Am I on the right track to get into ucla?

Question

I want to make sure I am on the right track to go to UCLA. I am volunteering at a medical clinic and will also be joining the local police dept. as a volunteer. I am a black belt in karate , play golf and tennis, and just completed a national level eight test in piano. My grades are A's and B's (3.5 GPA entering sophomore year) and I am enrolled in honors and AP courses. I will be taking a sign language course next summer. I was thinking joining the sea cadets program for leadership skills. Is there anything else I should be doing and how do my chances look? Thanks.

Answer 1

You're doing all the right things, but have a few alternate schools just in case. The valedictorian of my daughter's class this year was put on 3 "waiting lists" and didn't get into the school he wanted to at all. He did everything right, but was just another white male with a 4.0. If you have something different about you - like you're Native American, or you have 1 leg or something like that, it actually helps. Or go for a different sort of major because it's more difficult to get into a popular major. Find out from UCLA what sort of majors they're looking for. Ask your counselor. They can be helpful. Anyway, keep up with everything, and good luck to you!

Answer 2

UCLA admissions is focused on academics, so excellent grades and test scores are essential.

Your extracurriculars look spectacular, but be sure to balance them with your course load so you achieve good grades (it's better to sacrifice extracurriculars for good grades if it comes down to that).  Don't work too hard; you don't want to burn out in the middle of junior year.

Look into ROTC if you are interested in a military career.  ROTC has a separate recruitment process for each college, including most UCs.

Answer 3

Overall, you are a very well-rounded student. That's great because that's exactly what they are looking for. However, you need to get your GPA above 3.75 because 91% of the the accepted students have a GPA of 3.75+. This year, you need to make sure you take the PSAT in the fall and the SAT in June. The average UCLA student has a 570-690 on SAT Critical Reading, 610-740 on SAT Math, and 580-700 on SAT Writing. Also, the average student has an ACT composite score of 24-31.

If you are not a California resident, your application should be even better than average.

As for USC:

53% had h.s. GPA of 3.75 and higher

30% had h.s. GPA between 3.5 and 3.74

12% had h.s. GPA between 3.25 and 3.49

4% had h.s. GPA between 3.0 and 3.24

% had h.s. GPA between 2.5 and 2.99

SAT Critical Reading: 620-720

SAT Math: 650-740

SAT Writing: 640-720

Good luck and hope I helped!