Should I just enroll at a CC?

lazier · December 16, 2012, 5:26am

I am an Asian American living in California
Ever since I have visited the campus of UCLA when I was about 13 years of age, I have always wanted to attend the school. In middle school, I had straight A’s, 4.0s, without studying one bit. Of course, I would later develop a bad habit of not studying in high school, which would screw me over very badly.

I am a Junior in high school now, and in my eyes, my chances at UCLA are slimming down. I feel like I could use a fresh start starting next semester at a local community college in order to raise my chances of getting in.

Here are my stats: (I took spanish 1-2 and algebra 1-2 in middle school)

2160 SAT [Not the first seating]
Reading: 640
Math: 770
Writing: 750

SAT II Scores:
Korean 790
US History 720
Math 750

PSAT Scores (not that they matter):
Sophmore year: 1700 [510 reading, 700 math, 490 writing]
Junior year: 1980 [560 reading, 800 math, 620 writing]

College courses taken (during the summer):
Precalc- A (5 credits)
Trigonometry- A (4 credits)

High School Grades (This is where things get real bad)

Freshman Year:

First semester:
Architectural Design 1: A
Honors Contemporary World History: C (one semester class)
Honors English: C
PE: A
Spanish 3: B
Biology (College prep): A
Geometry: A

GPA: 3.28

Second semester:
Honors English: B-
Health: A- (one semester class)
PE: B+
Architectural Design 2: B
Spanish: B-
Biology: A
Geometry: A-

GPA: 3.42

Sophmore year:

First semester:

Spanish 5: B-
Honors English: B
Algebra 3: A
Architectural Design 3: A
Chemistry: A-
PE: A
Modern World History: B+

GPA: 3.53

Second semester:

Spanish 6: B
Architectural Design 4: A
Algebra 4: A-
Honors English: B
Chemistry: A-
PE: A
Modern World History: A-

GPA: 3.71

Junior Year (current)
(took Precalc at a community college as mentioned before)
I have not taken the final yet, but chances of bringing AP Biology and AP Calculus grades up to an A are slim

AP Biology: C
AP Calculus: B
English: A
Exploring Technology (elective): A
Physics: A
AP US History: B

Current Weighted: 3.83 Current Unweighted: 3.33

If I aced all my finals (unlikely)
Potential Weighted: 4.33 Unweighted: 3.83

What I hopefully atleast get:

<h2>Weighted: 4.00 Unweighted: 3.5</h2>

Extracurriculars:
Varsity golf 2 years (4 years if I decide to stay at high school)
Member of a local Leo’s Club
Member of the California Scholarship Federation
Member of GATE (gifted and talented program)
Peer tutor in math for free
Volunteered many hours at retirement homes
President of Amnesty International club 2 years (3 years if I stay at HS)
Vice president of a non profit organization involving donating vitamins to underprivileged kids
Jefferson Awards nominee (didn’t win if that counts)

The reason I don’t really display a passion in my extracurriculars is because I am still not 100% sure what I want to be when I grow up. I volunteer to try to hopefully find something I am truly passionate about.

<hr>

If I decide to not enroll at a community college in the early 2013 semester, I will be taking these classes over the summer (to make up for my bad GPA). I will try very hard for these 3 classes during the summer, but cannot promise the same for the school year

AP Calculus BC
AP Environmental Science
AP Chemistry

I can honestly say with 100% confidence, that the only school I can see myself attending is UCLA. If I do not make it there next year, I will either attend University of Southern California (if i get in) or attend community college to transfer to UCLA after getting enough credits.

UCLA has always been my first choice school, and I would even pick it over a school like Harvard.

lumberjack23 · December 24, 2012, 2:13am

What’s wrong with the world! This stat used to be guaranteed admission!
Oh I get it, it’s a joke, haha, you got me there.

scorpions · December 28, 2012, 1:33am

lumberjack: Okay… Really?

Anyways, lazier, here’s some UCLA stats for the admits for 2012: [Profile</a> of Admitted Freshmen, Fall 2012 - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof12.htm]Profile”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof12.htm)

2011, if you really care to look more - [Profile</a> of Admitted Freshmen, Fall 2011 - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof11.htm]Profile”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof11.htm)

Your SAT score is certainly there. Your GPA and coursework are both okay, might want to get a better GPA… a lot of people here had a pretty high high school GPA… I think your extracurriculars are pretty strong. With some good essays, I think you’d have a decent chance. Remember, though, UCLA admissions looks at more than just one area - the sum of everything, GPA, classes, extracurriculars, and essays all add up to whether or not they’ll accept you. Kinda random, but the GATE thing, are you still doing stuff for it in high school? The application only really asks what you’ve done during high school (and for me, I stopped doing the GATE stuff when I got into high school).

Also, benefits of attending a CC: tends to be cheaper than attending UCLA (estimated 30k per year with no financial aid) and if you do attend CC, there’s nothing wrong with that; you’ll be saving some money (make sure your units are transferable, though and all of that jazz).

Also: College admissions does seem to have a trend, but it is also part crapshoot (you might have the perfect stats, ECs, and everything to get in, but someone don’t get in or vice versa).

And USC. I hear the area sucks over there. But a good school. If you get in, good for you. ^.^

Should I just enroll at a CC?

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