I’m currently a sophomore in high school, and I really need some advice about college. I don’t have anyone I can turn to for guidance, which is why I came here. Right now, I have a 3.5 unweighted GPA and a 4.0 weighted GPA. I’ve been involved in debate for two years. I’m also an outreach officer for an international nonprofit that helps people in need by making and donating food (donated over 20,000 meals so far). In addition, I’m part of a nationally expanding nonprofit for a cancer organization, where I work as a social media manager. I also run a TikTok editing account where I post casual edits for fun, and I’m hoping to grow it and possibly make it look good for college applications.
Academically, I’m an honors and AP student. I’ve taken college classes through dual enrollment, including U.S. History, Political Science (Government), and Economics.
Looking ahead, I plan to:
- Participate in Model UN for two years starting next year
- Continue speech and debate for all four years and hopefully compete at the state level
- Join DECA for two years & hopefully place
- Founder and have an officer role next year in a mental health organization so for 2 years
- Complete two research papers
- Reach around 200 volunteer hours
My goal is to get into a strong UC school, like UCSD. Based on my current trajectory, I expect my UC GPA to be around a 4.16 weighted and 3.76 unweighted.
Do you think this is a solid plan? If I show improvement from my sophomore year and score 5s on my AP exams (such as AP Seminar, AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, AP Human Geography, AP Psychology, and AP Research), would that strengthen my chances? I also think I might be able to become president of the food nonprofit for a year.
Overall, do you think I have a good chance at UCSD if I write strong essays and PIQs? And is there anything else I can do to improve my application and increase my chances?