i have good EC and volunteer hours and i was wondering which mid tier UC’s i have a chance at with my low gpa.
thanks!
If you are OOS, your UC GPA does not meet UC eligibility.
Your GPA will hurt your chances since GPA is king with the UC’s. Do you have an explanation for the mismatch on GPA vs. SAT scores? If you do, you can address this in one of your essays or in the additional comments section of the UC application. As stated above, if you are OOS, the minimum UC GPA required is 3.4 to apply and the minimum in-state is 3.0. Much will depend upon the reason for your low GPA. No valid explanation, then admission officers unfortunately will consider you lazy.
Your best chances would be UC Merced and UC Riverside. UCSC could be possible but it is hard to overlook the GPA unless you have extenuating circumstances. Good Luck.
Perhaps Stony Brook would be more for you, and more affordable if you’re OOS for both; while UCs are GPA-heavy, SUNYs are usually the other way around (SAT-heavy)… and Stony Brook are on the same level as mid-tier UCs.
Apply to some private schools please, why UCs. If money is an issue then go to CC, after this year there is a straight forward path from CC to UCs.
im in state
also something personal happened to me so thats why i have a low gpa…if i state this reason would UC’s understand that im not lazy?
also would my chances increase if i apply for a less competitive major?
If you write a compelling essay explaining your low grades, yes you would have a chance but that will be up to the admission’s officer reading your application. No one can give you an accurate chance, since we are not privy to the whole application. Applying to a less competitive major will many times get you an acceptance, but there is no guarantee that once you are attending that you will be able to switch majors.
All you can do is apply and hope for the best. Make sure you include some solid matches and safeties on your list and do not fixate on one school. Your SAT score shows you are a very capable student and will do well at a number of schools. Do not limit yourself. Good Luck.
You may have a chance.
What I’m wondering is: did you pass all of your classes with a C or better? your 3.1 is making think that you maybe failed one of two classes?
Also, is your 3.1 capped and weighted? or just unweighted?
@coolweather she is in state. her 3.1 UC GPA qualifies her for UC eligibility.
i didn’t fail any classes…i did get a D in chem honors…but i made that up during summer school …but i finsihed all the required credits . also its 3.1 UC gpa so its weighted GPA of my classes junior and sophomore year
I know you must be in state, please add some private schools. Every year there’re always kids who could meet the minimum grade for senior year. UCs are very strict. Private schools are as strict as far as minimum GPA is concerned.
@calibear123 sorry to break this to you, but the UCs hate seeing Ds and Fs on transcripts. Maybe try looking at the lower tier UCs or the CSUs?
@michelle426 I am not sure what you mean in post #11.
@coolweather the link you posted describes those who do not meet UC eligibility requirements via GPA and must fulfill them through SAT scores. OP does not need to fulfill those, although it certainly does not boost her chances, because she is in state, and her UC GPA meets eligibility standards.
I thought 3.4 is a minimum.
@michelle426 The required minimum for CA residents is 3.0. But in reality admission to the UC is competitive and many students have a lot higher GPA. The average UW of admitted students to UCSB is 3.71, and low UW is 3.16 (2015). In the OP case, the high test scores will help to offset the low GPA 3.1. See the scattergram here:
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/admissions/admissions_tracker_result.jhtml?schoolId=635&classYear=2013
The scattergram shows that students with UW GPA below 3.50 and SAT scores below 1800 were denied.
Oh I must be mistaken, 3.4 is for OOS.