My chances of getting accepted to UC's or Ivy Leagues??

Question

High School GPA: 3.57
UC GPA: 4.0

SAT Score: CR--720
Math--690
Writing-- 740
Essay: 10
OVERALL: 2150

ACT Score: 30

EXTRACURRICULARS:

YBS (Young Black Scholars) -- 2 years

Softball League -- 3 years

Piano & Guitar Lessons -- 1 year

Annual Singing Competition -- 3 years

School Choir -- 2 years

AP Scholar Award -- Grades of 3 or higher on 3 or more AP
Exams

National Merit Achievement Scholarship Participant --
Scoring in the top 5% of African-Americans students on the
2006 PSAT

What do you think my chances are?? Thanks!

Class rank: 117 out of 657

Top 20%

I am a California resident.

If I account for the reason for my low GPA, do I have a chance??--I found out my father had cancer in junior year of high school and my grades slipped. I went from all A's and B's to receiving 3 C's first semester. I got my act together and brought 2 of them up to B's second semester.

Would the college/university like to know this?

Colleges look at different GPA's.

For applications to UC's my GPA appears a 4.0.

For applications to private schools, my GPA is a 3.57.

Answer 1

There is something I don't understand about your application:

You say:

High School GPA: 3.57
UC GPA: 4.0

The High School GPA is on the low side for UC and Ivy League schools. If this is your unweighted average, you are in better shape than if this is your weighted average. Your SATs will also help.

But what is this UC GPA? Are you already in college and are trying to transfer? If so, you should know that it is very hard to transfer into an Ivy League school. Some -- like Princeton don't accept any transfer students.

I agree with other here that your background is an interesting one. Universities will certainly be interested in what happened with your grades.


The person who told you that your African American background should help you at UC schools is wrong. Proposition 209 prohibits from using race in any way to decide on admissions. However, your background may help you with private universities.

Bottom line - you have a shot at these schools and will get into some good university. None of them are a sure thing.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Your chances of admission to a UC are small, since you aren't in the top 10% of your class. However, the UCs are really trying hard to get their African-American numbers back up to where they were a few years ago, so that could help you.

Edit - re: Fa's comment below - look at the latest USNWR data on the UCs' recent admissions. Every campus has 94% or more of their accepted students from the top 10% of their HS class. Whether this is official policy or not, it is reality.

I might take his word for it that he got into UCLA from the bottom half of his HS class - but even if I did, this doesn't happen except in miraculous circumstances.

(Fa, no disrespect intended. I am not and never was a UC student, and you clearly have good information on the process involved here. Thank you for your courteous and informative response.)

I'm aware of 209, but again, reality is reality. Judging each student as an individual, a background that includes involvement in African-American activities will not exactly be a liability.

Answer 3

If you're a senior you're chances of Ivy league are iffy at best. You're credentials are great but you're GPA might hurt you. You would have to express extraordinary talent in some field like music, acting or sports to compensate for it. If you're a junior i would suggest boosting your GPA to at least 3.8 and try to boost your scores on each section of the SAT by 10 points or more. In most schools, extra-curriculars are just the icing on the cake. In Ivy League though, it goes a long way towards showing your "well-roundedness". I'm pretty confident you'll get into UC. You should apply to some Ivies any way though. Good luck!!

Answer 4

i could say you're an rather aggressive applicant for each and each of the faculties, even even though it could help greater in case you need to furnish one section in which you have been somewhat surprising. that would nicely be your athletics; you do not say what activity you play, yet given your grades, if there's a coach at Harvard or Penn who desires a participant in that activity, you need to be in solid shape. Coaches at precise colleges are constantly searching for advantageous gamers who may additionally take care of the tutorial standards. Chicago won't care lots approximately athletics, although. do not push the concern there. Chicago has merely club communities. an analogous is going for MIT. by potential of ways: this is "Penn," not "UPenn," because of the fact the PR workplace permit you to comprehend in no doubtful words. UPenn is a false impression left over from a very historical URL back in the early days of school desktops. I did my PhD there, and we in no way call the region UPenn.

Answer 5

You have a shot if you can write a good reason why your grades slipped. I suggest writing in your personal essay about your father's cancer. But you look like a solid student if that helps. I can't say you'll get into an Ivy League, though. It's hard to tell who has what it takes. Someone you thought would get in doesn't and someone you never thought would get in gets in.

Answer 6

first of all, class rank does not matter when it comes to the UC's. i was ranked in the bottom half of my class and got into plenty of the UCs. odds are you will be accepted to every single UC you apply to. you will likely be accepted to a few of the ivy leagues, but your gpa does hurt you.

comfort- i am well aware of that statistic. if you look at the selection process of each campus, class rank is not taken into consideration. what they will consider is whether you are ELC (eligibility by local context), or in the top 4% of your class. her gpa is on the low side, but her SAT is far above average at every UC as well as a few of the ivys. at my competitive high school, half of the class of 07 went to a UC.

let me give you some advice on the essay. you want to stand out as much as possible. be unique. dont be like every other applicant who rights his/her essay on volunteering at hte hospital

yes prop 209 exists, but colleges, especially ucla, have managed to find loopholes. The number of Black students who said they plan to enroll as freshmen in the fall doubled from 103 to 203, bringing the percentage of Black UCLA freshmen to 4.5 percent, up from 2.2 percent a year ago.


http://www.diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_7361.shtml

Answer 7

Your unique, but you will have to pursuade them with your essay and your determination. I would say your activities needed to be more stable, but you National Merit Achievement looks really nice. I would say 65% chances if you try, but again they have a really low acceptance rate.

Answer 8

umfinshimumb