Chances at uc schools?

Question

i have almost completed the requirements for uc admission

horrible sat scores 1560 (yes i know it sucks...retaking in oct and hoping for a 1900)

a 3.8 unweighted (4.2 weighted)

playing varsity tennis

Ecs:

participate in 2 school clubs

executive board member of one of the clubs

have over 500 hours of community service at the hospital and am vice president

refereed for ayso

black belt

should i give some ucs a shot? or any others? im new to this of course...any advice would be great.

Answer 1

Different UCs have different standards. The hardest ones to get into are Berkeley and UCLA and i think that UCLA is harder to get into just because more people apply for it. UC San Diego is the third hardest and Davis is fourth Irvine and Riverside are relatively easy to get into. Your GPA is relatively good and if your got over 4.0 I'm assuming that you took some honors and/or AP classes? UCs love to see that you took as much honors and AP classes as you can. And it's even better if you received Bs or As. They also love to see leadership and sports activities. 2 clubs are pretty little compared to other kids applying for UCs though especially if you are applying for 09 or 10. I don't know if you are a junior or senior. But it seems like you have a relatively good chance of getting accepted. And also a lot is based on your personal statement also. They don't want cliches or any sob stories so try to portray a unique experience. Overall your chances are pretty good so give it a try. It might be nice to go and talk to your school counselor about this too. You might want to tell them about possible majors and they will help you find some good choices. At my high school, we had representatives from UCDavis and Berkeley who came at various times and gave us advices and info. And also If you are applying for Berkeley they are harder on people who apply with a major in engineering so watch out. It does cost you money for EACH application for UCs (60 bucks or something?) but if your family makes below i think 40,000 a year (I dont remember) then you might get a fee waiver.