<p>First time poster here! As we all know, it's that stressful time of the year again and I am definitely feeling that stress to some extent. My two main reach schools are UCSD (preferably Warren, but Muir works too) and UCLA with UCI (and SDSU for that matter) being a fallback and Berkeley being my yolo school. I confidently want to be an electrical engineer and I fully understand how impacted this major is in the top UC schools, which is my main concern. Anyway, here is my scholastic profile as of now:</p>
<p>Academic Stats:
- Unweighted GPA: 4.0
- UC/CSU GPA: 4.36
- Uncappted GPA (not sure how relevant/significant this is): 4.64
- I took a majority of the rigorous courses that my school offered such as AP Physics, AP English Language and Composition, AP Calculus, etc., but I did not become an IB candidate.
- 28 ACT score (this worries me the most out of my entire resume), planning on retaking this upcoming October for a 30+
- 1780 SAT (going to send my ACT score regardless of this because I dislike the SAT format haha)
- Planning on taking Math 2 and Physics Subject Tests this October </p>
<p>AP Test Scores (not sure how relevant this is):
- Lang & Comp: 4
- Physics B: 4
- US History: 3
- World History: 4
- Planning on taking Calculus and Economics this May </p>
<p>Extracurriculars/Leadership:
I tried my best to add depth to my outside-of-school activities in order to avoid the stereotypical "resume builders." This will also carry over to my community service hours.
- B-boy (breakdancing) Club President from 9th-12th grade
- Volleyball player (JV sophomore year, Varsity during my latter half of high school)
- Club Volleyball player during the off season from 10th-12th grade
- Link Crew Officer 11th-12th grade, which are the only two grades that are eligible for this organization (I'm unsure if other schools have a Link Crew, but basically we run freshmen orientation and help ease the transition from middle school to high school for freshmen)
- California Scholarship Federation (CSF) Lifetime Member</p>
<p>Community Service Hours: A little more than 100 hours in total
- Tutor for my school's Academic Recovery Center (ARC) which was a mandatory tutoring program for students that were failing their respective English or mathematics courses
- 1-on-1 tutor for my school's Math department. This also branched off to Physics tutoring.
- Assistant in a Bboy class at a local dance studio
- Typical church volunteer work (I am a practicing Catholic) </p>
<p>Personal Statements:
IMO, I am a fairly strong writer. I related both of my personal statements to engineering/physics topics in order to show that I am passionate in what I want to study and that I actually know advanced knowledge in the engineering/physics realm.
For the prompt that asked about the world you come from, I applied breakdancing to Newton's 3 laws of motion to ultimately show how the dance helped me break boundaries and challenge myself in ways I would not have expected.
For the prompt that asked about a specific achievement, trait, etc., I wrote about my exact inspiration for wanting to pursue a career in electrical engineering. Basically, in my junior year, my AP Physics teacher made us wire and build a small-scale house with 12 functional lights. I related the production stages of the house to the progressive stages of my life in order to show my maturity as a person and student. </p>
<p>I have a side question as well: I am aware that the 3 big factors in college admissions are GPA, Standardized Tests, and Personal Statements/College essays. Would having two out of three of those dominant factors outweigh the outlier, sub-par factor? In my case, I am specifically talking about my GPA and (hopefully) personal statement to be strong, while I do not have complete confidence that I can raise my ACT high enough before apps are due. </p>
<p>Thanks in advanced to this forum. All of you guys are true heroes to curious, stressed, and struggling high school students :] </p>