<p>Hello,
First post and I am in urgent need of help...yes I shouldn't have waited so long : (.</p>
<p>I feel like I am in a tight spot, and cannot seem to find any solid information. I wrote my UC essay on my "creativeness" and how it leads me to want to be an engineer.</p>
<p>Now here I am a bit confused- I would like to apply to UCI, UCD, UCSD, and UCSB with a major in aero or mech. engineering. I am aware that at these schools, engineering may make it harder for me to get in.</p>
<p>My grades are "borderline" for these schools; weighted 4.0 gpa, 1900 sat, 640 in sat ii math c, and 700 in biology.</p>
<p>I do not want to lose my opportunity at these schools because of the fact that I chose a major that is much more competitive, so would I be better off going as undeclared? I am worried that this will conflict with my essay, in which I stated that my "dream" is to be an engineer. I was thinking of modifying my essay to state that my "dream" is to simply be able to use my creativeness in some general field.</p>
<p>I was also wondering- I have heard that this does not apply to ucla and ucb, but suppose I were to put my alternate major as undeclared, and my first choice major as engineering. Will UCI/UCD look at this alternate major as a second evaluation if I cannot get in to engineering?</p>
<p>Thanks alot, I apologize for doign this so late in the process.</p>
<p>you can find the answer to your question by typing “XX admissions alternate major” into google, replacing XX with the initials of the school (example: UCI) and not typing the quote marks.</p>
<p>BTW you are wasting your essay by writing about creativeness and your dreams, IMHO. The UCs do not review essays like most colleges, where a sparkling essay intrigues their interest and pushes you over the top. The UC schools are primarily interested in your achievement and the obstacles you have faced (in large part, holistic review is an attempt to bypass the restrictions on affirmative action). Here is what UCSB says it looks for in applicants after it has calculated your eligibility index
UCSD looks for the following factors
I took these right from the admission web sites; you can look up what the other schools say.</p>
<p>And even though you’re not applying to ucla you should take note that they had problems last year with too many students writing the typical college essay and not focusing on what ucla cares about. So this year they give the following guidance on answering the essay prompt:
Note nothing about your dreams, where you want to be in 10 years, etc.</p>
<p>The smart student gears the essay to highlight factors the UCs take into account in admissions and doesn’t write an essay about “my most memorable person”, “that special summer I discovered myself”, or other essays that work at privates.</p>
<p>Not so for all of them. Berkeley, for example, considers essays as important as GPA and rigor of course load (‘very important’ on the importance scale). Many applicants who seem borderline sometimes get in because they wrote really great, heartfelt essays – and alternately, many of those who blow off the essays (though had good resumes) often get rejected. Of course, this isn’t the case for all UCs, probably just for Berkeley and UCLA (though I’m not sure about the extent for UCLA).</p>
<p>mikemac- thanks for the information. Any chance you’re interested in reading my essay? I struggled with the essays. I do not have any “hardships,” or I chose not to write about that because I know there are many people that have much stronger cases for that area. I felt mine is pretty unique, though not necessarily good. Maybe you could give me some advice on how to improve it?</p>
<p>Thanks, let me know if you’re interested.</p>
<p>p.s. - I wrote about my dreams because the prompt stated to show how your family etc.. shaped your “dream and aspirations.” This is a bit confusing looking at the information you found : /</p>
<p>sorry, I don’t have the time to read essays. However you could have a teacher you trust or your counselor look it over before you send it in. </p>
<p>As for the UC prompt, what I think they are looking for (complete prompt was “Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.”) is a description of the hardships you have encountered, the discrimination you have faced, etc, and how a UC education is going to help you overcome it. </p>
<p>I’d expect big points for an essay that goes something like
So that leaves one of two conclusions: either your essay is just for their amusement and completely ignored in admission, or it is to help them fill in their criteria (which are similar to the ones I’ve already posted from other UCs and has nothing to do with dreams and aspirations). My bet is it is to fill in the criteria.</p>
<p>And this isn’t secret stuff; every one of the lists of criteria I’ve posted comes right off the admission pages at the UC schools. They want you to know this!! Holistic review or whatever they want to call it is simply a way for them to bring some more diversity into the UC campuses instead of admitting just the top scorers (predominantly asian and then white). But with the CA ban on affirmative action they have to write the criteria in a neutral manner (well, except for the one about participating in enrichment activities only offered at minority schools, but they haven’t been sued over it yet so they keep doing it). A lot of these criteria they can’t deduce from your grades/scores and list of clubs and awards, so its clear what the personal statement is meant to do.</p>
<p>hey
you may have picked this out from the other posts
but ucla and cal assess differently
that part from mikemac about ucla was new to me
b/c they do look more holistically
they do not use a point system as all the other schools do</p>
<p>in response to one of your original q’s
i would definitely put a second choice major
they will look at that if they find that you dont get into the engineering programs, but they still think you’re qualified enough to maybe make it in another program
since you have a stronger bio sat2 than math, maybe your 2nd choice should be something bio related
and then see if you can transfer if/when you get to the school</p>
<p>my 2nd choice majors at ucd and sb are pretty random
im applying to chemical engineering as an alternate for those schools
but as a girl, i do have that advantage that not that many girls apply to those
but my 1st choice is econ, so i have a decent math/science background
but its also generally much easier to transfer to the arts and sciences schools than to the engineering schools</p>
<p>so in short:
i would not change your essay, nor would i change your 1st choice major, perhaps your expressed strong interest in the field will help your grades, even if apparently, besides ucla and cal, dream-y essays dont get much, but whatever…</p>
<p>and yes do apply to a second choice major</p>
<p>also, maybe this would be of interest to you:
remember that merced has a program that if you go there for 2 years, you can transfer to any ( i think, i’m not positive it applies to cal and ucla, but it might, but def the others) other uc, so if you dont get into the one’s you want this time around, perhaps think about that, but that does mean that you do need to apply to merced now</p>
<p>good luck! hope you can sort out the important stuff!</p>