<p>I have a question about how much weight do Ec's and Personal Statement's carry at UCLA and UCB. </p>
<p>I am a Econ Major. </p>
<p>I have a 3.65 TRANSFERABLE GPA. GETU Done. TAG is a NO.</p>
<p>I own a small distribution company. We ship merchandise from the US to JPN. and i do a little bit of community work. </p>
<p>If i can write i really good personal statement will that give me a shot into UCLA or UCB?</p>
<p>THANKS in advance for all the replies.</p>
<p>Personal statements can be a determining factor in admissions. At berkeley, many ppl w/ 4.0s are rejected if their personal statement isn’t good. They accept transfers because they believe they bring diversity to the campus, and although ppl say ECs aren’t as important, talking about solid ECs in prompt #1 (how did your interest in your major develop?) will enhance your chance of acceptance.</p>
<p>personally, I dont think the UCs care at all about the essays. Whos to stop everyone from hiring a professional writer to do their essays? I’m sure that if the admission officers have two identical applications with 3.8s, then the admission would go to the one with the better essay. But to have a 3.5 gpa, it will always be lower than someone with 3.8gpa, no matter how good your essay is.</p>
<p>the more selective UC’s do care about personal statements. you cant really have someone else write them for you because they’re suppose to be about YOUR life. how can someone else write about your experiences if they’re not you? </p>
<p>UC’s like berkeley want you to use the statement as a way for them to know more about you besides just your academic record. they’re basically taking the place of an interview.</p>
<p>Berkeley does place a large importance on the essays from my personal experience. One of my good friends is a really brilliant student, but all throughout high school he was basically always getting in trouble. Twice he was almost kicked out of school for low grades. However, junior year he pulled his act together and was able to get an overall 3.3. He applied to nearly all the UCs and was only accepted at Berkeley and Irvine. Not saying the whole “genius prodigy” card can overshadow any low GPA, but his essay did prove to be very enlightening on his personal life and I guess UCB was able to see through just grades and ECs.</p>
<p>^ wow that gives me hope… by any chance did you know what his major was?</p>
<p>He was a high school applicant back then so major didn’t really matter, but I believe it was MCB.</p>