<p>I'm going to be majoring in business admin preferably to uc berkeley haas. I'm starting to find jobs and do some extracurriculars for my application. What did you do that made you stand out? i'm trying to keep my gpa really high but I know you need good ECs.
thanks.</p>
<p>Hi akbaras. I transferred to Berkeley as a psychology major, so the requirements have have been slightly different for me (I don’t know what the Haas app asks). But, I can tell you what I did in the hopes that it helps you a bit. </p>
<p>In high school (yes, you have to list what you did in high school), I was a varsity cheerleader for two years; a student government board member for two years (interviewed in); a student government officer for one year (elected in); a student council member; a member of Gay-Straight Alliance; a member of the hip hop dance club; a member of the National Honors Society; and founder of a club that raised scholarship money for low-income students entering university.</p>
<p>In community college, I was a Gay-Straight Alliance club member; Co-Chair of my school’s LGBT heritage month; part of a dance company; and a co-founder of an online culture magazine. I received an award from the school for my work as our LGBT heritage month’s Co-Chair. </p>
<p>In addition to all of that, I also worked part-time, and had held the same job from my junior year in high school through the time I transferred. Staying in the same job for a while shows commitment, which I think helps. I have also tutored ESL middle school students since I was in second grade. And, before transferring, I had completed three different internships (one with the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which I’m sure didn’t hurt my app at all). </p>
<p>At least for Berkeley, I think the fact that I was interested in different things helped a lot – you never imagine a varsity cheerleader attending weekly GSA meetings. Also, I made it a point to join clubs in CC that were similar to my interests in high school, to show commitment, once again. Berkeley likes students who can be competitive in class but also show passion in something outside of class and (seemingly) have real world experience. That’s why every advisor will tell you that, if you want to apply to Berkeley, don’t just join a club – become an officer of a club. It shows a level of passion and dedication that being a regular member doesn’t. </p>
<p>As a side-note, I want to emphasize that this is the kind of stuff that will help you get into Berkeley, not necessarily Haas. You will have to apply to get into Haas once you have already been accepted into Berkeley, and that application process is just as painful as the application process into Berkeley.</p>
<p>I didn’t really do that much in high school except for biz internship. Do you think that will hurt me?</p>
<p>Honestly, I can’t imagine that it will hinder you that much. I think it’s more important that you have some good ECs during your community college career. It’s sort of like how some people did really poorly in high school, but raise their GPAs in community college – what they do during their community college years is much more important than what they did in high school. </p>
<p>That being said, if you don’t have any ECs right now, you should probably consider getting some.</p>
<p>Anyone else have any input?</p>