Terrible Sophomore Year 2.8 - UCSB Dreams - How Can I Make UCSB?

Colleges & Universities University of California - Santa Barbara
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I really want to go to UCSB.</p>

<p>I am currently a sophomore at a great public school.</p>

<p>Sophomore Year First Semester Grades:</p>

<p>World History Honors: B
Spanish Year 2 Honors: B
Physics Honors*: B
Math Analysis (Pre Calculus): C
English Honors: B </p>

<ul>
<li>= UC Weighted</li>
</ul>

<p>My second semester will have about the same grades, maybe a little better. I will know in two weeks.</p>

<p>I took a rather rigorous course load and got a bout a 3.0 UC GPA. This is what I am planning to take next year.</p>

<p>AP Chemistry*
English Honors*
Statistics
U.S. History
Graphic Design
Virtual Business</p>

<ul>
<li>= UC Weighted</li>
</ul>

<p>This schedule will be probably even easier than my sophomore year. I am taking easy classes to raise my GPA. I’m aiming for a UC GPA of 4.333. That would be all As. It can get me an upward trend and I am pretty sure I can do it. I am going to get tutors and actually try. I am smart, it’s just that I didn’t try that hard this year.</p>

<p>AP Chem is considered one of the easiest APs at our school.</p>

<p>English Honors is also pretty easy because most of the A and B kids in honors this year are going into AP, which is ridiculously hard.</p>

<p>I had terrible teachers in Spanish, and there is no way I could do a third year.</p>

<p>Our school only offers AP Calc, which is known to be ridiculously hard, and Stats, which is known to be easy. I’m thinking about maybe taking Calc later at Community College.</p>

<p>Everyone in Honors US History told me to either take AP (super hard), or normal (easy), because Honors is just as hard as AP. </p>

<p>With barely studying at the beginning of this year I got a 176 on the PSAT. I can probably raise that a couple hundred points if I study and prepare for it, which I will have time for with an easy schedule. I also want an easy schedule so I can play lots of tennis, I am pretty sure I will make varsity.</p>

<p>JV Tennis 2 Years - I am going to work hard and try to make varsity next year.</p>

<p>70 Hours Community Service
40 of those hours are in another country. so far… maybe more service hours</p>

<p>In State</p>

<p>I graduate in '10. </p>

<p>So, do I have hope for UCSB? Can I get some recommendations and advice for how I could change my schedule or anything that could increase my admissions chances. I still have a year to makeup my suckiness this year. What can I do to make UCSB? Will I at least make SC?</p>

<p>Responses would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>What can I change next year and do next year to make UCSB? Please help me!</p>

2

<p>Just make better grades… Seriously a ton of people apply to UCSB and contrary to popular belief a lot of smart, hardworking kids go here (some of whom could have gone to higher tiered UCs). Your other option is to go to SBCC for two years and transer to UCSB. Or how about San Diego State?</p>

3

<p>Yeah. I would rather not go to CC. I would like to go to San Diego State, could I make that? Also what about UCSC?</p>

<p>And what can I do for the next year to make these top colleges after screwing around?</p>

4

<p>Maybe get a job; join a club and become officer</p>

<p>and I thought AP CHEM was actually one the hardest AP tests</p>

5

<p>LSkaiWalk: Are you from the Santa Barbara area?</p>

6

<p>Admissions for ucsb gets tougher each year. One thing to think about, as was already suggested, is 2 years at SBCC if you don’t get in and then xfer. See my post from a few months back at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/468098-backdoor-way-get-into-ucsb.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/468098-backdoor-way-get-into-ucsb.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>ok so i kinda screwed up a little bit my sophomore year too. i got 2 semester Cs in english!! i still cringe when i think about them…but i still got into UCSB. I played three years of volleyball and i had about 92 hours of community service hours. As long as you keep your grades up during the rest of your high school career and you keep up with the ECs then you should be fine…also, remember to take the PSATs so you have lots of practice for the SATs. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Im surprised ap chem is your easier ap class, because its one of the hardest at our schools. You need to aim for higher grades, AP and honor classes are good but only take what you can handle. It was pretty competitive this year, I have a friend who had almost a 4.0 cumulative and didnt get in, but she did get into SDSU so I dont think you would have a problem with that. Maybe look for a job? Also the SAT and SAT IIs are important! So dont underestimate them.</p>

9

<p>i would definitely start looking into other schools that you like. dont put your heart into UCSB is all im saying. SDSU is a nice school, good dorms. UCSC is a good school too. I dont know, doing the transfer thing…its just that in 2 years you could get heavily side trcked…and theres a lot of people that do that so i dont know. You have to be very determined…
Just keep looking for a school that catches your eye. my sophmore year i thought i was jetset for ucsb but come senior year i didnt get in. now im going to UCSC and i couldnt be happier. so keep looking! :)</p>

10

<p>One option you should look into is taking night courses at your local comm college WHILE IN HIGHSCHOOL. My Junior year, I took 2 one quarter, 3 the next. With some, you can opt to take the class instead of your high school one, (I took 2 history classes at the CC and didn’t take junior year history), or just other classes (I took geology, psych and sign). The reason this helps is:

  1. Automatically weighted as AP. Get an A? It’s a 5.0
  2. Relatively easy. CC’s are generally for people who didn’t have the grades to get into a University (obviously, there are other reasons such as money, but in general…) so the classes can be very easy, even in comparison to high school classes. Of course, this will greatly depend on your teacher, so pick your classes using ratemyprofessor.com.
  3. Some will count for GEs once you get to the UC. My geology class got me out of an area C at UCSB, my history ones got me out of my entire area E and my psych got me out of one area D. That’s 5 (my 2 history classes got me out of 3 b/c semester counts as 1.5) GEs down before my first day at UCSB, and much easier than if I had taken them AT UCSB.
  4. On your college essays, you can say that you’re so excited about college, you already took some classes, or that you’re a very prepared person and took classes to get yourself ready for the environment. Either way, it looks great and you look like an accelarated, curious student.</p>

<p>If you don’t have time for it during the school year, you can take a few over summer. I greatly recommend it.</p>

11

<p>I like the advice gaucho1 gave; however there is one thing you must check into before doing it. The UC system has 2 unit limits; you are normally not allowed to continue as a student once you have 200 units, and you must declare a major by the time you have 84 units. </p>

<p>The 200 unit limit doesn’t apply to units you earn thru either AP credit or at a CC while in HS; see [Letters</a> & Science Academic Advising :: 200 Unit Rule](<a href=“http://www.advising.ltsc.ucsb.edu/maxunits/]Letters”>http://www.advising.ltsc.ucsb.edu/maxunits/)</p>

<p>And AP credit isn’t part of the 84-unit requirement according to [University</a> of California - Counselors](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/educators/counselors/adminfo/freshman/advising/credit/aptest.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/educators/counselors/adminfo/freshman/advising/credit/aptest.html) However I was not able to find anything online about CC units not counting. It seems reasonable that they won’t, but it isn’t a matter of what is or is not reasonable; it matters what the UC policy is. </p>

<p>So while the suggestion sounds good, you really must make sure it isn’t going to affect when you have to declare a major.</p>

12

<p>Don’t worry. I was a peer advisor at the college. CC units count toward your 180 MINIMUM to graduate, but not your 200 maximum. The 200 limit first, only applies if you’re there longer than 4 years, and does not include any units you’ve aquired before “matriculation” (before you start taking classes at UCSB). But, the awesome news is that they DO count toward your minimum. I was able to graduate in 3 years because my CC units gave me sophomore standing after my first quarter at UCSB. </p>

<p>Don’t worry at all about CC classes hindering you. They will always help. They might not always count for a GE (my sign language class only gave me units), but even if you’re not in it for the units or the weighted grade, just saying you did it looks awesome. If you want to knock out GEs, they’re usually your basics: math/science, literature, history, social sciences. If you want to check if specific classes actually give you GEs, there is actually a website that will tell you which classes offered at CA comm college each quarter will count for which GEs. I forget the site right now, and honestly, your guess will probably work, but if you want to check it out, just call the UCSB advising office (if they don’t answer, just try again later, or try their other extension) and ask what the website is. Their policy is if it says it counts on the website, it counts.</p>

13

<p>the UCSB website to see what credit you get for AP tests is at [College</a> Board Advanced Placement Credit 2007-2008 General Catalog](<a href=“http://www.catalog.ucsb.edu/2008cat/general/gechart.htm]College”>http://www.catalog.ucsb.edu/2008cat/general/gechart.htm)</p>

<p>The website to see what transfer credit from a CC class the website is [ASSIST</a> Prompt Page](<a href=“Welcome to ASSIST”>Welcome to ASSIST) It’s kind of a clunky website, though</p>