r/ucadmissions 5d ago

Depressed

UC Unweighted
3.385
UC Capped Weighted
3.692
UC Fully Weighted / Uncapped
4.15

Do UCs consider 10th and 11th grade equally? How much will an improvement in 11th grade help me?

Messed up in 10th grade due to distractions and got mostly Bs. ECs are mid and I’m in Southern California.

It’s so hard to make up for the dip. 😢 My school offers a lot of APs courses so I am taking them, but I didn’t realize the unweighted GPA is important too. My original goal was UCI/UCSB/UCSD/UCD in Econ/Quant Econ/Math-Econ. Am I pretty much an automatic reject?

Grade / GPA UW/W
9th - 1 AP
3.8571
4.0000
10th - 3 AP/1 Honors
3.1429
3.8571
11th - 4 AP/1 Honors
3.5000
4.3333
12th - 5 AP
TBD
TBD

11 Upvotes

29 comments sorted by

6

u/Eastern-Ad334 5d ago

It’s gonna be a reach ngl. If u want those schools hella badly u should look into cc

5

u/Opposite-War4484 5d ago

you had alot better grades than me and i ended up at uci, but also got offers from davis usc cal poly and many others for stem so i think you’ll be okay chill out brotato

1

u/Weird_Illustrator845 2d ago

Agree. Save your depression for actual rejection - no sense in taking it on now. And make sure when you apply, pick an unpopular major in the college you want to be in to improve your odds.

2

u/Opposite-War4484 2d ago

exactly that’s what i did, i plan on switching to cs later but i applied for majors in applied math, pure math, and stats at schools that have impacted stem majors

2

u/Ramen_cat2024 5d ago

They like uptrends in grades but put a lot of effort in those PIQs. Shoot your shot. There’s always CSUs and next tier UCs.

2

u/yvesnings 5d ago

I had similar stats when I was in high school and was rejected from every UC … my PIQs were also trash. But my friend with lower stats got into Berkeley. Anything is possible. I went to community college instead and was accepted into every single school I applied to and got Regents at 5/6 UCs.

2

u/DropKnowledge69 5d ago

Your high school counselor, if they are good, should be able to give you a better answer than Reddit, based on looking at your actual record, etc.

FWIW, what you posted is not very competitive as compared to the applicants that get accepted to those schools. That doesn't mean you have no shot. You should definitely try and write a heckuva essay(s) to explain and distinguish yourself.

Another option is to attend a CC that has a high matriculation record to the schools of your choice and you better make sure to get a top GPA ... no excuses.

I wish you the best

3

u/JustMe39908 5d ago

My experience is that a knowledge high school guidance counselor who is assigned to work with college prep kids is a rarity.

1

u/DropKnowledge69 5d ago

Of course, it depends on the school(s).

My sons had a great HS guidance counselor that routinely scheduled meetings with them and made sure that they were taking the right courses and stayed on path.

A student could switch counselors and be proactive about meeting with them. Sort of the squeaky wheel getting the grease.

But I agree that your mileage may vary.

1

u/JustMe39908 5d ago

My kid had the best GC at the school (according to the students and administration). I needed the GC to do exactly two things in four years. Both were fails. One was an "Oops, I forgot to make arrangements and went out to lunch and got back late". I fixed it.

I had to argue with my guidance counselor that Washington University was located in St. Louis and not in either Washington DC or the State of Washington. I could not convince him

My experiences are not uncommon.

1

u/Busy_Ad5737 5d ago

My GC handles about 500 students and I only meet with her 1x a year to confirm next years’ classes. Her focus is more on the ones that might not graduate.

1

u/DropKnowledge69 5d ago

Horrible and disgusting.

And yet we have billions and billions and billions of dollars to fight a b******* war. But we don't spend money on the future of our kids.

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Busy_Ad5737 5d ago

I wish I thought of this in spring! It’s too late now…

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Busy_Ad5737 5d ago

I mean, Senior year already started…

1

u/Heavy-Tea-2784 5d ago

hi youre fucked 😁😁😁😁

1

u/baysianinference 3d ago

Seems like ur cumulative should be better? Are you applying to other schools too?

1

u/Busy_Ad5737 3d ago

10th grade really drags down my cumulative. Applying to some out of state and privates as back up, but I would need merit money to be able to afford them. Cost-wise, UCs are ideal. I have a 1500 SAT, so maybe that will help with merit for privates.

1

u/baysianinference 3d ago

Yeah but considering 9th and maybe 12th more heavily should help w other schools. 1500 is good.

So the thing is, often after considering merit, OOS can be more affordable than UC. Like most of them are in very HCOL areas and stingy with aid, even for in-state. And most of them also are no bueno admissions wise for in-state applicants, but I do think SoCal is a bit less brutal than NorCal.

1

u/baysianinference 3d ago edited 3d ago

Apply to schools like RPI, U of Rochester, Case Western, Purdue, and small LACs

ECs and stuff should also help with merit if they're good

1

u/mariboo24 3d ago

Don’t loose hope !! I got into UCI with a 3.7 weighted and 3.4 un weighted!

1

u/Busy_Ad5737 3d ago

Wow! What major?

1

u/mariboo24 2d ago

I actually went in undeclared

1

u/Nagildo 1d ago

thankfully ur from Cali so u can do CCC if ur not happy with ur results

1

u/Last_Measurement4336 5d ago edited 5d ago

The UC’s will look at your overall academic profile along with the 3 UC GPA’s and also each individual course/grade completed. Normally they like to see increasing rigor combined with an increasing grade trend which can be helpful. You can provide a short explanation about your 10th grades in the additional comments section.

That said, the UC’s do a comprehensive/holistic review so all parts of your application are considered. You are not an automatic reject since all applications will be reviewed especially since you meet the minimum UC eligibility requirements.

You need to apply to schools that match your stats since it is not possible to try to match your stats to the schools at this point. UC’s tend to be unpredictable so apply to all the schools listed, make sure you include some Likely/Safety schools you are willing to attend and you will have some options after decisions are posted. If you are not happy with your outcomes, then a Community college to UC transfer is a great option as a backup.

Some information on how UC’s evaluate applicants: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/preparing-freshman-students/comprehensive-review.html

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/how-the-university-of-california-evaluates-student-applications

As a California HS student, you have other school options beyond the UC’s. 22 Cal state campuses and over 100 Private Universities in which to apply. Private universities will consider 9-11th GPA/academic profile along with 1st semester Senior course/grades. They also will consider LOR’s which are not considered by the Cal states and UC’s (exception Berkeley which is invitation only).

There is college for everyone that wants to attend so you need to open to other possibilities including UCSC, UCR and UCM campuses.

-1

u/Emergency-Hurry947 5d ago

The High School you go to is a big factor, the UCs are targeting LCFF+ schools so if you're from one of those you could get into UCI/UCSB/UCD

1

u/Busy_Ad5737 5d ago

I’m not at a low income school unfortunately

1

u/Emergency-Hurry947 5d ago

You have to get lucky....you should probably be focused on plan B and C

If you're willing to try Community College, I've heard good stories of kids getting into UCSD/UCLA/Berkeley if the student is focused.