Ms. Sun's Admission Blog for Highly Selective California Public Universities - What is Leadership?

Hi, I am currently a junior at San Gabriel High School (your former high school) and I am seeking some much needed advice:

I was browsing through Yahoo! Answers and finding out what other juniors' eligibilities are and it seems like I have no chance whatsoever of being accepted into the Universities of California. I'm uncertain about my classes and my extra-curricular activities, not to mention my leadership. I've yet to be deeply involved in school activities due to emotional instability and I feel like everything I have done has been one huge mistake.
It's now March of 2007 and everything seems to be crammed up into one giant headache and any type of compensation seems to be too late to make up for. Earlier today, I signed up for my senior classes, but I am so uncertain of everything.
I need to know— am I screwed for life?

Please write back,
Ngoc Nguyen
email: fghtffyrdmns@hotmail.com

I have a 4.0 GPA and am currently attending Moorpark Community College. I have completed approximately 45 units in transferable courses. I think I am headed for Med school but I am not 100% sure. I was going to be a biology major but now am being told that this major will take to long and be unnecessary. I am 26 years old so I would like to get in as soon as possible and work my way up. I know Med schools do not require a Biology degree. If I applied as a transfer student for a different major would I be able to switch majors when I got there. I am not as concerned about my major as much as I am concerned in being fully prepared to take the MCAT and getting into UCLA as quickly as possible. Biology would slow me down because I have not taken any Chem and I would be required to take one year of chem and then another of Organic Chem. I would like to be in UCLA quicker though. What are your thoughts on taking a major but taking lots of biology and chemistry courses once I am in UCLA? My school counselor is advising me to possibly major in Psychology to get me in quicker. Please help me!!! Jeff jjilk@hotmail.com

How much harder is it for an out-of-state resident to get into Berkeley? What kind of grades and test scores does it take beyond the initial eligibility review? Would you say it's pretty impossible, and that I should look elsewhere? What about the other UC schools? ie. UCSB or UCI?
Thank you,
Sherrie

i graduated high school in 2005 and took some time off of school to do ballet. i recently enrolled back in school and am taking 22 units for the fall semester and have already taken 6 over the past summer. i am still confused as to which classes i still need to take in order to transfer to uc berkeley or ucla. what is the highest math and english class that i need to take? i've gotten english 122, hist 122 out of the way and am currently taking psych 122, speech 120, eng 126, geo 120, anthr 120, math 120, and library studies 121. also, does the time i took off of school affect my chances of a uc transfer?

Hello,

I really need your help. I'm a student at Pierce College, and I am going to be applying to UCLA this November. I am a psychology major, and I have completed all of my prerequisites. I have a 3.92 GPA, and I work part-time as a homecare provider. I'm also in the international and state-wide honor societies and on the national dean's list. I have been working so hard to get into UCLA because it has been a dream of mine since I was nine years old. I'd like to know what my chances are of getting in because I'm starting to really panic as the time to apply approaches. Please if you have time, can you respond back to me? Thank you for your time.

Hi. i'm a freshman at bolsa grande. I'm slacking off right since school started. i have a 3.20 g.p.a excluding p.e. but my weighted gpa is 3.40. do you know by any chance i would get graduate in top ten ? i was ranked as 72/498 students. i'm worried. my counselor told me that only 1/8 of students will get to csu and my goal is to go to any csu in california. do you know what i should do or what classes i should take next year?

Hello,

I found your site while searching the internet for admissions help. I am currently at FAU in Florida and am going to Santa Monica College next year. My goal is to get accepted to transfer to UCLA for Design I Media Arts. Do you know anything about this program and admissions for it? I will stop at nothing to get admitted to this department, but only recently have decided that it was best for me. That being said, I now must start to work on what is needed for this major and have a lot of work ahead of me. Do you have any advice or suggestions? Any would be appreciated.

Thank you so much,

Katie

Hello, I need help increasing my chances of getting accepted to UCLA. The problem is that past grades are not reflective of what I am now due to life difficulties. I have alot of W's and some D's (years ago)due to the fact that due to these circumstances I would have to withdraw from the semester. Being a single mother and having to work full time has been very difficult in reaching my educational goals. But I am not giving up. Currently, I have a 3.2, am in the Scholars Program (honors with priority admission consideration at UCLA), am part of some clubs at school, and am going to start the STEP program at UCLA this summer. What pointers can you give me for my application with my history? I really want this and am willing to do anything. THank you for your help.

I have a 3.722 and my dream is to go to UCLA. I am applying this year from a community college for Political Science and want to know anything that will increase my chances at getting in. I work full time so I have not had as much of an opportunity to volunteer. During high school I played sports, was Student body president along with class presidents, and volunteered at everything you could think of, but I'm not sure if that will increase my chances as getting in. Please let me know anything that could help?
Thanks so much!

Hi mssun. I have a question regarding my class. I'm a sophomore at Bolsa Grande High which is in the Garden Grove District. I had A.P. World History and just dropped it yesterday. At first, my counselor did not let me drop ap world because she said that i would do well. So i brought in my parent to talk to the counselor and the principal. It took a few days for them to let me drop ap world history. My principal suggested me to take ap bio last week on Friday if i dropped ap world because i told her that i was very interested in science, though my transcipt grades fro science didn't reflect it. I had B's in biology honors for both semesters last year (freshmen year). Then my principal went and talked to my counselor, my counselor convinced her not to let me take it. THe counselor suggested the principal to ask my previous biology honors teacher to give me a recommendation in order for me to go to ap biology (i had a weak recommendation from my biology honors in my freshmen year to go to ap bio). Yesterday, my counselor called me up telling me that they decided as a "team" that i'm not qualified for ap biology. They used the B's i had in my freshmen year against me, and saying that I'm a sophomore, so i'm not qualified to take ap biology. she showed me a district booklet from 07-08 listing what classes each grade should take. She also told me that the principal talked to the department science and they said that i can't take it. The department said that i need to finish chemistry in order to take ap biology. I did request to take ap biology in my freshmen year when i found out that i was very interested in biology. Though i had b's for both semesters in biology honors last year due to procrastination and was very lazy, but then i still believe that my grades can't really relflect my knowledge for science. I had a couple of friends who just graduated high school in 08 that took ap biology in their freshmen year while taking chemistry. I really want to take ap bio, i want to try, though it may be hard but i believe i can overcome it and pass the A.P. exam. My parents also strongly feel that i should take ap bio in my sophomore year. Do you know if my parents can request me to take ap bio , then will i be able to take it ? Right now my dad is very mad that the counselor is so persisted to not let me take ap bio, he wants to talk to the school district tomorrow and i'm afraid that this will might get me in big trouble. So please, let me know what should i do ? Any advises to make me take ap bio, would it help if my dad goes to the district and talk ? I REALLLY want to take this class . these are the grades i earned in my freshmen year if it helps you to help me argue back. thanks
first semester grade:
english 1 honors- A
World History Honors-B
P.E. - A
Algebra 2- C
French 1p - A
Biology honors- B

Second semester:
English 2 honors - A
World history honors-A
P.E- A
Algebra 2 - C
French - A
Biology- B

Well i am from India and i will be getting my green card and SSN number on nov 20 i will be staying at california the thing I wanna ask is that will i be considered as out State or In state Student?

What are some good colleges for Computer Engineering/Science
I have a bad GPA (UC:3.06) (Classrank:66) (GPAall:3.46)
highest SAT: CR:400 M:750 W:510
SAT II: MathL2:690 Physics:660

Can I have some advice on some good colleges that I have a good chance of getting into.

Thanks!

I'm currently attending a community college with a 2.61gpa. My first two years of college were taken for granted (1.50gpa), which consisted of only bad grades. Since then I've retaken all of those classes and found my new passion, philosophy, which I'm majoring in now. I've gotten only A's and B's. I plan to have at least a 3.30gpa by this time next year including the completion of IGETC and any philosophy major pre-reqs. I'm also in an agreement program at my community college called HITE (High Intensity Transfer Enrichment), is it likely for me to transfer to UCLA when I apply this time next year? Also, would I have the same chances to get in even if I wasn't involved in HITE?

I am a sophomore right now at a early college high-school, which means that in my junior and senior year, I will be taking classes at the community college instead of going through a typical high school course. I received a 4.0 last year in both semesters last year, and I'm pretty sure the same will happen this year - hopefully! I took two college classes so far during the summer, with an A in both courses. We don't have AP or honors because of the college classes, but I was wondering how my chances would be at UCLA since my GPA will at the most be 4.0.

On a side note, I also was wondering what a person reviewing my college application would think if I had taken my SAT II for Biology twice, the first time in which I did really bad (550). I plan on retaking it in June of next year, in which I hopefully will get at least a 750.

Thanks!

Mam,
I am Shivam Parikh, I have completed and sent my application to UC berkeley, UCLA and UCSD. I have an GPA (unweighed) 3.80 on a scale of 4.00. I am international student from India and am studying the state board. I got an 2000 on my SAT. My extra cirricular activities are really good.
Do you think I can get into any of these 3 colleges.

P.S. I have even given my SAT Subject Test and have applied as an undergraduate for Chemical Engineering.

Shivam Parikh.

I have a 4.13 weighted and a 3.73 unweughted gpa. My SATs are 630 V 610 W 720 M (1960) and 780 Math IIC 730 Chem 710 US. I am and Eagle Scout and I have over 300 hours of community service hours. I took 6 reg courses freshman year, but worked my way up to 6 AP courses senior year. My parents have low income and I am Korean. I have shown imporvment all semseters.

Do I have any chance at making UCSD Bioengineering program or Bio chem/chem major. The biochem is my second choice. ??????

Thank you

Hi Ms. Sun,
I am interested in transferring to UCLA. I am currently a Biomedical engineering student at UCI. I just completed by first quarter at UCI and have a 3.6 GPA. I completed 13 units at community college and got A's in all the classes. I also got a C in an art class at the CC as well. Will UCLA look down on that? What are my chances of getting in? Other than my GPA, the rest of my application- ECs, essay, leadership-are all good. I am applying as a neuroscience major and should have enough credits to transfer based on all of my AP classes.

Dear Ms. Sun,
I am attending Junior College in Modesto area, I have techinal degree from Heald College. I am considering Berkeley as my first and Last choice I want to do my bachelors from there in PEIS ( Political Economy of Industrial Socities) I had to start from the GE as the Heald Credits didnt get transfer over to MJC however they gave me credits for one or two classes. I have concern about my GPA, its at 3.0 when they add all the classes from Heald and around 3.5 for classes I took at MJC. My question is how Berkeley is going to calculate my GPA? Is it sum of all the Credits or just the transfer Credits? I am planning to apply for fall 2010. I hope to get help from you, as you are have outstanding knowledge on the subject. Hope to hear from you soon.

Regards,
Sunny

My daughter would like to go to Berkeley or UCLA but here is the problem. She just got her report card for the 1st semester and got a D in AP calculus. She takes up mostly honors and AP classes with grades in the A's and B's. her current weighted GPA is 4.03, class rank of 48 out of 1266. She is in speech in debate and has achieved 1st and 2nd place in duo dramatic interpretation and public forum debate and 3rd 4th place for other categories.She volunteers tutoring sophomores in chemistry and other charitable activities through IMPACT(a school organization).She is doing fine until the D grade came. please give us the best advice on this matter.Thank you.

Hello there, I am an 18 year old Illinois resident who is just about to graduate high school. I have always really wanted to go to Berkley ever since i was a middle school er. Unfortunately in high school i didn't really start taking my education seriously until my senior year and thus don't have the best GPA and only a 26 ACT score. This is kind of because we have a very strong community college in the area and 75% of people just go there so i never really worried about applying to a real college until recently. However once i matured a little i really kicked my life into gear working two jobs and enrolling in 12 or so college credits at night when i wasn't in high school all of which i have gotten an A+ in. I have an interest in health Care and at 18 i earned my EMT-B certification and now work for a private ambulance company which people find impressive because I'm still in high school. However, my true passion is politics. I took 4 semesters of Journalism and 2 semesters of AP Political Government as well as volunteering much of my time on political campaigns. I also am a very creative person. I have recorded 6 albums over the years at some of Chicago's nicest studios as well as playing over 100 rock concerts in the area. I'm also somewhat of a filmmaker, also directing and/or acting in various movie projects, but nothing big. Just things me and my other creative friends do. So I have a great work ethic and love to overachieve, often meaning going around regulations for someone my age. Anyways..... I am absolutely committed to doing whatever it takes for the next 2 years to try as hard as i can to move to California and get a Political Science Degree at Berkeley! But i just don't know where to start.... What should i be doing and what classes should i take? I have found it very hard to find information about transferring from William Rainey Harper College to Berkeley and what credits will transfer. Seems it is a path not traveled often. Do i even have a chance of getting in considering my situation?

Thanks a lot!

-Jonathan

HI! Would you mind telling me my chances of getting into UCLA? gpa 4.2 weighted very close to 4 unweighted sat 1900 sat2 korean 690 sat2 spanish 760 sat2 math 2c 690 sat2 chem 660 act 28 lots of extra curricular activities, but my courses are not as hard as they should be pre cal as a senior ap english lit kinesiology ap computer science econ maybe my background information might help. i came from south america in july of 2007, but since UCs dont look so deep in background stuff, i dont think it will help me that much. thank you!

Hi!

What advice can you give me about transferring to UCLA with Nursing as my major? I was told that getting accepted to the Nursing program is one of the toughest schools at UCLA to be accepted to as a junior. What are some things I shoud/can do to stand out as an applicant? I'll be attending PCC this summer and i'm planning to do the Scholars program, join clubs, and i'm going to start volunteering at Children's Hospital next month and hopefully do an internship there as well after I complete 100hrs+.

Ms. Sun

There there any leadership program or organizations which community college students can join?

Thank you Ms. Sun

For UCLA's Medical School, does it matter where I went to college to obtain my pre-med? For example, a Cal State School as oppose to a UC School? I know it would be better to go to a UC school though.

I am an out-of-state student with european citizenship, good grades, many extracurricular activities as well as recognitions in sports and leadership. My dream is to attend UCLA and become a dentist but will switching schools in my junior year of high school affect my chances of UCLA considering my application even if I keep my grades consistent ?
Also what is the percentage for out-of-state student admission to UCLA ?
I appreciate it!