UC college admits from the Big3

[Anonymous]

Agreed - having no AP doesn't help! UC will count those A- as 4 but you will get zero AP or honors bumps from a Sidwell transcript.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed - having no AP doesn't help! UC will count those A- as 4 but you will get zero AP or honors bumps from a Sidwell transcript.

I'm PP above - using the UC data link it's not looking like MoCo W schools have any advantage with admissions despite having real APs that will weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if your kid or any you know were admitted to Cal, UCLA, etc from a Big3, what do you think put them over the edge?
I know these are hard admits under the private school paradigm of few APs, etc,

I don’t know any students at my children’s school (Sidwell) who talk about attending a UC. I’m sure there are some, it just hasn’t reached my ears. Generally speaking, I don’t think state schools are popular among Sidwell kids.

Sidwell do students apply to UC schools. The ones we knew who were accepted to UCLA/Cal were usually also accepted to Ivy type schools or had other hooks (able to include in essays about family heritage). Other high stats students were rejected/WL from Cal/UCLA.

**Sigh**
I didn’t say Sidwell students don’t apply to UC schools. I clearly said, “I’m sure there are some [students who apply to UCs], it just hasn’t reached my ears.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. My kid wants to attend school in California and has grades that seem to be strong for UC admissions (lots of A minuses but no Bs--so a 4.0 under the UC GPA calculation) so in theory will be a stronger applicant under this grading paradigm than for many private universities.

But the UCs will not be giving him any credit for rigor, which probably matters more. A minuses likely not enough for USC these days unless at a school where no one gets As, because the acceptance rate is now below 10 percent, but it’s worth a try. Some like Santa Clara as a likely. I’d go out and look before applying. The campuses are underwhelming for the price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. My kid wants to attend school in California and has grades that seem to be strong for UC admissions (lots of A minuses but no Bs--so a 4.0 under the UC GPA calculation) so in theory will be a stronger applicant under this grading paradigm than for many private universities.

If your child attends a Big 3, they are also a strong candidate for USC with those grades. Stanford is a reach for most, so they may as well try. Pepperdine and Oxy are good safeties.

yes, my kid is at the Big3. Lots of A minus grades, no Bs of any type. Rising senior, high rigor. Thought that UC schools might be good as they don't calculate minuses, etc.

Big 3 with no B’s—as in Sidwell, STA or NCS? If so, go for it! All they can say is no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if your kid or any you know were admitted to Cal, UCLA, etc from a Big3, what do you think put them over the edge?
I know these are hard admits under the private school paradigm of few APs, etc,

I don’t know any students at my children’s school (Sidwell) who talk about attending a UC. I’m sure there are some, it just hasn’t reached my ears. Generally speaking, I don’t think state schools are popular among Sidwell kids.

My son applied from Sidwell a couple of cycles ago. Denied. The problem is that a Sidwell GPA will never cut it in a sea of 4.8888888s, and GPA is literally the only thing UCs screen for now. That, and I think poverty.

Michigan, Virginia and Wisconsin "get" the Sidwell situation. UCs and Texas do not. So, Ann Arbor is a more reliable admit than UC Santa Barbara, oddly.

UCs are not highly sought after by Sidwell students. That said, there are 5 c/o ‘24 students going to UCs (1 each to Cal, UCSD, and UCSC). The two students who are going to UCLA are recruited athletes.

Sidwell seems to send a handful of students (including non recruited athletes) to UCs every year. It’s not an impossible admit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. My kid wants to attend school in California and has grades that seem to be strong for UC admissions (lots of A minuses but no Bs--so a 4.0 under the UC GPA calculation) so in theory will be a stronger applicant under this grading paradigm than for many private universities.

But the UCs will not be giving him any credit for rigor, which probably matters more. A minuses likely not enough for USC these days unless at a school where no one gets As, because the acceptance rate is now below 10 percent, but it’s worth a try. Some like Santa Clara as a likely. I’d go out and look before applying. The campuses are underwhelming for the price.

Lots of Big 3 students are admitted to USC. I think those schools have an overall higher admit rate to USC, than the general population. That school loves rich private school students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if your kid or any you know were admitted to Cal, UCLA, etc from a Big3, what do you think put them over the edge?
I know these are hard admits under the private school paradigm of few APs, etc,

I don’t know any students at my children’s school (Sidwell) who talk about attending a UC. I’m sure there are some, it just hasn’t reached my ears. Generally speaking, I don’t think state schools are popular among Sidwell kids.

My son applied from Sidwell a couple of cycles ago. Denied. The problem is that a Sidwell GPA will never cut it in a sea of 4.8888888s, and GPA is literally the only thing UCs screen for now. That, and I think poverty.

Michigan, Virginia and Wisconsin "get" the Sidwell situation. UCs and Texas do not. So, Ann Arbor is a more reliable admit than UC Santa Barbara, oddly.

UCs are not highly sought after by Sidwell students. That said, there are 5 c/o ‘24 students going to UCs (1 each to Cal, UCSD, and UCSC). The two students who are going to UCLA are recruited athletes.

Sidwell seems to send a handful of students (including non recruited athletes) to UCs every year. It’s not an impossible admit.

And yet Sidwell seniors send in close to 30 applications per year with only a few acceptances to Berkeley/UCLA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if your kid or any you know were admitted to Cal, UCLA, etc from a Big3, what do you think put them over the edge?
I know these are hard admits under the private school paradigm of few APs, etc,

I don’t know any students at my children’s school (Sidwell) who talk about attending a UC. I’m sure there are some, it just hasn’t reached my ears. Generally speaking, I don’t think state schools are popular among Sidwell kids.

My son applied from Sidwell a couple of cycles ago. Denied. The problem is that a Sidwell GPA will never cut it in a sea of 4.8888888s, and GPA is literally the only thing UCs screen for now. That, and I think poverty.

Michigan, Virginia and Wisconsin "get" the Sidwell situation. UCs and Texas do not. So, Ann Arbor is a more reliable admit than UC Santa Barbara, oddly.

UCs are not highly sought after by Sidwell students. That said, there are 5 c/o ‘24 students going to UCs (1 each to Cal, UCSD, and UCSC). The two students who are going to UCLA are recruited athletes.

Sidwell seems to send a handful of students (including non recruited athletes) to UCs every year. It’s not an impossible admit.

And yet Sidwell seniors send in close to 30 applications per year with only a few acceptances to Berkeley/UCLA.

Well, I think that’s been explained. They don’t understand the rigor of these schools, and since they are test blind, are looking for kids with extremely high gpas.

[Anonymous]

Another reason fewer kids apply is the UC’s have their own lengthy application and don’t accept the common app. It’s a big undertaking if not interested in more than one UC and due in November. I’d definitely recommend having your kid start working on it this summer if they are applying this fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. My kid wants to attend school in California and has grades that seem to be strong for UC admissions (lots of A minuses but no Bs--so a 4.0 under the UC GPA calculation) so in theory will be a stronger applicant under this grading paradigm than for many private universities.

If your child attends a Big 3, they are also a strong candidate for USC with those grades. Stanford is a reach for most, so they may as well try. Pepperdine and Oxy are good safeties.

yes, my kid is at the Big3. Lots of A minus grades, no Bs of any type. Rising senior, high rigor. Thought that UC schools might be good as they don't calculate minuses, etc.

Big 3 with no B’s—as in Sidwell, STA or NCS? If so, go for it! All they can say is no.

One of these that still has some APs. This kid will end up with 5 APs, and a 4.0 (using the UC grade calculations).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. My kid wants to attend school in California and has grades that seem to be strong for UC admissions (lots of A minuses but no Bs--so a 4.0 under the UC GPA calculation) so in theory will be a stronger applicant under this grading paradigm than for many private universities.

The way the California schools weight and cap, he'll have a 4.0. The 25th - 75th percentile for weighted and capped GPA at UCLA is 4.37-4.74. He'll be at a huge disadvantage GPA wise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if your kid or any you know were admitted to Cal, UCLA, etc from a Big3, what do you think put them over the edge?
I know these are hard admits under the private school paradigm of few APs, etc,

I don’t know any students at my children’s school (Sidwell) who talk about attending a UC. I’m sure there are some, it just hasn’t reached my ears. Generally speaking, I don’t think state schools are popular among Sidwell kids.

My son applied from Sidwell a couple of cycles ago. Denied. The problem is that a Sidwell GPA will never cut it in a sea of 4.8888888s, and GPA is literally the only thing UCs screen for now. That, and I think poverty.

Michigan, Virginia and Wisconsin "get" the Sidwell situation. UCs and Texas do not. So, Ann Arbor is a more reliable admit than UC Santa Barbara, oddly.

UCs are not highly sought after by Sidwell students. That said, there are 5 c/o ‘24 students going to UCs (1 each to Cal, UCSD, and UCSC). The two students who are going to UCLA are recruited athletes.

Sidwell seems to send a handful of students (including non recruited athletes) to UCs every year. It’s not an impossible admit.

And yet Sidwell seniors send in close to 30 applications per year with only a few acceptances to Berkeley/UCLA.

Well, I think that’s been explained. They don’t understand the rigor of these schools, and since they are test blind, are looking for kids with extremely high gpas.

It's not that they don't understand. They are public schools whose mission is to educate kids from California, and particularly kids who might not have other resources. The system is intentionally designed to benefit the students who deserve their California tax dollars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. My kid wants to attend school in California and has grades that seem to be strong for UC admissions (lots of A minuses but no Bs--so a 4.0 under the UC GPA calculation) so in theory will be a stronger applicant under this grading paradigm than for many private universities.

The way the California schools weight and cap, he'll have
a 4.0. The 25th - 75th percentile for weighted and capped GPA at UCLA is 4.37-4.74. He'll be at a huge disadvantage GPA wise.

I think the GPA will be a 4.3 with the APs added in. 10 core classes between Soph and Junior year, 3 are APs.
That gives a GPA of 4.3.

[Anonymous]

Gds is sending I think 5 or so to UCLA + cal this year so somehow they are getting past the weighted thing