCs. Since you’re in OC, you may want to look at Irvine. They have a school of medicine.

Also, our State of California has a really good financial aid program for residents of the State. Become familiar with the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) which distributes your Cal Grants. These grants cover the CSUs, UCs and private colleges IN California.
https://www.csac.ca.gov/cal-grant

Grants do not need to be repaid. Tuition and fees are covered. I think Cal Grant B covers your housing. ( I can’t remember which Cal grant covers housing.) Your mother pays for these benefits through her state tax fees. Your HS counseling office is probably plastered with information. If not, please ask your counselor. At my kids HS, they had a designated Financial Aid and scholarship office in the counseling office.
Good luck!

Edited to add: I think you’ll qualify for a state waiver for application fees. Ask your counselor.

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Welcome to College Confidential. @Mwfan1921 has linked the UC GPA calculator and all 3 GPA’s are considered during the UC application review. Overall you appear to be a competitive applicant. If you have not taken any DE classes 10-11th grades, then your UC capped weighted GPA should be the same as your CSU capped weighted GPA.

If you are ELC (Top 9% at your HS or Top 9% Statewide) you are guaranteed admission to a UC if you are not admitted to your UC of choice. The default campus is UC Merced but Riverside is sometimes an option and last year UC Santa Cruz was also option for ELC eligible applicants.

I agree if you are spending time applying to Merced and Riverside, then you should add a couple of more UC’s to your list. UC’s can offer more financial aid than the CSU’s, so it worth your time to run the Net Price calculator for the UC’s and expand your list. You would probably qualify for 4 UC Fee waivers so I would add Santa Cruz, Davis or Irvine to the list. Estimate your aid | UC Admissions

None of the listed CSU’s offer Cognitive Science, Neuroscience or Neurobiology as stand alone majors. Some CSU campuses offer Psychology with a Neuroscience emphasis like SDSU. Fresno State and Stanislaus offer a BS in Cognitive Science and Studies.

Below is some 2025 First year admit data for Biology majors:

Campus Biology/ UC GPA admit range
UC Berkeley 15% for College of L&S/ Capped weighted 4.17-4.30 Uncapped weighted 4.32-4.65 Unweighted 3.90-4.00
UC Davis 49% for College of Biological Sciences/ Capped weighted 4.07-4.28. Unweighted 3.79-4.00
UC Irvine 29.5% 2025/ Capped weighted 4.12-4.29. Unweighted 3.84-4.00
UCLA 11% for College of L&S/Capped weighted 4.22-4.32 Uncapped weighted 4.44-4.75 2025 Unweighted 3.95-4.00
UC Merced 92%/ Capped weighted 3.40-4.00
UC Riverside 66%/ Capped weighted 3.76-4.07
UC San Diego Estimated 33% UC Capped weighted 4.13-4.29. Unweighted 3.84-4.00
UC Santa Barbara 34% for College of L&S/ Capped weighted 4.14-4.29. Average Unweighted 3.91.
UC Santa Cruz 69% / Capped weighted 3.90-4.23
Cal Poly SLO 9%/ SLO GPA 4.11-4.25 2025
Cal State Long Beach 57%/ CSU GPA 4.03
San Diego State 33%/ CSU GPA 4.08
San Jose State 2480 impaction threshold
Cal Poly Pomona CSU GPA of 3.40 need to meet CPP index for major 2025
CSU Fullerton College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics 94%. Average CSU Campus GPA 3.68.

Psychology major information:

Campus Psychology
UC Berkeley 5.8% No longer High Demand major/ UC Capped GPA 4.14-4.29 Unweighted 3.89-4.00 Weighted uncapped 4.31-4.65
UC Davis College of L&S admits by Division/Department Social Sciences 38%/ UC Capped GPA 4.00-4.27 Unweighted 3.80-4.00
UC Irvine 17.9%/ UC Capped GPA 4.03-4.26 Unweighted 3.83-4.00
UCLA 9.3% for College of L&S Social Science majors/ UC Capped GPA 4.20-4.31 Unweighted 3.90-4.00 Weighted uncapped 4.38-4.73
UC Merced 89% UC Capped GPA 3.40-4.00
UC Riverside 63.5% UC Capped GPA 3.70-4.12
UC San Diego 23% for Social Science majors/ UC Capped GPA 4.08-4.28
UC Santa Barbara 28% for College of L&S Social Science majors/ UC Capped GPA 4.12-4.29
UC Santa Cruz 57%/ UC Capped GPA 3.81-4.20
Cal Poly SLO 6% SLO GPA 4.00-4.25 for College of Liberal Arts
Cal State Long Beach 42% Avg CSU GPA 3.97 for Psychology
San Diego State 26% Avg CSU GPA 4.08 for admitted SDSU students
San Jose State 2026 Impaction index 2400 without considering other factors
CSU Fullerton 87% for College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Average CSU Campus GPA 3.68

Best of luck and take advantage of the UC fee waivers.

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The difference between UC and CSU recalculations is that a semester college course counts as one course and grade for UC, but two grades and courses for CSU.

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Note that CSULA is not impacted except for the nursing major.

Which CSUF? Fullerton is impacted for all majors, while Fresno is impacted for biology but not psychology.

For UCs, you can get an idea of prior year (weighted capped) GPA ranges and admit rates here:

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Sorry I’m applying to all the UCs, I meant to say I’m only sure I would get into UC Merced or UC Riverside

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CSUF as in Fullerton, and I would be applying to public health

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My capped gpa for both CSU/UC would be a 4.19

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UW: 3.88

Weighted: 4.38

Capped: 4.21

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also I earned a B in one semester of AP European History

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I think you can get admitted to at least a couple more plus many of the CSUs. And UC Berkeley & Los Angeles are definitely still in play.

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I don’t see this as being problematic giving your intended major(s).

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Capped weighted UC/CSU GPA is 4.21 or 4.19 since you listed both?

You can check the average Capped weighted UC GPA for admitted First years for each campus and your HS admit rate here: Admissions by source school | University of California

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