Hello!
I am a first-year student at community college in San Diego and because of the many AP classes I have taken, my counselor suggested that I try transferring to UCSD through the IGETC program. I would be applying this November, but the only classes I would have at my community college by that time would be speech, philosophy, keyboarding, and swimming class because I took these classes during summer breaks in between high school. Because of my AP credits, I have fewer classes to take and I therefore am applying before the end of my first semester, so I do not have proof of more serious courses, like chemistry or biology.
I know that the IGETC program is not ideal for engineering, but I do have a 4.0 GPA at community college. Is there anything I can do to strengthen my application?
I have been working on my application and here are my rough drafts for the essays. I have not finished them at all.:
What is your intended major? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had in the field — such as volunteer work, internships and employment, participation in student organizations and activities — and what you have gained from your involvement.
A thousand Tiny Aliens
My father laid out a thousand tiny aliens on our kitchen table- or at least that’s what my 9 year old mind told me. He lifted them slowly, carefully inspecting each alien before moving on to the next specimen. It wasn’t until many years later that I realized these “tiny aliens” were actually power supplies. As an electrical engineer, my father was accustomed to dissecting the simple machines that broke in our household, but never without his “students”. He took every opportunity to teach my siblings and I how and why machines, objects, or forces work the way that they do. Whether he was opening a computer or connecting the basic telephone wires, my father taught me how to identify a problem and then go along the process of finding an effective and efficient solution.
Many of my relatives and family friends are electrical engineers, so I was always raised exposed to the field of study.
Unanswered Doorbells
I sprinted down the stairs and announced my new plans for the school year to my friend, but instead of the encouraging words I anticipated, she nonchalantly uttered: “How can you help someone when you’re so screwed up yourself?” Those eleven words resonated in my ears until each new echo drove away the feelings of worthlessness and inferiority to awaken a new bright passionate mindset of perseverance and courage. Those eleven words left me heartbroken, but I knew I had one life to live and that I was not going to waste it. It occurred to me that if I passionately wanted to reach a goal with all of the energy in my heart, I needed to keep pushing myself forward. For me, that goal was organizing three Leadership Workshops with the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership and California Association of Student Councils, nonprofit organizations providing leadership training to students. This new goal seemed easy to reach, but as unexpected problems arose, I realized that I had volunteered myself for a greater responsibility than I was prepared for. I learned how to manage a team, organize a program schedule, and develop a fundraising plan, but there were three unexpected things I learned about myself: I enjoy the adventures of solving unanticipated problems, making mistakes is okay because they give me the potential to improve, and that I can do anything and everything I set my mind to. I remember spending all of my lunch periods emailing and calling schools when we only had fifty ambassadors registered to attend the event; baking dozens of cupcakes by myself on the weekends and organizing bake sales when we lacked financial resources; but more than the others, I remember the agonizing moments where each mistake left those eleven words engraved in my mind once more. By facing each challenge one step at a time and reminding myself that I was capable of more than what others thought of me, I was able to organize three workshops reaching more than two hundred freshman students from twenty schools throughout San Diego and Los Angeles County. Those eleven words were unanswered doorbells echoing in my ears creating an anxiousness and anticipation that could only be relieved once I proved myself successful. I used to think that those words were my motivation and inspiration for challenging myself when in reality, my motivation was my unanswered potential. I am not inferior to the person sitting next to me and I too can accomplish great things because there’s no reason that it shouldn’t be me who organizes the next volunteer effort. Had I been asked last year, I would never have dreamt of organizing six leadership workshops this year, but here I am pushing myself to a new goal again. I will undoubtedly face new challenges and struggles, but it won’t be those eleven words urging me on. It will be the unanswered echoes of my potential reminding me that any limits truly do not exist .