<p>Extra curriculars? Community service etc? </p>
<p>I definitely do a load of nothing productive outside of school. </p>
<p>But my academic record is pretty substantial. Are good SAT/ACT/APs and GPA enough to get me into a school like...UC Berkeley? Or even UCLA, UGA etc.</p>
<p>^You have already taken SATs/ACTs/APs (so I am assuming your are a junior?) and you are just now wondering if EC’s are important? I would say your parents or school GC may have failed you. </p>
<p>Short answer is: Yes, EC’s and community service are important factors considered by adcoms for admission into elite schools such as Berkeley, UCLA, etc.</p>
<p>Damn dude.</p>
<p>He’s asking a pretty legit question actually. I know a current Columbia senior who got in with a 2300+ SAT and a 3.8 GPA. His only ECs were National Honor Society and Editor-in-Chief of his newspaper. So anyone could ponder whether or not it was worth diversifying your time and energy into ECs over grades.</p>
<p>Unless your grades/SATs are flawless (4.0 GPA, 98+ in all your classes, 2400/36), it would be worth your time having some pretty decent ECs.</p>
<p>Fu** the college admissions process. All colleges want is money and themselves to stay on top of the rankings.</p>
<p>^For starters, if he’s a senior, that means the process was a bit different for him. </p>
<p>It’s also possible that he had outside EC’s or awards you weren’t aware of, or that being EiC of newspaper was a big deal at his (your?) school. Schools like Walt Whitman have notoriously impressive newspapers, and such a time commitment would no doubt be recognized by top schools.</p>