<p>.. and not to mention.. being unemployed.. since birth ;__; ...</p>
<p>I'm only officer for a few clubs on campus, part of PTK, and I run food/cooking blog for my school's students (haha........).. </p>
<p>I've volunteered a few times at a day care center but not enough to put on my application that I've been there for at least a year (well it looks like they only want you to list things you've been doing/part of for a year or more... they didn't let me add a >1)</p>
<p>I know CAL prefers to have students w/ amazing life experiences or something <em>hangs head in deep shame</em> so I am kind of very concerned... </p>
<p>so yup ): has anyone gotten into the College of Letters & Science with crap extracrics/volunteering but good grades? </p>
<p>You could look through the decisions threads for the last couple of years, although my guess would be that plenty of people have gotten in with no substantial EC’s. Remember that they’re a business first and foremost. They want your money and they want the certainty that you’ll be out in 2 years to make way for the next batch. They claim extracurriculars are important but judging from the acceptances I’ve seen them make, they’re lying (understandably). </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be making the best of your education. Get your money’s worth and drain the resources to the last drop. I’m sure they know a lot of people exaggerate their activities on the application. They should also know that when you’re poor, go to school full-time, and work 30+ hours (you could just get a job), it’s harder to do much of anything else. </p>
<p>I don’t know your story but play it to your advantage.</p>
<p>Salmos is spot on. Extra-currics are relatively not important. Sure, it slightly helps to have some and may look a bit weird to have none whatsoever, but truly grades, prereqs, and grade trend are your top 3 priorities followed closely by a strong personal statement. The EC’s and whatnot kind of supplement your app. The UC’s, including Cal, are not going to reject you based on lack of EC’s.</p>
<p>No HS diploma, no ECs, no volunteering. Emil is right about the order of importance for all of the various factors on your app. Just don’t make any excuses on your personal statement. Our instinct sometimes tells us to say - oh I don’t have any experience because…- but this is a mistake. They want to know what you <em>have</em> done, what you plan to do and how you plan to do it.</p>
<p>I’m not completely sure that you don’t need a decent resume to go with those stats. I think much depends on your major. My S, a freshman at Cal majoring in Mech. Engineering, had a good but not great GPA and a good but not great SAT score. If it were not for his resume I’m not convinced he would have been accepted with the competitive nature of the Engineering applicant pool.</p>
<p>I got into Cal with only a few ECs… I worked part time though. But most of the ECs I listed were the ones that I did in HS, so I don’t think they cared. Oh and I heard from a Berkeley rep. that usually working experience is more important than volunteers.</p>