Major : Psychology
UC Weighted GPA - 4.45
UC Unweighted GPA - 3.79
Schedule:
Sophomore -
Honors Anatomy / Physiology
Honors Algebra 2 / Trig
Community College - Computer Science
(Bunch of other regular classes)
Junior-
AP Psychology
AP Language and Composition
AP Computer Science
AP Physics 1
Honors Pre-Calc
Community College - US History
Community College - Biology 106
Community College - Spanish 101
Community College - Political Science 150
Community College - Spanish 102
Community College - Philosophy
Community College - Health
(Yes, Junior year was torture…)
Senior -
6 AP classes with a few more community college classes
Total UC honor semesters - 22
SAT (old version) : 2150
Volunteer Hours: Only junior year. 200 hours.
EC: Cross Country / Track only Sophomore year, but quit junior year (which actually looks really bad)
NHS junor year
CSF both years
Treasurer of Animal Rights, both years
Please chance me for
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
You are a competitive applicant based on your course rigor, GPA and test scores. Beyond your stats, there is no way to determine how the subjective portion of your application (EC’s and essays) will be received by admissions. You should definitely apply and hope for the best. Good Luck.
You’re academically competitive for all these universities, but your extracurricular activities are lacking. UC Berkeley is probably a reach, and UCLA might be a low reach. You’re probably a match for UCSD, though.
@Gumbymom @AmbitiousWalrus
Thank you so much for your responses! A lot of stress was lifted off of me. And yes my excurricular is lacking. I do not have a varsity sport, in fact I quit my sport junior year, which makes it look like I couldn’t manage my time.
yeah I agree w/ the other dude. Academics are pretty good but extra credits are not as solid. Still, I think you’re competitive. how in the world did you manage that many community colleges? lol
@heeeyitschin
I took as many college courses as possible because I only took two honor courses during my sophomore year. most of my peers have 2 APs 2 honors their sophomore year. so in order to compensate for that I killed myself junior year. And I didn’t focus on extracurriculars because I heard that Course rigor and gpa is much more important than the extracurriculars for the UCs. hopefully the community service kinda makes up for it, and my well rounded Ness makes up for it. Any more thoughts would be deeply appreciated!
The one thing lacking in your resume is your ECs and your leadership seems undeveloped. However, none of this will matter if you incorporate it in your essay. Have you already applied or is this in preparation for next year?
Good luck in either case!
@jrstress18
Thank you for your valuable input. I think you are right about my lack of extracurricular and leadership.
I deeply appreciate how you mentioned that if I can write a very good essay, it won’t matter as much.
Luckily, I have not applied yet, and this is preparation for next year. Do you have any recommendations on how to properly incorporate this problem onto my essay?
Also, I was wondering if I should participate in a summer program that requires me to travel to a college and contribute to a research with many other bright students. I have heard that colleges do not find "pay"ed extracurricular impressive, but maybe it is better than nothing? There are a few other summer programs provided by the UCs which is much less costly. Perhaps I can participate in these over the summer for a little more leadership development.
Any other thoughts would be deeply appreciated!
The essay really has to come from you. Too much direction and outside guidance will lead to an inauthentic sounding piece and admissions officers will pick up on that. Focus on why you were drawn to such a rigorous course load, even seeking community college classes, rather than participating in high school extracurriculars. If you can draw on a passion for academia, the essay writes itself.
Assisting with research especially linked to a college is always a great experience; I’d recommend it even without the admissions benefits. Don’t worry so much about the fact that its "pay"ed. Colleges care more about what you gained from the experience. However, for someone so entrenched in scholastic activity, assisting research does little to round out your app.
My final thought is a question that you NEED answer for the UC personal statement. How does it all connect? You don’t have a focused area of study for your courses and the only club that gives a hint of where your interest lies is the Animal Rights club. Keep in mind, your transcript will show your academic success. Draw on something else for the essay.
@jrstress18
I could see how I can take advantage of my rigorous course load, since that’s one of my main strengths. You mentioned, “If you can draw on a passion for academia, the essay writes itself”. That’s actually pretty clever, I never thought about “passion” that way.
I have actually been really passionate about self-improvement. I was exposed to famous self-help books because I volunteer in the library. I also watch a lot of youtube videos about self-improvement and read a lot of Quora articles. But this approach might be weak because I don’t have any evidence. For example, if someone was passionate about horseback riding, they probably have medals and recognitions. I don’t have anything like that. Perhaps I can try writing Quora articles and get a lot of followers or something? (lol idk).
About researching at colleges - it makes sense that colleges care more about what you gained from the experience rather than the fact that it is "pay"ed. I’ll participate in it for my personal benefit, and who knows, maybe it will give me something to write about.
To answer your question - The problem with me is, I matured a little bit late. If you look at my Sophomore year, I only have three honor courses. I didn’t even realize the importance of course rigor at that point.
It seems like a lot my peers who have outstanding extracurriculars have it because their parents helped them when they were young… This is part of the reason why I don’t have any extracurricular… A couple months ago, I was furious at my parents because they didn’t give me any attention when I was little (I didn’t shout at them. I was just mad inside 
). I had to do everything for myself. This is why my courses are not focused in one area. I was aimlessly working hard.
I matured A LOT junior year, so I started acting responsible for my own success.
I am allowed to take three more community college classes this summer. Maybe I can take classes that are related to psychology, since the grades of summer classes before senior year are still reported? Also, my major does not necessarily have to be Psychology. I am still open minded about other possible majors. I understand that the engineering field would be hard though. My stats are “competitive” but not outstanding enough to qualify for those degrees, especially since they are UCs.
Perhaps I can get into a very easy major such as liberal arts, and switch (backdoor) into a major that is a little more useful?
Sorry about the long text.
To my knowledge, Psychology isn’t an impacted major so don’t worry about a switcheroo. Another thing you shouldn’t worry about is your course rigor. You clearly exceed the UC admitted honors course number (according to 2015 freshman profile).
It seems like you have everything sorted out. Just please don’t mention your parents unless there was/is a serious domestic issue in your family dynamic.
Good luck and congratulations on all you have accomplished.
@jrstress18
Yeah, that’s probably a bad idea haha.
Thanks for everything. I will come back and announce the results in the future.