Hey Roger,

Great tool! Question--do I include PE grades in this calculator, or only academics and electives?

Thanks!

Roger: You should only include your “a-g” courses. I don’t think PE is included. If you attended a California high school, you can visit this website to get a list of a-g courses.

Hey Roger!

Would you consider an academic elective more valuable than another AP class? I'm currently a sophomore, and next year I will be taking three AP's and one honors class. I plan to take five AP's in senior year. I could've chosen another AP but I opted instead to take Journalism, which enables me to write on the school newspaper (and I have a good chance of getting an editor position by senior year!). My counselor and teachers all told me it was a good decision since being on the newspaper shows leadership, writing skills, management, etc, but after hearing so much about others trying to take one million AP's by senior year, I'm starting to doubt my decision. What do you think? Do I have enough AP's? What looks better for the admissions officers?

Roger: How about four AP classes AND journalism? In all seriousness, do you know which AP classes you want to take? Choosing a good set of AP classes might be more important than simply how many you take.

Hi I have a weighted GPA of about 3.27, Im in many extracuriculars and I havent yet taken my ACT or SAT test, however, Im in IB classes, might I have a chance to get in? Also, might they look at my fall grades for senior year by any chance? Thanks!

Hey, why is the ACT writing not included in the calculation? Do they look at it at all?

I took the ACT without writing, but writing is a requirement to apply at the UC schools. I'm wondering why they make us take ACT with writing if they won't even check it

Roger: The released statistics only included information about composite ACT scores, but that doesn’t mean that your writing score isn’t considered.

My school adds 7 points to all honor and AP courses, so on our transcripts, instead of an 89 in my honors lit class, it says 96 on my report card. Does this count towards my unweighted or weighted GPA

Roger: Does your transcript also contain letter grades? You should only be using letter grades to calculate your UC GPA.

---
The transcript doesn't include the letters themselves, but the way the numbers translate are 90-100 is an A, 80-89 is a B, so on. With that said, do UC schools calculate the letter grade with or without the 7 points?

Roger: I’m not sure. I suppose your 7 points should be included.

So, I kept all factors the same, accept, I tested with different races; how come some races have a higher acceptance than others?

Hi I am a junior at a school with a 8 ip i am in 8 clubs have positions in two of them currently have a 4.24 weighted gpa and 3.67 non weighted with a UC gpa of 3.73 as well as a SAT score of 1800 (660 math 600 writing 540 English) do you believe i have a good chance of getting into one of the following school UCLA UCB UCSD UCI OR UCSB??
Thanks Roger!!

Roger: I’m not a college counselor. I don’t know anything about college admissions, and I won’t be able to tell you whether you have a good shot at those schools. Nonetheless, good luck!

Can I include private college course?

My school adds 7 points to all honor and AP courses, so on our transcripts, instead of an 89 in my honors lit class, it says 96 on my report card. Does this count towards my unweighted or weighted GPA

Roger: Does your transcript also contain letter grades? You should only be using letter grades to calculate your UC GPA.

Choosing AP over IB is not "wimping out". Please change that.

All i got as a result for Berkeley was "Holy Smokes." Is there an actual percentage :P?

Roger: The models aren’t good at making predictions at very high or very low ranges. So, that message just means (at least) one of the factors involved in the calculation crossed the positive threshold, past which it can no longer make useful predictions.

I am half asian and half Caucasian. If I input my race as 'white', my chance is 69%, and if i enter my race as 'asian', my chance is over 80%.

School: Berkeley
Major: math and stat
GPA: 4.2
Out of state
SAT: 2260
ACT 33

Does Berkeley favor asian? I thought it is not biased towards race.

Very confused. Can you explain?

Roger: So, I think the official stance on the race issue is that UC admissions won’t (and can’t) consider a student’s race when making admissions decisions. However, they will consider a student’s background (where they grew up, how good their high school was, the education level of their parents) to add context to a student’s academic history. For example, a student that went to a poorer high school with fewer resources might be disadvantaged when it comes to SAT scores. So, UC admissions is allowed to take those factors into consideration. The end result is that there are differences in average GPA and SAT scores for applicants of different races. It’s just like how there are differences in median income for people of different races. Hope this helps.

Since the SAT scoring is changing, will you be updating this calculator?

Roger: Great question. I’d like to be able to update this calculator, but the UCOP has shut down StatFinder, which was the admissions statistics database that was used to make this calculator. The easiest way to create an admissions calculator would be to compute models over the entire dataset of every UC applicant. But unfortunately, there aren’t any schools today that would release that kind of information to the public. First of all, it’d be an invasion of privacy and probably a FERPA violation. But additionally, most schools (especially publicly-funded schools like those in the UC system) want people to believe that their admissions process is holistic/qualitative (based on each candidate’s personal story) rather than quantitative (based on GPA and test scores). Admissions calculators fundamentally undermine the “holistic” application ideal, because their underlying assumption is that your admission is determined entirely by your GPA and test scores. So, even when schools do release statistics about their admissions decisions, they usually put them in PDF documents and infographics, to make them more difficult to analyze in bulk with computer programs. The bottom line is that I probably will not be updating this calculator, unless new data about UC admissions becomes available, because there’s currently no data available to use.

@AWishUponAStar

Thank you! What major did you apply for in Berkeley? I hear many qualified people getting rejected from Berkeley CoE.

Hi guys . I got into UCLA, UCSD, and UCI with a 4.2 gpa and a 1470 sat score . Yes my sat scores suck but I do a lot , a lot of extracurricular and I'm top 2% at my high school . Don't get your hopes down by this website.

Do you know how to submit research along with the app for Berkeley?

Roger: That probably counts as an extracurricular activity. Did you want to submit a specific paper? You can add stuff in the additional comments section, I guess.

Says I'm an above average student for Berkeley... but I was waitlisted :(

Looks like I am an extremely qualified candidate for UCLA. I was accepted and will probably attend!

I did get into Berkeley and several Ivys. Your prediction was that I wouldn't get Berkeley.

To A Guy in CA - I'm in CA and did nationally recognized research. It helped me, I'm sure. So did the several college classes and dozen APs. This sort of effort can't be captured in a rote calculation.

Good Luck!

Thanks for your feedback, my GPA is low because my school is HARD, I took a bunch of AP classes and it was not easy, especially in junior year. I have done some research at a renowned university over the summer, how do you turn in the research with the application? And would it make a huge difference to my application. I put in my stats on your calculator, but I get "holly smokes." What do you think are my chances actually?

Roger: I don’t really understand Berkeley’s criteria for admissions. The bar doesn’t seem to be super high, but on the other hand, a lot of applicants get rejected. I think if you took a challenging course load in high school, they’ll take that into consideration.

Have a 3.53 UC GPA and a 2350 SAT- it said my stats were too unbelievable to reach a decision :(

Hi Roger, about my last post, yes I was counting freshman grades, but I would have a ~3.65 UW GPA, and a ~3.7 UW with community college courses and a ~4.2-4.3 W. I have done some internships and some research. Is there a way to turn in the research along with the supplementary materials and would it help increase my chances for CS or EECS at Berkeley. And also, would going in as undeclared first and then switching be easier or is it better to declare?

Roger: Check out this guide to the UC Application. You should know that CS is an impacted major at Berkeley, so students need to have a minimum 3.3 GPA in the lower division courses in order to declare the major. The average GPA for lower division courses is supposed to be a 2.7, which means that theoretically, the average student would not be accepted.

I was surprised my son with a gpa of 4.25 and SAT score of 2210 with subject SAT scores 790 bio, 760 math level II and 750 chem didn't get into ucla. We need more transparency into college admission decisions. They should be mandated to give a reason for denial.

Hey Roger,

By the time I apply to the UC's I will have a 4.15 GPA. Currently, I have 2120 SAT score. (750 Math, 610 Reading, 760 Writing) My high school is ranked 71 in California. My extracurriculars consists of
Boyscouts, YMCA Volunteer Coach, Key Club, Ryman Arts Program, and around 20 hours of other miscellaneous activities. I've also worked at a cafe and had a summer internship at the Quest Nutrition Media Department. I plan to take Biology and Math 2 Subject Tests and score at least 700 on them.

Do you think I have a good shot at getting into UCSD?

And I would like to major in Computer Science, but should I go in as undeclared?

I'm worried because I've been hearing about people with around the same stats as mine get surprisingly rejected from Davis.

Thanks!

Roger: I don’t know anything about UCSD, sorry! It sounds like you’re a good student though, and UCSD should be glad to have you.

Hi Roger, I have a 2310 SAT and around a 3.6 Unweighted and 4.2 W GPA (uncapped) with 6 AP courses, and 3 honors courses. I am a junior and instate at a top 500 high school (top 100 in STEM). I have 800s on Physics and Math2 SAT2's. And I've been on robotics club and did some sports. Do you think I have good enough stats for Berkeley EECS or Berkeley L&S CS. Does my stats compare with the profile of EECS or L&S CS applicants at Berkeley.

Roger: I don’t usually ask other people what their high school GPA or SAT scores were. But I think your unweighted GPA is sort of low. Even with a full load of AP courses, there are tons and tons of applicants that can get very close to a 4.0. Are you counting your freshman year grades in that GPA? (I hear that the UC’s don’t look at freshmen year grades anymore.) Otherwise, you’ve got a great SAT score, and nice job with the SAT2’s and extracurriculars!

I got accepted into UCSD! I applied for an Mechanical Engineering/Aerospace Engineering major but got put in into my alt. major of Physics. My GPA was only 4.04 at the time I applied, and my SAT score was 1720. My GPA now is 4.17 but I don't think it matters much. To all people, there's more to just GPA's and SAT/ACT scores. Don't stress and have faith, especially if you have lots of volunteer and extracurricular activities under your belt and one hell of a Personal Statement!

Roger: Congrats!

Hey Roger!
I recently got rejected from UC Davis for Computer Science. I have a 4.1 UC GPA (3.83 UW) 31 ACT( 31 E, 34 M, 30R, 27S) and a ACT 32 superscored. I am instate and a girl, ive taken 8 APs/Honors which are spread out evenly in all courses but more in STEM and i have a math 2 score of 770 along with strong ECs and what i thought were good essays. I dont really understand how i got rejected considering I got into better out of state schools for computer science like purdue and UIUC and I come from a pretty well ranked and competitive public high school in California. Given all of this, what are my chances now in UCSD, UCB, and UCLA- the schools i really want to get into and attend. My confidence is really shaken up omg.
Thanks!

Roger: Maybe they rejected you because you’re overqualified for Computer Science at UC Davis? Did you take the SAT? I’ve heard the ACT is more common on the East Coast than the West Coast. I think you should have a good shot at any of those 3 schools.

Ridiculous! My gpa of 3.74 was deemed "extremely low" relative to my 2320 SAT.
Well, I am taking differential equations, and 6 other university courses. A 3.74 is an A- average.

Roger, check your facts.

Students, ignore this absurdity and focus on your strengths. Computer analysis are irrelevant and disheartening.

Hi Roger! I am really hoping to get into UCLA for MIMG - microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics. In a general view of this major, based coursework and the level of concept that would deviate from the practical applications in everyday life, how hard is microbiology in a scale of 1 - 10, 10 being difficult? Or how difficult is it in your OWN opinion? I will not be influenced by your opinion or response regarding the level of difficulty.
Thanks!!!

Roger: Hi Cathcart! I don’t know a thing about microbiology at UCLA. I hope you found this website useful, but I’m neither a biology major nor a UCLA student nor a college counselor. I just like making websites, and I happened to apply to the UC’s a few years ago. I hope you’ll be able to find your answers elsewhere!

Hi Roger, I'm an out-of-state applicant who has taken all honors classes (the highest of three levels offered at my high school.) Can I count 8 semesters of honors classes or only the 4 semesters of AP classes I've taken? I have 22 A's and 2 B's and applying to UCLA.

Roger: For out of state students, it looks like the UC’s only give honors status to AP and IB courses, and not to school-designated honors courses (source).

Hey Roger,

My GPA is 4.15 and I have got 23 in ACT.Big difference in GPA and ACT Score. what are my chances in UCSD,UCSB and UCI.Any Idea?? Will ACT hurt my chances?? I have got lots of EC's, Work Experience and Online courses.

Hi Roger
Thanks for your calculator .
For GPA
I have put 18 A ,7 B 8 for UC approved Honor courses.
My GPA comes out 4.04.
But when I put 21 A , 7 B for 8 for UC approved Honor Courses .I am still getting 4.04.

3 community course I am taking at community college this summer.
Let me know the reason for this .
Thanks .

Roger: The answers are correct. In the case of 18 A’s, your GPA would be 4.040. In the case of 21 A’s, your GPA would be 4.036 (which rounds up to 4.04).

Hi Roger,
Do you know if there are similar calculators like this one for the California State Universities? I can't seem to find any online. You should make more calculators like this one for different colleges; I'm sure many people will find them helpful. Thanks for the calculator, I thought it was really nice. :)

Roger: I haven’t seen any others. Most colleges don’t release very detailed statistics about admissions (maybe because it’d make the admissions process seem too mechanical?) But if they did, it’d be a lot easier to make more calculators like this one.

Hi I am a junior in high school I have a 4.5 academic GPA and a 4.2 UC GPA, I am in the top 5% of my school with a 2130 SAT score and I have my AA degree in liberal arts and I am captain of the Girls varsity tennis team and have been on it for three going to be four years I am also the Vice President of Red Cross and President of a Global outreach club I also volunteer at the hospital, tutor little kids, and I play the piano. Do you think that I could get into UCLA or UCSD?

Hi Roger,

Please give me advice for building my application. I have around 3.7 UW GPA, got like 6 B's with 6 AP courses and 3 honors courses since sophomore year. My school is really competitive and is instate. My weighted comes out to be about 4.2-4.3, 4.1-4.2 UCW GPA. I have a strong interest of engineering and computer science and have taken the hardest math and science classes and got a perfect score on SAT Math 2 and am getting my physics score soon too. I have been part of debate, FBLA, robotics, math, and engineering clubs. I am planning to do internships at companies/colleges and other extracurriculars. I am also planning to do a semester of college during senior year (I am a junior). What additional points in my application could help increase my chances of getting into the same program as you. What activities would you suggest to increase my chances at UC Berkeley EECS? Please tell me what you did and guide me to get into EECS. I am an instate Asian male currently. Would a good SAT score make a significant difference to my chances or would I still not be good enough?

roger i need your help. im forsure going to have a 3.4 at the end of the year. if i show colleges that i took college courses at a community college, can that help (For UCSB/SD)?

roger u loyal

I feel like this is not accurate. There are people out there that have a 3.5 gpa with great uc personal statements. I dont why I look at this calaculator. It made me kind of lose my hopes of getting into the school I want.

Hi Roger!
Could you update this program so that New SAT scores can be inputted? It comes out in March and even though this program uses old data, I still find it very useful.
Thank you!

Hi, Roger. I may be wrong, but I believe the University of California includes any IB classes in the GPA calculation as per this link: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/q-and-a/calculating-gpa/. I may be wrong, but you might want to check this out. The U of C seems to be indifferent to all IB classes (HL or SL).

Roger: Hi Sam, great question! It’s only recently that the UC’s started considering IB/SL courses as honors courses, whereas this data is from 2009, when they were not considered honors courses. Either way, I think a lot of applicants should be able to get the full 8 semesters of honors courses with or without their SL courses.

This is very helpful.

Please help me I got a 2.7 for my semester I am a sophomore my freshman year I had a sub 3.0 as well my dream college is UCLA can you please give me some advice for the future i know it starts with improving my gpa. Please help me do you think if I get my gpa up for these next upcoming semester in high school my chance of getting admitted would go up.

I really like this calculator! the whole mathematical modeling thing is really cool :)

Hey Roger! I am an instate Asian Indian female (from a competitive and well ranked high school) I have a 3.83 UW Gpa and a 4.1 W GPA and about 7 year long APs by the end of High School and with a 31 on the ACT. What are my chances where for Computer Science?

Hi, I really love your calculator. I find it so fascinating that you were able to create this. Since it's outdated, how accurate can you say it is when using it for this upcoming school year?

Also, I was sort of playing around with the calculator and noticed some weird results. For instance, I put down a 4.23 GPA and a 1640 SAT and got a "holy smokes" for all schools except berkeley and LA, but when I tried putting a 2200 SAT and a 3.7 GPA, the results were very low, like San Diego was only a 30%.

Roger: I don’t know about the other schools, but at Berkeley, I feel like the quality of freshmen has stayed about the same over the last four years. You might see weird results like that sometimes, because there aren’t many students who get a very high GPA and a low SAT score or vice versa. The “holy smokes” result just means that the model has reached its limit and can’t provide a meaningful answer. Like most statistical models, this calculator gives the best answers when the inputs are near the middle.

Hi Roger,
How recent is the information your using to create the statistics? I'm worried that they might be a little outdated.

Thanks

Roger: The data is from 2009. The UC Statfinder program was shut down soon after and there is no more publicly available data with the same granularity that it provided.

What exactly is a "Holy Smokes"? A 4.28 will give me a below average for Berkeley but a 4.29 will give me a "Holy Smokes"

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.

Hi Rogerhub, I commented a few days ago with my test scores and stuff and some people I know found my comment; is their anyway you can take it down? I included my email in the "Your email" section so please contact me. Thank you.

Roger: Sure, just did that.

Got a Holy Smokes: 34 ACT 4.25 GPA Bio Major
UCLA straight up rejected me

:')

Roger: Sorry to hear that!

Roger you don't know shit you hardly answer any questions

Roger: Sorry if you don’t find this useful. I’m a computer programmer. I actually don’t know anything about getting into college, except that I applied to college in 2012 and remember a couple of things from back then. I’m not a college counselor or an admissions officer or anything like that, but everybody seems to assume I am. I’m good at writing computer programs and wrangling data, that’s it. But if you’re looking for college advice, I don’t have much to offer.