UCLA Physics: Can I Get In with a 3.60 GPA?

[endi]

Hello All
I have a 3.60 GPA UW (YES Laugh at me) in high school, am a junior and want to go to UCLA for physics. However, I highly doubt that i can get into UCLA with a GPA like this. Should I just go to a community college, then try to transfer, or just go to a college that's easier to get into?
Thank you all!

 

[mbisCool]

GPA is by no means the only aspect of your application considered for admissions. More info would allow others to offer greater and more relavant support. For example, what classes haveyou taken?

 

[AUMathTutor]

If you want to go to UCLA, you should have your reasons why you think you deserve it. Alright, your GPA isn't great.

Go ahead and tell us why you think you should get to go there rather than other (more or less qualified) applications. What do you know that others don't? What experiences have you had that others haven't? How do you "fit" with the social scene, academics, or other aspects of the school?

Don't be shy. This might be a good exercise for you to determine whether or not your goals are realistic and, if so, to answer your own question.

 

[endi]

Hello, i have taken..
Calc AB, and everything before it
Physics AP, chem, bio..
Apush, APEcon APGovt
English 1,2,3,4
Ap Compsci
Spanish 1/2
avid;graphic design

some extracurricular
- varsity swimming
- president of my own economics club
- 4 years in my school's business program

To be honest, i don't know if i deserve it because when i think of a UCLA student, i imagine a grind who stays up and studies past 12 on a regular basis, enjoys writing a 30 page essay on electromagnetism and has zero friends. It is for this reason i have no confidence that my current grades will be able to compete with the hypothetical person exemplified here.

HELP HELP HELP

 

[AUMathTutor]

You know, you might try asking this question at the college confidential forums. They have forums for individual universities, and I imagine they have one for people in UCLA. You can ask current students what they're like, what their backgrounds are, and judge for yourself whether or not you would "fit in" with the sort of crowd that succeeds at UCLA.

I think the one link should be: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/

Your background looks fairly impressive; you haven't been taking 4 years of underwater basket weaving with no extracurriculars. For my money, you're qualified to be there. Also, I doubt that many students at all are like the kind of people you describe. You may not be in the top 10% of students, but that doesn't mean that you wouldn't enjoy your time there and get a lot out of it (potentially more than you would get somewhere else).

Then again, if you don't think you deserve to go there more than the next guy, if you don't feel like you've earned it, why do you think anybody else would?

 

[j93]

You could apply and see what happens than if you don't get in and are hell bent in going to UCLA or any of the UC's than a CC could be a good idea because if you don't fool around and take it seriously you will still graduate in 4 years while paying less for school and will face less competitive transfer admissions because due to UC charter they have to let in a certain percentage of CC students.

 

[jetforcegemin]

About 2 years ago, i graduated from high school with a 3.1 unweighted gpa but managed to get into UCSB because of my high ACT scores. After a year at UCSB i decided to withdraw and attend a community college for a year so that i could transfer. Despite having numerous Ds and Cs in algebra and geometry in high school and never making it past trigonometry, i will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall to pursue a degree in applied mathematics. If you plan your courses correctly, you'd be able to transfer in one year to UCLA. i know someone that actually transferred to Berkeley for EECS in one year.

 

[Sir_Arthur]

I agree that you have a solid shot right out of high school (write good essays), and that there is no University in the country that has "typical" students that friendless/hardworking. Finally, if you do choose to enroll in a community college, the UC system no longer accepts transfers until they've completed two years.

 

[j93]

and that there is no University in the country that has "typical" students that friendless/hardworking.

cough, Caltech, cough