Congratulations on being a competitive applicant and as a California resident, you have some wonderful school options ranging from the Cal states to the UC’s to Private colleges that will all give you a great education.
You already have some very good EC’s so select an activity that you would enjoy pursuing this summer and not something that you think looks good for college admission.
I would also try to visit some college campuses to get an idea for what you are looking for in your college experience. Start thinking about forming a college list and start with finding 2 safety schools where you are willing to attend, affordable and where you have a high chance for an acceptance. Usually your local Cal state makes a good safety since you get priority as a local.
At the end of Junior year, you need to calculate your UC and CSU GPA’s to help target possible schools. If you have not taken any DE/Community College courses than your Capped weighted UC GPA = CSU GPA using this calculator. The UC’s will consider all 3 UC GPA’s and the Cal states will only consider your CSU GPA based on the a-g course grades taken 10-11th grades only. The exception to this is Cal Poly SLO. SLO uses 9-11th grades for the a-g courses with a cap of 8 semesters of honors points for approved classes taken 10-11th grades.
You can look up your HS and their approved Honors/AP classes here: University of California A-G Course List
UC GPA calculator: GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub
The UC’s and CSU’s will look at all grades from 9-11th grades and will consider your in-progress and planned Senior year courses when they review your application but only 10-11th grades will be calculated into the GPA with exception of SLO.
The Cal states and UC’s are test blind, so your test scores will not be considered in the application review. The Cal states use a Multi- Factor criteria to determine their decisions. I linked the supplemental criteria considered by each campus but in General, CSU GPA, HS course rigor, English/Math GPA, Local admission priority, First generation are most important.
The UC’s use 13 areas of criteria when reviewing UC applications. In general, UC GPA’s, HS course rigor and Personal insight essays are the most important criteria. Each campus determines how they weight each area of criteria so the UC’s tend to be unpredictable when it comes to decisions.
How applications are reviewed | UC Admissions
Once you have calculated your Capped weighted UC GPA, you can compare your admission chances based on the 2021 data (latest available) here. This is overall admit data and not major specific. STEM major admit rates in general will be lower.
| Campus | 4.20+ | 3.80-4.19 | 3.40-3.79 | 3.00-3.39 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | 30% | 11% | 2% | 1% |
| Davis | 85% | 55% | 23% | 10% |
| Irvine | 60% | 31% | 14% | 1% |
| Los Angeles | 29% | 6% | 1% | 0% |
| Merced | 97% | 98% | 96% | 89% |
| Riverside | 97% | 92% | 62% | 23% |
| San Diego | 72% | 25% | 2% | 0% |
| Santa Barbara | 73% | 28% | 4% | 1% |
| Santa Cruz | 91% | 81% | 46% | 9% |
Here are the 2022 admit rates for the UC’s as a California Resident.
CA Residents:
UCB: 14.5%
UCLA: 9.2%
UCSD: 23.8%
UCSB: 26.7%
UCI: 18.2%
UCD: 32.3%
UCSC: 43.2%
UCR: 66%
UCM: 100%
The UC’s do not recognize National Merit for scholarship opportunities but it will still make you a competitive applicant. Cal Poly SLO and Cal State Long Beach do offer small scholarships to NM scholars.
Best of luck and do not hesitate to ask any questions about the UC’s or CSU’s.