Unlike for some majors where it would be quite clear, it seems there could be quite a range of opinions on whether work is “major related” for the Business Administration major.
Does this trigger additional scrutiny by the admissions office? How frequently is supporting documentation requested, and what would they like to see?
Thanks for any advice
I have never seen an applicant that was asked to verify their work experience for the Cal state application, but it does not mean it never has happened. You list your EC’s and hours on the honor system so I do not think it will be an issue.
Your HS counselor will tell you that they DO perform random checks. My recommendation is to keep validation records (i.e. paycheck stubs, etc.). To validate “major related” work will most likely require an official memo or job performance report from your supervisor or HR with a position description.
In addition, the best policy is to simply be honest, but don’t be overly restrictive in your assessment of major related or not. There’s lots of room for interpretation and no guidelines have been laid out. Good luck!
You call admissions office and ask. My son did this when applying. The person he talked to made it quite clear that “major related” could be interpreted quite broadly.
I agree it can be interpreted quite broadly and shouldn’t be overly restrictive. But just be careful, as if they do ask for verification, you don’t want to lose your admission slot over a few minor points towards your MCA. For example, I wouldn’t qualify working as a cashier/cook at Burger King translate to ME or IE. However, Business Admin might be stretching it just a tad.
Thanks to everyone for their insight. I just find this question perplexing.** While the 50 point bump looks small, it seems to be worth the equivalent of ~0.1 in GPA, which is like changing 3 B’s to A’s. Likewise, the effort to go from a 1400 (~95%) on the SAT to a 1450 (~98%) is not trivial.
If that bright, college-bound cashier/cook at Burger king helped out their math-challenged supervisor in checking the register receipts, auditing time cards and planning work schedules, I might argue that they got a pretty good taste of business administration for entry level positions. But how to prove this if asked?
I can easily see a kid who cleaned the kennels at a vet office could get the vet to write a note that says “she worked at my vet’s office” and it would be case closed. It seems more complicated if another young person is writing (if they even will) that “she helped with these duties.”
**I know I am overthinking it. I’m a parent BTW who doesn’t want to give bad advice!
I agree, it’s just a really bad question overall. My recommendation (to cover your son/daughter’s b***) is to get his/her boss to sign some type of memo stating what he/she did. That way, 5 months from now, if they do ask (and your kid decides to change jobs, boss leaves, etc), you’ll have your verification ready to go.
“…helped out their math-challenged supervisor in checking the register receipts, auditing time cards and planning work schedules…”
That seems pretty business related to me.