Do I report multiple theology courses taken throughout high school semesters (5 semesters each with different course content around religion) as a single item under activities/other courses in the UC application or should I report each semester individually?
Also, would it look bad if I utilize all 20 items on the UC activities/awards/other courses/work experience/educational program list even though I have genuinely committed time to each of them. Please advise. Thanks!
@nealspectre -If Theology was an academic class (with credits and grades), as I assume it was, then each semester should be listed separately.
And it won’t “look bad” to list 20 entries in the Activities, etc. section but do be discriminating. For instance, if you played JV soccer in 9th grade only, don’t include it. Or if you went on a climate walk one Saturday afternoon in 10th grade, it shouldn’t be included either.
Hello,
After I submitted my UC app I realized that my Honors English 3/4 grade was inputted wrong!! It was supposed to be sem 1 (A) and sem (B), but there were two As! I’m not sure if it was my own error (even tho I made sure to triple check) or if it was a glitch in the save and continue button? What should I do? I already emailed the uc info email, but I haven’t gotten any response in terms of a “portal” information I’m supposed to recieve? please help I’m freaking out 
@blueink33 -Relax! No need to freak out. It sounds like you’ve already made the appropriate correction already. Did you …
**-Send your email to the UC Application Center at ucinfo@applyUCsupport.net ?
-Include your full name and Application ID number? **
If so, you should receive a confirmation email once your correction has been processed (and don’t expect this to be immediate).
If you don’t hear back in a couple weeks, try again and be sure to save your Sent messages in case you ever have to prove that you submitted a correction.
If you try a second time and STILL get no reply, ask your school counselor to contact UC admissions on your behalf. But I doubt it will come to this. And remember, UC Admissions is being slammed with applications right now, and then there are all the closings (and chaos) at holiday time. So be patient!
Meanwhile try not to stress over this. Lots of people make mistakes on applications even when they’re careful. And as long as you’ve clearly submitted a correction, you’ll be fine.
I did send out the email to ucinfo and the doc email as well (yikes! i don’t know if that might have been too excessive ) Thank you so much for your help!
Hello Sally!
After two years at my old high school, I left to attend a boarding school after I was accepted from a pool of applicants. On the common application, I didn’t quite understand the questions that asks you why you switched schools, and I just wrote that I had left my old school after being accepted into my new one. I realize now that I should have elaborated a bit more on the “why” part… Do colleges place any importance on this section, or is it not that big of a deal in my case?
@SellHill -Not a big deal in your case. Moving from a public high school or local private high school to a boarding school is common practice, and you really don’t need to elaborate on your reasons unless they are atypical ones. Don’t worry about this.
But if you end up having any interviews, you will probably be asked why you made the switch. So it’s a good idea to have a couple reasons in mind. Ideally, at least one will be an academic reason (“I was looking for more challenging classes” or “I was interested in studying Arabic, which my old school didn’t offer”) but non-academic reasons (“I wanted to play on a top hockey team” or even, “There’s been a lot of tension at home since my dad lost his job”) are okay, too.
Hi Sally,
I’ve submitted my common app to 2 schools and noticed that I accidentally entered my reading score in place of my math score in the sat self reporting section, causing it to be 10 points higher than the actual score. I’ve sent official score reports to the schools and brief emails to my admissions counselors. Is there anything to worry about?
@Cjhastings322 -As long as you’ve emailed admission officers to report the mistake and sent official score reports, you’ve got nothing to fear (except maybe fear itself). 
Ideally, you’ve saved those emails in case you ever have to prove you made the change … but it seems unlikely that it would come to this.
Hi Sally- on my UC app, I mistakenly reported that I donated some amount of money to charity through one of my ECs. In reality though, I’d entered this information when the donation was about to be made and we ended up waiting to collect more money before making the donation. So no money has been donated yet. I have emailed UC saying this, but will this reflect badly on my application?
@themaskedbandicoot -Don’t worry. This will have no impact on your application.
Thank you! I was a bit stressed about this one. And thank you for taking the time to attend to all our queries!
Hi again, there’s something else I want to clarify. So a lot of the volunteering I’ve done was self-initiated: I rounded up friends and we went to plant trees, things like that. The only means through which I have documented these activities is through our social media, and I’ve included links to this in my application. Do you think these would still come under scrutiny? I’m a bit concerned as to what I could do if an official were to contact me intending to verify what I have done because apart from my friends and parents I can’t think of someone who could vouch for this.
Secondly, I wanted to ask about EC hours. I’m never too confident reporting these because my hours fluctuate. So is it okay for me to take an average and spread it out over the months in which I’ve been involved? Here as well, I’ve included independent research hours, which took up a significant amount of time but are externally unverifiable (I am working on a team project; we don’t have a mentor). If it came to such a situation, how could I explain these? I apologize if this has been asked before!
@themaskedbandicoot -College folks actually like it when volunteer work is self-initiated and not part of an organized club or a school or National Honor Society community-service requirement.
It seems highly unlikely that your reported volunteer gigs will come under scrutiny but–if they do–validation from friends, family and/or social media will be fine. So don’t worry about that.
Also don’t worry about averaging activities hours. Applicants really have no choice except to do this averaging, even though it often doesn’t create a clear picture of their commitments. For instance, when my son was in high school, he did a little professional acting and modeling. He went to a lot of time-consuming auditions but only rarely got "booked. " And, when he did work, it was usually very intensive … like 12-hour days for a few days. So when he filled out his applications and had to average out the hours he spent at his jobs, his report certainly didn’t paint a clear picture of all of those mornings when he had to be on a set at 6 am … two hours away and stay there until late! His averaging made it look more like he worked 3 hours a week!
And if you are asked about your research project (and you probably won’t be), be prepared to provide details of what your aim was and what you actually accomplished. If this project took up a lot of your time, it’s worth including a synopsis under “Additional Information.” And, if your applications have all been submitted, it’s not too late to send a supplementary summary.
Bottom line: The moral of the story is to put down activities and hours that you feel in your heart answer the questions, but rest assured that admission committees understand that these details can sometimes be misleading.
Ah, I see. Thanks! As for the research project, it is for a submission coming up in a few months. So if I am asked about it, I’ll be able to provide evidence of the work I’ve done so far. I was mostly referring to the hours of reading papers I’d put in last year, which haven’t translated directly into tangible work, but are a necessary part of the process.
Hi sally! I recently browsed through my UC app and realized that I put down that I got a grant for a service project I planned during my junior year. But I out down that I got this grant during my sophomore year and AFTER my senior year. Should I contact the schools I’m applying to about this situation? I also, earlier In the application went over the service project.
@studydaze–I’m not exactly clear on what you screwed up here. Did you make it look like you did a project for more than three years when, in fact, you only did it for several months (or less)? Or do you think that the scope and length of the project were clear from your description of the project in the application?
The UC schools sometimes do spot-check applications for accuracy, so if you feel that you’ve led the admission folks to believe that you spent several years on an activity that, in fact, took only several months (or weeks?) then send a quick correction. But if you think that the description of what you did is already pretty clear and that just the dates of obtaining the grant are wrong, then leave it be.
It’s not a big deal either way, so don’t worry about having made this small mistake.
Hi Sally! I have a middle name, but I just realized that I didn’t put it on my Common App for any college I applied to. However, I have my middle initial on my FAFSA and CSS, as well as all other materials I’ve submitted. I’ve already been accepted to some schools, and have been able to see that my FAFSA and CSS linked to my application for other schools I applied to. I wanted to know if this is a big deal or not, and whether or not I should update colleges with my middle name. Thanks so much!
@scottt23 -Not a big deal at all. You really don’t have to do anything about this, but if you have a common name (both first and last), then it can’t hurt to email your colleges with your middle name. (I’m assuming that you simply omitted your middle name from your Common App and didn’t use a DIFFERENT middle name or initial that doesn’t mesh with the middle initial on your finaid forms.)
Hi Sally! Thank you so much for answering so quickly. One more question… I just realized that for one of my activities on the activity section I wrote that I participated for 5 hours a week instead of 3. I know this might not seem like a big deal, but I wrote that I participated for 40 weeks (its during my lunch every day all year), so it adds up to an extra 80 hours of work I didn’t do. I’m really freaking out right now. Should I email colleges to correct this? Thank you so much, and have a happy holidays!