I recently toured UCs and fell in love with UCSD, which is my top pick and I feel is in my range, but I wanted to get another opinion. I am going to be a senior and am looking to apply to UCSB, UCD, UCSD, UCLA, and UC Berkley. Should I add any back up schools or do I have a good shot of getting into those schools? I live in San Diego, my GPA is a 4.29 and my SAT score is a 2090. As far as UCSD goes, should I take the SAT another time, or is a 2090 sufficient? And are my chances decreased if I apply to the engineering school (which is impacted, but you can only get into going in freshman year) as my first choice? I also do theatre and am involved in a community service group with a theatre company, but I am planning on doing a lot of community service this summer. ok help can i get into these schools thx!!!
@c0ll3g3luv3r I honestly think you should look outwards (just for safety) for other schools, even though the budget crisis is over and hopefully in-state admits will be restored to their former glory. Is that GPA your UC GPA (capped+weighted)? If so, you should be getting into at least one (no guarantees tho) UC. Your test score is a bit low, what is the breakdown of it? If you get it above 2200+, you should be competitive for at least UCD and maybe Berkeley (this is how it’s spelled btw).
You really do not have a safety and need to add 1-2 more solid matches to your list. If you look at this year’s admission threads, many rejections with your Stats at all the schools listed. I would add UCI/UCSC and/or UCR. You might want to add a high ranking Cal State such as SDSU/CSULB/CSUF/SJSU as a possible safety.
You are a competitive applicant for UCD/UCsB and UCSD. UCLA/UCB will be harder with your SAT score, but if you write some outstanding essays, you never know. If you want Engineering, then apply for Engineering. Changing into the major later may prove difficult to impossible. Good Luck.