<p>Hello. Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I have several questions that I need help with. First, a little background: I am currently enrolled at a CCC, I am from a foreign country, so I did not take high school here. The Department of Education in my country is not similar to the American curriculum, because we do not have the so-called "Middle School". So, I graduated when I was 16 (I was a good student, graduated 4th in a class of ~200) and went straight to America (FOB :D). I enrolled to a CC because I was unsure of the environment of a university or would they even allow under-aged international students to enroll. Right now I am set for transfer to the UCs, particularly UCSD and Berkeley.
Anyways, I do not have ACT/SAT scores. My problem is, I want more for myself. That is, I am aiming for something better than a UC (<em>cough</em>Carnegie<em>cough</em>).
But I don't know if I am cut out for it.
I have a ~3.8(because of ignorance during my first semesters here thinking that GPA was not important in the US. (FOB))
I am a volunteer at 3 organizations
Dean's List and member of the Honor Society
Unique background
NO work experience (please tell me this is not big of a factor)
I will add a LOT more to that now that I realize that credentials are everything in college applications. Including a possible internship/research assistant position.</p>
<p>So yeah, UCSD and the others will be my primary goal but can someone enlighten me whether I am just wasting my time and money applying to other, more prestigious schools? Or should I work EXTRA EXTRA hard in about 5 months gathering credentials then give other schools a shot?</p>
<p>First... I think UC Berkeley is way more prestigious than Carnegie :P So if you're just looking for prestige, you're not in a horrible position. </p>
<p>You're not wasting your time and money if you really would like to attend the schools you're applying to. Someone's gotta get it. That being said... just a cursory look at what you got going for you I'd say you're lacking substantially in terms of activities and ECs. Unless you're extremely involved with these 3 volunteer groups (I mean, high level coordination/management positions), they're not going to care that much about them. The top schools are looking for someone who excels at what they do (not just academics)... </p>
<p>My advice would be: go find some research if possible. With 5 months to go it's a bit hard to prove heavy involvement and dedication to any ECs you could join... so I think finding work under a professor of some sort is the best way to optimize your chances in such a short timeframe.</p>
<p>yeah, but it was such a big mistake in my part by not knowing that ECs and activities are important in college applications during my freshman year. I am not that deeply involved in my 3 volunteer work, but I will definitely work harder. Actually, I just started volunteering (1 month) so that would be much of a help.
Will me being 16(with all the struggles of culture barrier, age gaps) when I enrolled in college will make much difference in my application?
Also, I don't have the standardized tests, will that be a great negative factor?
And what else can I do to make my application look good besides helping my professors?(I will try this) Thank you. and sorry for asking too many questions :P</p>
<p>Hrm... I would take the SAT now if you can. Some schools may not require it as junior transfers... but very many of them still do. </p>
<p>When do you plan on transferring? One thing to keep in mind during the entire application process is: depth over breadth! That is... find one or two or three things that you really excel at and sell those points to the university. A big list of activities doesn't really get you very far (and I think that's a mistake a lot of kids make). Rather, have your application focus in on the very big things that will make you shine from the rest of the applications.</p>