<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I am going to be applying to the UCs this fall, and I hope to transfer to UC Berkeley as a Mechanical Engineering major. I know how much Berkeley takes an applicant's extra curricular activities into perspective, which is why I was wondering how important it is for a transfer student to have a sufficient amount of volunteering hours. I heard that transfer students don't have to focus on them as much, whereas freshman applicants do... is this true? It's not like I'm a borderline applicant with no extra curriculars at all. I have a 3.87 GPA in addition to being a member of Phi Theta Kappa, my school's honors program, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and being on the Dean's list. I also have a job, and I tutor in math, part time, and I will be joining more clubs this upcoming semester. I did volunteer at a food serving shelter when I was in India last summer, but I don't know if there is any way in which the UCs can verify that. Should I still include that in my application?</p>
<p>none. a serious student would be hitting the books, not doing free labor for a bunch of hours which you get nothing in return.</p>
<p>^ … I’d replace “a serious student” with “an egomaniac nerd” in your sentence :)</p>
<p>@OP: Yes community service is important, but it’s not a sooooo important and deciding factor that a UC can use to deny your admission. Your stats look really good, and I’d say do some community service and volunteering ONLY IF you have some free time next semester AND you actually enjoy doing it. </p>
<p>And by the way, if you actually DO SOMETHING (like what you did in India), include it in your application. Admissions can smell a mile away if the students is making up stuff to make their stats look good or the students actually did it ;)</p>
<p>really? are you sure the UCs dont care about volunteering at all? i’m sure they would have a section for it on the application for some reason lol. Does anyone else have any idea?</p>
<p>Nooooo, I never say that UCs “don’t” care, I only say that your ECs look amazing already, and you don’t need to force yourself to do volunteering unless you have free time next semester :)</p>
<p>EC’s are def. not a big factor for CC students. Only for HS students. The reasoning is mostly because CC students have other things they need to take care of while a typical HS student would have a lot of free time on their hands which leads to better or expected ECs</p>
<p>What I was told by a UC counselor is that volunteering and EC’s are used to determine whether or not you’ll receive a scholarship. But for admission GPA is more important.</p>
<p>My advice would be if you can fit it into your schedule, then why not? That’s the point of community service - to act locally and make your community a better place.</p>
<p>Does it matter if it increases your chance of getting into a college? </p>
<p>Anyways, because you cannot TAG into UCB i’m under the impression that it won’t hurt your chances.</p>
<p>UC transfer admission focuses on grades, completion of your general education and major prerequisite requirements and demonstrated interest in your field of study (which can be done through participation in extracurriculars related to your major).</p>
<p>Demonstrated leadership abilities are favorable, especially for Berkeley, but extracurriculars do not replace excellent grades and completion of major prerequisites.</p>