<p>Flopsy, a friend of mine was selected to participate in a game similar to Battle Royale that took place in the philipines. He won despite the fact he was given only a calculator and the only other last opponent was given a fairly large knife. He used the calculator to calculate the exact timing of how long it would take for a boulder to fall from a cliff and take out his opponent. </p>
<p>My friend has a 1290/2400 SAT and a 2.4 weighted GPA. He's horrible in almost all academics except for physics, which he studied on his own. He has no real ECs except for the fact he started a fight club in San Jose. He did however, put down the fact he won the Battle Royale competition even though the odds were against him. In fact, his open essay was devoted to telling the story. Needless to say, he was admited to UCLA.</p>
<p>Everyone in this forum is trying to speculate how UCLA weights GPA too highly, or SATs too lowly. This simply isn't true. There are just certain things we just don't know and have to trust UCLA can make the right decision. Like accepting a poor test taking student with a bad GPA but DID win Battle Royale: Phillipines 2005.</p>
<p>You all think UCLA doesn't know how to admit the propper applicants. But when all of you are working at your internships at fancy firms and corporations, you'll feel like idiots when you're crushed by a giant boulder you never saw coming.</p>
<p>FilmmakerJack, I'm sorry, but you lost me with this last post. Frankly, I don't care WHAT else your friend did, a 2.4 weighted GPA does not belong at UCLA! That is just ridiculous! He will NOT be able to cut it, if he couldn't do better than that, and will end up flunking out, having taken the spot from someone who was willing to put in the work and proved it in high school. And 1290 (you're sure it's new SAT, out of 2400???) is no way UCLA material. WHO knows who and has what connection? And that part about trusting UCLA, get real! Certain things we don't know???? Right! They were just overwhelmed, and probably didn't even look at half of what was submitted. This playing god is NOT okay! It would be very easy to convert everything to a numbers system, and then everyone would know why someone got in. Exceptions, yes, judgment, yes, when the call is a close one, but to accept your friend makes them look foolish. What kind of a contest is that that gives one person a calculator and the other a knife? And being stupid enough to put yourself in that situation should be enough to disqualify you from one of the top schools in the country.</p>
<p>UCLA really look for strong EC's. strong is not being a member of 10 different clubs. they want kids who have really dedicated their time to a few club/organizations/sports. It seems poeple with high Gpas/Sats are getting rejected because they simply dont have good EC's. you may think you have good EC's but being a member of CSF (where at my schoool there are 500 members...really isnt that great). They want kids who have started clubs, developed programs at their schools, class presidents, activity organizers. At the same time you need to be able to write about it. I got into UCLA with a low SAT score (1930), but a strong GPA (4.5)...but what really got me in was the fact i presented my EC's in a good way. listing wont help, but writing about how they have affected or influenced your life. The impact they have on you. </p>
<p>if you are appealing, include in your letter why your GPA is low or SAT score isnt the best. for one of my essays i wrote about how i wasnt the best test taker, though i could excel in the class room. be honest and truthful... people always try and make themselves look soooo good on their apps. just be honest. If you have a high GPA high SAT score, talk about how you had to make sacrifices to keep your high grades and scores. </p>
<p>theses are just my ramblings...haha. good luck with everyone who is appealing. even though the appeal rate is low, you could be those few people that get it!</p>
<p>"Flopsy, a friend of mine was selected to participate in a game similar to Battle Royale that took place in the philipines. He won despite the fact he was given only a calculator and the only other last opponent was given a fairly large knife. He used the calculator to calculate the exact timing of how long it would take for a boulder to fall from a cliff and take out his opponent. "</p>
<p>Uh, what is Battle Royale? Is it like a video game?</p>
How did your friend get admitted to UCLA with a 2.4 weighted GPA? You need at least a 2.90 UC GPA just to qualify for UC admissions... I call shenanigans. :rolleyes:
<p>haha oh my goodness. I'm so sorry you guys. i didn't think anyone would take that post seriously. The truth is that there is no such thing as a competition where students get trapped on an island and compete to kill each other. </p>
<p>The post was satirical; its purpose was two-fold:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>to poke fun at how seemingly ridiculous the UCLA admissions process was this year.</p></li>
<li><p>to point out the fact that UCLA is still UCLA, and that despite how ridiculous the admissions process seems, I'm sure they know what they are doing. No matter how outlandish any university is, no one wants to reject qualified applicants. (the stats we generally talk about don't necessarily denote good qualifications). We obviously only hear the ridiculous cases of acceptance or rejection. (Why would we remember the cases that seemed normal?)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Again, sorry for the post. Props to UCLAari for understanding. All my jokes are for you now if no one else.</p>
<p>post-script: if you're wondering, I was rejected LA last week.</p>
<p>haha actually, a friend of mine is in a fight club in SLO. dead serious. I don't think it's like the fight club in fight club though. I'm pretty sure it's a real wrestling thing.</p>