Scholarship Requirement

• Subject Requirement
     › A-G Courses
• Scholarship Requirement
• Examination Requirement

The Scholarship Requirement defines the grade point average (GPA) students must attain in the required "a-g" subjects and the scores they must earn on the SAT Subject Tests and ACT Assessment or SAT Reasoning Test to be eligible for admission to the University. The University uses an Eligibility Index — a combination of GPA and test scores — to determine if students meet this requirement.

The minimum GPA for California residents is 3.0 (3.4 for nonresidents).

About the Grade Point Average

All campuses use the same method of calculating a preliminary grade point average for purposes of determining an applicant's UC eligibility. The GPA is calculated based on all "a-g" subjects completed in grades 10 and 11 — including summer sessions — by assigning point values to the grades a student earns, totaling the points, and dividing the total by the number of "a-g" course units. Points are assigned as follows: A=4 points, B=3 points, C=2 points, D=1 point and F=0 points. Courses taken in the ninth grade can be used to meet the Subject Requirement if the student earns a grade of C or better, but they will not be used to calculate the GPA.

The University assigns extra grade points for up to four yearlong courses of University-certified honors-level, Advanced Placement, and/or designated International Baccalaureate courses taken in grades 10, 11 and 12: A=5 points, B=4 points, C=3 points. College-level courses in the "a-g"college preparatory subjects that are transferable to the University are also assigned honors grade points. A maximum of four semesters of honors courses taken in grade 10 are assigned honors grade points. Grades of D are not assigned extra honors points. (Extra points will be awarded to 10th graders only when they take courses that have been certified by the University as honors-level courses.) At the end of the 12th grade, campuses verify an applicant's UC eligibility based on the final high school record.

In addition to the preliminary GPA used for establishing UC eligibility, campuses may look at an applicant's academic record in a variety of ways during the selection process. These GPA variations may include a fully weighted GPA that includes all honors grade points earned in grades 10 and 11 (this is the GPA used to rank students at each high school for purposes of identifying ELC students) and an unweighted GPA in which no honors grade points are included in the GPA calculation.

Semester Grades: A student's GPA is based on semester grades, unless the high school gives only year grades.

Intensive or Accelerated Courses: Grades earned in intensive or accelerated high school courses are treated the same as any other grades on the student's transcript. Any instructions or recommendations to the contrary are disregarded.

Repeating Courses: Courses used to satisfy the "a-g" requirements in which the student earns D or F grades must be repeated with grades of C or higher. In a small number of instances, as described below, the D or F may be cleared through other means than repeating the course. The repeated grades are used in calculating the Scholarship Requirement GPA. Each course in which a grade of D or F has been received may be repeated only once. If a student repeats a course used to satisfy the "a-g" requirements in which he or she originally earned a grade of C or higher, the repeated grade will not be used in calculating the Scholarship Requirement GPA.

D and F Grades, Pass, Credit and Incompletes: In calculating a student's Scholarship Requirement GPA, the University follows the rules listed below regarding use of grades of D, F, Pass, Credit and Incomplete. Special rules regarding use of D and F grades earned in chemistry, languages other than English and mathematics are described in the following subsection.

• Courses used to satisfy the "a-g" requirements taken in the ninth grade or earlier in which D or F grades are earned are treated as subject omissions. As with all ninth-grade courses, the grades are not included in calculating the Scholarship Requirement GPA.
• Courses used to satisfy the "a-g" requirements taken for the first time in the 10th-12th grades, in which D or F grades are earned, are treated as subject omissions and scholarship deficiencies. If the courses are not repeated, the D or F grades are used in calculating the Scholarship Requirement GPA.
• Courses used to satisfy the "a-g" requirements may not be taken Pass/Fail or Credit/No Credit.
• Courses used to satisfy the "a-g" requirements in which the student earns an Incomplete are treated as subject omissions.

D and F Grades in Languages Other Than English and Mathematics:

In two areas only — mathematics (c) and language other than English (e) and mathematics
— completion of a higher-level course with a C or higher validates an earlier grade of D or F in lower-level courses. If a student ddoes not repeat the course in which a D or an F was earned, and uses a higher-level course to validate the lower-level course, the grades for both the lower-level and higher-level course will be used in calculating the GPA.

• Languages Other Than English: A grade of C or higher in a higher-level course validates a D or an F in a lower-level course in the same language. Please note that validation is not the same as repeating a course to clear the initial D or F grade.
• Mathematics: D or F grades earned in algebra or geometry are treated as "c" requirement subject omissions and scholarship deficiencies. The student may clear subject omissions and scholarship deficiencies by earning grades of C or higher in appropriate, more advanced courses in college-preparatory mathematics. For example, a D grade in the first semester of elementary algebra is cleared if the student earns a grade of C or higher in the second semester of elementary algebra. D or F grades earned in elementary algebra are cleared if the student earns a grade of C or higher in intermediate or advanced algebra. D or F grades earned in geometry or intermediate/advanced algebra are cleared if the student earns a grade of C or higher in trigonometry. Both grades are used in calculating the Scholarship Requirement GPA.

Test Score Total

The University calculates a student's test score total as follows:

For students who took the SAT Reasoning Test: Convert their highest scores in critical reading, math and writing from a single sitting and their two highest SAT Subject Test scores from two different subject areas to equivalent UC Scores (see the SAT Test Score Translation table, below left). Then add the five UC Scores to produce the UC Score Total (critical reading + math+ writing + subject test 1 + subject test 2).

For students who took the ACT plus its Writing exam: Convert their highest math, reading, science and combined English/writing scores from a single sitting to equivalent UC Scores (see the ACT Test Score Translation table, below right). To give the ACT writing component equal weight to the SAT writing exam, multiply the sum of the converted math, reading and science scores by two-thirds, then add the converted English/writing score. Add this subtotal to the two highest SAT Subject Test scores from two different subject areas, which are also converted to equivalent UC Scores, to produce the UC Score Total ([math + reading + science] x 0.667 + English/writing + subject test 1 + subject test 2).