Hey guys!
I’m relatively new this to this forum, so I may have missed some essential threads that can be useful to me during the application process. Nonetheless, I want your opinion on what I should highlight in my essays and what I should worry about during the college admission process.
I am a rising high-school senior, and my academic profile is somewhat questionable. I currently have a 3.5 GPA (unweighted), but I have gotten straight As on my last semester of junior year. I have only taken 2 AP classes (AP Calculus B/C and Comp Sci, but I know I got a 5 on both of them. And I have taken college STEM courses at a local community college which will boost my GPA to a 3.7.
Luckily, I have a 35 on my ACT and relatively high scores on 2 of my SAT Subject tests (Math II and Physics).
I have done martial arts (Taekwon-Do) for 10 years, and I love it. I also have done a lot of community service (participated in a lot of my church’s programs and was an officer in my school’s community service project).
I want to major in biochemistry because I want to research and develop medicine. My first-choice school is UCLA because it has a diverse community, a great campus atmosphere, an outstanding chemistry program, and it relatively close to my home (Cupertino). I’m also considering some other private schools such as John Hopkins and Rice, but with my current academic profile, I don’t know if I’ll even be considered.
TL;DR I have a low GPA (I mean it’s useful to some colleges, but not to the colleges that I want to apply to), but there is a noticeable trend in my grades, I have taken college courses relating to my major, and I have excellent test scores to back it up.
I am currently working on my college portfolio, and I’m worried that I wouldn’t make it to the schools that I want to go. What should I do now to increase my chances for admission? Is there anything I should write about in my essays? What should I explain for my low-GPA? Should I volunteer or take more courses over the summer? I need help!
What subjects did you do less well on ? What was the reason for your low GPA? If you address your academic history in your essays, emphasize what/how you learned from the experience and how you have matured. Your ACT 35 is a big help, as it shows you have the ability to absorb the material.
Don’t know about your chances for the the schools that you mentioned, as they are reaches for everyone. Have you looked into WPI? I think it could be a great choice for you if you are a hands-on kind of learner, and you may have a realistic chance of admission if you continue your top grades into senior year,
Thanks for the advice. I have looked into WPI and I believe it’s a great school. But all I’m looking for is “What can I improve on at the moment to get a shot at UCLA? (for the reasons above”.
Those are reach schools for you due to your GPA. You can keep a couple of them, but you need to develop a list of lower tiered schools, including a true safety or two, that you’d be happy to attend. They need to be affordable as well, so run the net price calculators on each college website to make sure that is the case.
Your qualifications are fairly well baked at this point. Sure, volunteer or take courses if you want to. Get good grades this fall. I’m not sure what explanation you could/would offer for low grades. You give no mitigating explanations in your post. Consider Cal Poly, WPI, RPI, maybe Case Western, or Michigan Tech.
Welcome to College Confidential @Biscuit343. You have some valid concerns when it your academic record.
I will only address UCLA.
First you need to calculate your UC GPA and post your capped weighted and fully weighted UC GPA since UCLA will consider both.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
The UC’s are very GPA focused, so your current GPA will have an impact. As proven by your ACT score, you are a qualified applicant but your GPA is what it is at this point. If you have a solid reason for a lower than average GPA, then addressing in one of the personal insight questions will help.
Here is what UCLA considers important in their application review:
- Los Angeles
- Very important: Academic GPA, Application essay, Rigor of secondary school record, Standardized test scores
- Important: Character/personal qualities, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Volunteer work, Work experience
- Considered: First generation college student, Geographical residence
- Note: GPA, test scores, course work, number of and performance in honors and AP courses most important. Essay considered. Strong senior program important. Extracurricular activities, honors and awards also reviewed.
Here is some statistical date for admit rates by UC Capped weighted GPA and not major specific:
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79:
UCB: 1.8%
UCLA: 2.2%
UCSD: 7.2%
UCSB: 10.1%
UCI: 11.1%
UCD: 16.6%
UCSC: 43.8%
UCR: 63.3%
UCM: 88.7%
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:
UCB: 12.6%
UCLA: 11.7%
UCSD: 38.7%
UCSB: 53.6%
UCD: 56.5%
UCI: 52.1%
UCSC: 75.7%
UCR: 90.1%
UCM: 96.1%
25th - 75th percentiles for ACT:
UCB: 30-34
UCLA: 30-34
UCSD: 29-34
UCSB: 28-33
UCD: 26-32
UCI: 26-32
UCSC: 26-31
UCR: 23-30
UCM: 20-27
I would consider UCLA a Reach school and formulate a list of at least 2 safety and 4-5 Match schools. As you can see even the Mid-tier UC’s are not a slam dunk if your UC GPA is below 4.0.
You might want to consider USC and Santa Clara University which would favor your high ACT score.
Yes, I have considered USC and Santa Clara University. Those are the schools that I definitely want to get into. I did calculate my UC GPA to be 4.3. I believe my reason for a low GPA is that I don’t have much time. I frequently volunteered a lot during my freshman and sophomore years, took marching band, and other extraneous activities. My grades have plummeted, so parents recommended that I stop by junior year. I have definitely improved and I was able to score As on all of the STEM courses provided at my school and at my local community college.
From my perspective, a UC GPA of 4.3 is pretty dang good. I’m just worried that my unweighted GPA is a bit too low for UCLA and other private-tier colleges. So I’m asking what I need to do at this point to further bolster my chances, which I have received great replies on. Is there anything else that I need to focus on?
The 4.3 is your fully weighted UC GPA from 10-11th grades? With an UW 3.5, your capped weighted would be around 3.8-4.0? Average UCLA Fully weighted UC GPA was 4.48.
If your UC GPA capped weighted is 4.3, then you should be competitive but still not a guarantee for admission although L&S is an somewhat easier admit.
Focus on your personal insight essays to show admissions who you are as a person. Do not address your low GPA unless you have some valid reason and come up with a more balanced college list.
Yes, my UC GPA from 10-11th is a 4.3, which I found a bit shocking a while back. Thank you for your advice; I’ll definitely work on my personal insight essays!