If i got a 3.08 my sophomore year is there still hope for me to do well my junior year and meat the average gpa to get into UCLA or UCSD

Roger: Is that a weighted or unweighted GPA?

Hi Roger, my UC GPA is a 4.44 after adding in all my grades and honors/ap courses. I'm applying for Computer Science at UCLA/UCSD/UCI/UCB. Is this gpa too low to be competitive for these schools? i've heard that its super hard to get into the engineering departments. Thank you!

Roger: That sounds like a very high GPA. Have you tried out the UC Freshmen Admissions Calculator?

Hi, Roger so I took a summer class after 8th grade. Would this count towards my UC GPA? Thank you.

Roger: No, only courses taken after 9th grade are counted.

I am planning to applying for engineering. I was on the UCI website for engineering (http://engineering.uci.edu/admissions/undergraduate) and according to website, average GPA is 4.09. Can you shed some light on how UCs calculated weighted GPA?
Overall I have 20 As and 6 Bs through my sophomore and junior year (summer classes included and I took seven classes in junior year).I have taken four AP classes and one honor class in the two years.
AP Chemistry: Bs both semester
AP Biology B the first semester and A the second
AP Calculus AB: Bs both semester
AP Language : As both semester
Pre-Calculus H: A first semester, and B second semester.
Thanks,
Samantha

Roger: That “4.09” seems to be an uncapped weighted GPA. Your uncapped weighted GPA is a 4.154 (whereas your capped and weighted GPA is a 4.077). You can calculate your uncapped weighted GPA by giving yourself 4 points for each A, 3 points for each B, and 1 point for each AP/honors course. For 2-semester courses, you should double the point values. Finally, you divide by the number of semesters of classes you’re including. So for your 26 classes, you would calculate (20 × 4 + 6 × 3 + 10) / 26.

Hello,

My school doesn't offer AP courses. I have self-studied 7 AP courses. I am OOS for UC. Will AP scores are taken into account while calculating UC GPA?.

Thank you

Roger: As far as I know, you need a letter grade on your transcript in order to receive any of the 8 honors points. So I don’t think AP scores will improve your UC GPA. However, you should know that the UC admissions process is supposedly holistic. The UC GPA is just a statistic calculated after the fact to help make sense of the admissions results. Your AP scores will show that you learned the equivalent material without taking the course (and also proves that you’re a diligent self-learner!).

Hello Roger!

So I'm going to be a junior when fall starts. I did a pretty bad job in freshmen year with a B for summer course and then 1 A, 2Bs, and then a C for 1rst semester, and then for the 2nd, I got 4 Bs. Then during sophmore year, I got a total of 5As and 7Bs. Overall, if I get all As during Junior year, my unweighted gpa will be a 3.48, which sucks in my opinion. Will ucs look at my progress throughout my high school career and at least consider me?

Roger: I think a 3.48 unweighted GPA is not bad at all. If you continue to improve your grades, I think that’ll really stand out on your application. Good luck!

I'm going to 9th grade in coming fall 2016. I did my geometry in summer 2016 and got C+ in 1st Sem and B in 2nd Sem. In 8th grade I got B+ in both semester of Algebra 1. Will all these be counted in my High School GPA. Please advice, if I need to retake Geometry in 9th grade, in case these summer grades are counted in GPA.

Thanks

Roger: They aren’t included in the UC GPA, but your Geometry grade will be included on your high school transcript and the GPA reported by your high school. If you took Algebra 1 before high school, then your Algebra 1 grade won’t be in your high school transcript. You should double check that you can actually retake Geometry. Some schools don’t let you retake a course unless you got a failing grade. Hope this helps!

I did terrible sophomore year I finished with 4 D-'s 2 F's & the rest with A's and B's Counting both semesters. It was a very difficult year for me. I had many personal problems going on outside of school & it ended up affecting my whole sophomore year. I've made up my classes during the summer with online programs & summer school. Junior year I took 4 Ap classes plus honor classes I got all A's in every class plus I passed my Ap Exams. Which I'm really proud of but I'm afraid I won't get into my dream school which is UCIrvine. Do you think if I apply to UC's they'll accept me ?

Roger: I think that if you explain your sophomore year grades in your personal statement and present it as a learning experience, the UC’s will understand and see that you did really well during your junior year. After all, they always talk about challenging circumstances as a good thing to explain with the essay part of your application. Good luck!

I got all As my freshman year and sophomore year however i took an honors math class over the summer and ended up with a B first semester and an A second semester what does this do to my Gpa?

Roger: The answer depends on which GPA you’re calculating and how many classes you’ve taken so far (I’ll assume you took 12 semesters your freshmen year and another 12 semesters your sophomore year). For example, if you wanted to calculate your weighted GPA, you would get 24×4 = 96 points for your A’s during your freshmen and sophomore year. Then, your honors math class would give you 3 points for the B and 4 points for the A, which brings you to a total of 103 points. You get 2 honors points (one for each semester of your honors math class), which brings your total to 105. Then, you divide this total by the number of semesters you’re including (26), and you get 4.038. Your actual GPA will depend on exactly how many classes you took freshmen and sophomore year, as well as whether you’ve taken any other honors courses so far. Hope this helps!

Do UCs only look at your UC gpa for admission?

Roger: No, of course not. There are lots of other things included in your application. Read this page for more details.

Are summer classes taken at a high school, that are UC/CSU transferable, given honors status?

Roger: Yes, I think so.

Hey Roger,
I have recently migrated to America from India and I did all my education in India till my sophomore year. I took AP biology in my junior year without doing any prerequisite. My first semester grade was A and in second semester I got a B but in my AP exam I got a 2. Does that really effect my chances of getting accepted to UCs(prestigious ones)?. Do UCs look down at you if you get a score lower than 3 even if you did pretty good in your class?. My school is well known. Please help me with this...... I am really stressed.......Please.............?

Roger: I think you’re permitted to retake AP tests. Have you considered that option?

What if you have taken more than 8 semesters of honors courses (I have 20)?

Roger: This calculator is for the weighted and capped GPA, which follows this rule: “At most, 8 semesters of UC Honors Courses can be counted. No more than 4 can be counted from 10th grade.”. If you have 20 semesters, you still can only add up to 8 semesters to your weighted and capped GPA.

so the maximum number of weighted classes that counts towards the uc gpa is 2 classes?!?!?! (On the freshmen admissions calculator it says max number of semesters for weighted classes is 8)

Roger: A year-long class should count for 2 semesters. So, 8 semesters would equal 4 year-long classes. Maybe you’re thinking of quarters instead?

I had a a bad 2nd semester my sophomore year. I got a f. And a d my grades were always decent before if I finish my next two years out with As and Bs and do well on my S.A.T do I have a chance of makeing it into any college?

Roger: Your school should allow you to retake a course to make up a failing grade. Have you looked into that option?

if I take a summer class to complete my health credits between my 11th and 12th grade years. will that affect my UC gpa? I was wondering because since health is a regular class it will count as a 4 and drop my avg gpa of my 11th grade year.

Roger: I think you’re supposed to include every grade that you have so far, which includes any summer classes you’ve taken.

do freshman grades matter? i did bad freshman year but doing good now

Roger: I think all of your grades matter, but freshman year grades aren’t counted when computing the UC GPA.

Hi there Roger! So I have low weighted GPA of 3.1 but big dreams to attend SFU with GPA average of 3.5. I am currently a sophomore and have bombed my math final bringing my grade down to a C I might have bombed my science final bringing that down to a C+ if this were to happen, would that cause my GPA to become a 2.9? If this is the case whats the highest I can possibly bring it up to?

Roger: It really depends on how many classes you’ve taken and the rest of your semester grades too. Can you provide more detail?

Hi Roger!
I'm wondering if you could answer a question that my school counselors were unable to answer.
I am a rising senior who moved to California two years ago; as a result, my freshman year courses were taken at an out-of-state high school.
How would I go about entering my 9th grade courses on the UC application? Does the UC application allow the option of entering courses taken at multiple high schools, both in-state and out-of-state? I can't imagine why it wouldn't, but I just want to make sure because my counselor in particular told me that he was unsure about it (he said that it had "been to long since [he] was faced with this issue" :'[).

Also, would I qualify for in-state tuition? I currently live in California (I've lived here since the summer of 2014) with my parents (I'm under 18) and we have a permanent address in California. I'll graduate high school in 2017.

Thanks very much!!

Roger: I haven’t heard of anybody in that situation, sorry. I think you need to have lived in California for only a year in order to be considered a resident, so you qualify for in-state tuition. (But if I were you, I’d double check the residency requirements online.)

Do UC schools look at UC GPA differently for in state and out of state students? i assume they are differently weighted but I am not sure.

I am a freshman and if I got a 3.8 last semester and a 3.8 this semester is my total gpa a 3.8?

I'm a senior now and I have a GPA of 3.1. In my core classes I've scored A's or B's but as in my electives I have scored 6 C's out of my 17 classes. Do you think my school would allow me to retake 3 of those elective class although I didnt fail them.Do you think it's late for me to bust up my GPA ,now that I'm a senior or do you know what should I do? I live in Ga btw.Thanks

Hi Roger.

Im taking a 4 credit Earth Science class.

There are 3 exams: each 25%
1st test: 88%
Midterm: 100%
Final: TBA

There are 2 lab exams: One is 6% and the other is 8%.
Lab 1: 55
Lab 2: 50

What grades do I need to get at least an 80%?

Roger: Your numbers only add up to 89%. What’s the other 11% made up of? Anyway, your current overall grade is a 84.8%. If your final is worth 25% of your overall grade, then you’ll need to get at least a 65.5% on the final to get a 80% overall.

So do UCs use exclusively their own capped/uncapped GPA, or do they look at the school's overall GPA as well? Because of the use of only 10th and 11th grade grades in the UC GPA, my GPA here is much higher than it looks to be at my school.

Roger: I think the capped/weighted GPA is only for statistical purposes. The admissions process is supposed to be holistic, so they’re supposedly looking at your entire transcript, not a GPA.

I took Political Science 110 over the summer at a community college, would that count as an honors lever class at a UC? The credits are transferable.

Roger: It would! Check out this page for details.

Are the averages the UC schools release publicly UC GPA or normal school weighted/unweighted GPA?

Roger: They’ll usually say how it’s calculated right next to the statistics. It could be weighted or unweighted, capped or uncapped.

What is the UC GPA and how is it considered in the admissions process?

Roger: Check out my response to “Jason” below.

Hi again, thank you for answering my last question. Did you say that the capped at 8 semesters doesn't actually count when applying to colleges? Thank you so much.

Roger: They do count! Check out my response to “Jason” right below this comment.

Why would the UC system use a formula, wherein you can take an AP class, get 100 percent in it, and have that HURT your grade?

Example:

10 As, 8 AP classes (capped) - 4.8

20 As, 8 AP classes (capped) - 4.4

I understand why this happens mathematically, but why use it? Is there any reason why you would want to take a student who has done well in fewer AP classes over another?

Roger: I don’t think that the weighted and capped GPA is actually used for admissions. It’s only for calculating statistics, after the admissions decisions have all been made. The capping of honors courses helps reduce the number of extreme outliers that would otherwise occur because of students that have transcripts FULL of honors courses. After a certain number of honors courses, it’s clear that a student is taking a sufficiently challenging courseload, so you actually get more signal (less noise) from this statistic when you don’t let students include 20 honors courses in their GPA calculation. Nobody gets penalized for taking more classes. But this was how the public statistics were released, so the calculator asks you about your weighted/capped GPA. Hope this helps!

Hi Roger, why is my GPA lower with more classes with A's than with less? So 20 A's 6 B's is higher than 27 A's 6 B's

Roger: It’s because of that 8 honors courses limit. When you have too many A’s, the fraction of honors courses shrinks. It’s unfortunate, but that’s just how averages work.

How does the uc honor system work? It applies for AP right? Is it if I take APUSH or something it counts as 2 semester courses? So if I take 4 AP/honors other AP/honor classes doesn't count?

Hi Roger,

I took a college course at a community college, and received an 'A-', so my college GPA is 3.7. Will my college class be incorporated into my GPA as a 3.7 or a 4, since it is still an A.

Just a note: I also have 8 UC-approved honor classes at my high school, so I am all maxed out with extra points.

Roger: The UC’s don’t differentiate plusses and minuses for high-school courses. I’m not sure how it changes for a community college course though.

Is it easier or harder for out of state residents to be accepted into UC Irvine and UCSD?

My opinion would be easier since the colleges would be gaining more money, but on the other hand i've heard that these schools fill up their resident seats first, making it more difficult for out of state people to be accepted.

Does UCLA specifically use UC GPA or do they also look at your unweighted/regularly weighted GPA?

Roger: The UC’s say that their admissions process is holistic. I think that means they consider your entire transcript, including both your courseload and your grades.

If I make up a Semester of a class (that was failed) , during summer school will they use the new grade for gpa calculation or the original & also do UCs look at 9th grade year? & in the gpa calculation would I put every semester grade?

Roger: If you make up a failed class, your new grade should replace the previous one. And this GPA should only include grades received after the end of 9th grade. See this FAQ for more details.

For 10th and 11th grades I have a total of 26 a-g classes. Because I have a high number of these it is bringing down my UC GPA. I have 13 AP classes, so I maxed out on the 8 semesters of AP credit UC allow in their calculations. My weighted GPA is 4.82 and my UC GPA is only 4.23. Is this really correct? If so, what impact will this have?

Roger: Yes, that’s correct. I don’t think your weighted/capped GPA affects your admission decisions directly. However, the weighted/capped GPA is what was released in the public dataset. This was most likely because the uncapped weighted GPA contains way more noise than one that is capped at 8 semesters. Having more courses on your transcript is not a bad thing, despite this.

I'm doing IB diploma, does it count IB credits

When determining whether a grade is an A, B, C, D or F should you use the generic 90-100=A, 80-90=B, 70-80=C or should you use your school's own grade scale?

Roger: You should use whatever appears on your transcript, which doesn’t necessarily need to follow the 90-100, 80-90, etc scale.

Roger. I'm REALLY worried. My weighted GPA is a 4.23 but my UC GPA comes out as a 3.92. Will UCs not look at my weighted GPA? Will they only look at the UC GPA?

Hello Rodger I am a sophomore in high school and my dream is to go to UCLA. In my first semesters of freshmen year I had sub 3.0's and for my first semester this year I have a 2.7 I really am trying do you think if I do better for my future semesters on up I could change my chances of getting in. I also play baseball, but I want to minor in ASL and major in biology science has always been my best subject but this semester I got a B in biology. Do you think you could give advice I'm really stressed.

I really want to get into berkeley, I am going to have like 6 semester b's this year and I am taking like 7 ap courses between sophomore and junior year. Do you think I have a chance. I have almost perfect sat score and subject test. My GPA comes out to be 4.08. What was you profile like when you entered?

Is this 100% accurate? Because another website says otherwise...

I used the calculator for UCI/UCD/UCSB and noted that if I enter ACT as 33 and UC GPA as 3.5, I got something like 60%, but if I change ACT to 34 and leave UC GPA at 3.5, I got "holy smoke". Why 1 point in ACT change so much? Are you sure it's right? Just wondering... Thanks

Roger: The “Holy Smokes” result just means that the numerical models used in the calculator have reached their limits and can’t really provide any more useful information. A 60% is actually very good.

Do UCLA and UC Berkeley consider unweighted GPA without pluses or minuses as well?

Roger: Yes, I think so.

Do I count summer classes taken not at a community college

Roger: Yes, you should count summer classes. (Like, classes at an accredited high school, not like swimming class.)

If I received a C in an honors class, do I raise it to a B?

Roger: No. The last box asks you about honors class, so the calculator can adjust the GPA accordingly.

Say that one semester I got a sub 3.0 GPA. Seeing how I usually pull off at least a 3.5 while doing two competitive sports, could this ruin my chances at high level colleges?

Roger: If you can explain why you did poorly in one semester, you should make sure to do that in your personal statement. I think most people would be forgiving of tough situations.

Should we only use grades from A-G courses, or grades from all courses (e.g. PE)?

Roger: Technically, only A-G courses should count.

I am an out of state applicant. Would I include orchestra when calculating my gpa?

Roger: Yes, that counts as far as I know.

My school has 2 final grades per semester. How would I calculate my letter grade if we get 2 grades for one semester?

Roger: Hmm.. their website doesn’t say anything about that case. Just take the number and divide it by 2, I suppose?