<p>I have a 4.0 as a history major after one semester. Even if I end my time at CCC with a high or perfect GPA, will a lack of ECs hurt me considerably? I've heard that while ECs are important, UCs care most about transferable GPA and completion of prereqs.</p>
<p>thanks.</p>
<p>Your GPA is the most important factor. EC’s won’t play a huge role, but better to have some if you’re aiming for UCLA and Berkeley. I know for sure that UCSD never cares about EC’s if you’re a transfer.</p>
<p>Yeah, I figured. Cal and LA are my #1 and 2. I tend to be a pretty lazy person, so I guess that’ll have to change. lol :[</p>
<p>If you have a 4.0 it doesn’t matter, unless you’re applying to HAAS and you’re not.</p>
<p>Thanks. Maybe I’ll still try a few ECs, though, in case my gpa drops.</p>
<p>it has little to do with compensating with ones GPA. It has to do with becoming familiar with the educational system and leaving your lil bubble to see what engaging in a civil society is all about.</p>
<p>Yup UCSD doesnt care. But im a history major tooo! Its tough to find ECs that pertain to our actual major but there are a bunch others you can do. For example, where do you want to take your history major? Teaching? Become a teacher aide, or tutor. Law? Find an internship with a willing law firm, etc. Amazing historian with a PH.D? Well, that one is kind of tough but definitely research your favorite time period on your own, delve as deep as you can into history through books and other sources, and then once you transfer nab all the best research positions!
Or if you have no idea yet, you can just volunteer at a shelter or get a job until you figure out what you want to do…
But your gpa comes first along with your major pre-reqs so don’t take anything on that will jeapordize them. :]</p>
<p>Well if one wants to become a history teacher they should go to a CSU then. It is true that upper division will start you honing in on a certain period so good to have some idea what period interests you most but undergrad research work is rare and limited. The UC’s want you to become strong enough in a certain period so you can start writing for their journal publications or publishing a book used for or by peer reviews or curriculums when get to grad school. </p>
<p>Babysitting, churchwork and shelterwork do not count as traditional EC’s and kind of chuckled at. Neither does interning with a law firm unless your main focus is the history of the Constitution which is a small branch of history. Another small but interesting branch is History of Science (and technology) if you are into that stuff. </p>
<p>Noteworthy volunteer based internships for history majors are generally at museums. You can be a tour guide if are good, personable, and know how to tell a story in a amusing educational manner. There are all kinds of museums like art museums, tech ones, maritime ones etc where you will learn archiving principles and histography. </p>
<p>One of the cooler jobs imo you can do as a history major is work for the NPS or BLM. You’d want to understand your ‘Historical Preservation’ principles and the fed forms and process. The ones that take Interior Design and Arch classes tend to get paid more since can handle more of the historical research process themselves to create accurate exhibitions.</p>
<p>I would like to teach middle school social studies, but why would a CSU be favored over a top-tier college by prospective employers? In the end, though, I want to write fiction. Teaching would be something fun to do that pays the bills.</p>
<p>go to a UC.
and writing fiction! that sounds so cool. will you minor or double major in creative writing or something of the sort?</p>
<p>probably not. but yeah, my life goal is to win the Pulitzer Prize!</p>
<p>LOL i can smell the ambition from here. smells kinda good 
hmm maybe you should try to start your own fiction club or something, or i wonder if you can write “Creative Writing In My Spare Time” for your EC on your app…
i LOVE historical fiction. love love love</p>
<p>smells more like putrid teen spirit. Briceis, for what you want to do, I’d suggest CSU Chico in nor cal or Northridge (or fullerton) in so cal. Teens who come here to play the prestige game like to whore what school they want to attend or currently attending over how the system is set up. Your employer(s) (i.e. universities, museums, societies, associations or any gov agency) already understand these issues. The majority go to state then a uni for grad school and are not looked down on, in fact are considered more in the know. </p>
<p>CSU’s are designed for what you want to do. In fact, CSU’s have programs that will potential pay/write off as much as 25-40+k of your educational debt for working towards becoming a future credentialed social science/history major and educator. In return you will have to do at least a year of volunteer services (1080 hours) assisting teachers at low income middle school social study classes. Its a good deal and very rewarding in regards to exposure and experience you won’t get at a UC because of the way the system is laid out.</p>
<p>Well, that all does sound great. As much as it may not matter, though, I’d rather attend Cal or UCLA just for the prestige. It may sound shallow, but if I can get in there, I’m going to go. :p</p>
<p>Plus, I doubt going to Cal will actually hurt me. If anything, I’ll probably receive a stronger education (why else would it be harder to get into?), considering I later decide to try law school or graduate work.</p>
<p>keep in mind that i’m still a fickle teenager.</p>
<p>you dont need to defend your choices/ambitions to anyone, briceies. be as fickle as you want, but i think its awesome how your life goal (as of now, lol) is to win a pulitzer prize. that cant be said about many people, especially teenagers! but good luck finding an EC!</p>
<p>oh brother not the public prestige (which is based upon accomplishments) argument again, good grief. Well at least you admit you are shallow, as most stubborn teens who never listen and instead waste their youth on vain pursuits generally are, but will realize your naive ideals and stupidity later on. Doing what is systematically established ass backwards will only put you into greater debt and on a longer path. Best of luck, you’ll need it.</p>
<p>^you strike me as a gigantic douch.e, good job trying to shoot down someone’s dreams.</p>
<p>^yes.
10 char</p>
<p>Golden coming from a person who puts down UCSC students but flunked out then wants to be a poli sci major at Cal yet disdains politics (except for his own personal opinion of course) and society in general. A Poli Sci major with self esteem and confidence issues using juvenile memes…what tha *#$&…thx for the morning chuckle mate!</p>
<p>Good one, you sure got me pegged. I didn’t flunk out of anything, I stopped going to a summer course (anyone can sign up for these) 6 years ago, so my incomplete lapsed to an F. Likewise, how do you get that I have a “disdain” for politics? You know what, never mind, I don’t have to defend myself to a punk like you. You remind me of the kid who always interrupts a class with an answer to a question that wasn’t asked, only because you crave the acknowledgment that you’re right. But in reality, everyone resents you, because it is painfully obvious how alone you are. Perhaps you are fkn ugly, and thus had to bury your face in a book all the time rather than learn some real life skills. Maybe your parents didn’t love you, or more likely, they spoiled you rotten, so you walk around thinking you are better than the rest of us.</p>
<p>It really doesn’t matter what happened to ■■ you up so badly, but my point is you come and **** all over this guy’s dream, and with bad advice, no less. You don’t know this person’s financial situation, so if they want to go to a more expensive school (and an unquestionably superior one) then right on. The real problem in your posts in this thread is your lack of tact… you don’t know how to talk to people. Perhaps you have a mild case of Asperger’s? That would actually explain a lot, and if so, my apologies. But otherwise, quit thread crapping, your opinion is worthless.</p>
<p>PS There’s nothing wrong with UCSC, but there also isn’t much right with it either. But I’m a local, so I view the school in a different light. Also, I’m more than confident in my abilities, and I only have a marginal disdain for society :). Cheers!</p>