My son’s goal is to go to a UC school in a major that is STEM related (Non CS), possibly engineering related or traditional science major. When I look through some of the UC acceptances it seems like students have special talents like being an athlete, artist, musician/performance arts, and olympiad winner/international or nation competition winner. He is not physically strong so can’t really be an athlete (he plays recreational Pickleball during the weekend with me and that’s about it!) He has no skills in music or arts even though he appreciate those skills. He is not smart enough to win olympiad or compete nationally in any STEM field, although he has received As in his math and science classes. He has 2 more years left in high school. What extra curricular can he do to booster his future UC app so that he can end up in the above mention major?
There is no special EC that will get him into a UC. What he needs to do are EC’s which he enjoys and that interest him. His passion for the EC’s can be highlighted in the EC section and also in one of Personal insight essays. Community service or a part time job can show initiative, leadership, collaboration which are traits that the UC’s look for in an applicant.
You can’t make him be somebody he isn’t! And of course, it is the shiniest things that people put up front. There are are tens of thousands of students in the UC system and they do NOT all have national awards!
This is what MIT tells potential applicants:
You start with where he is: how does he spend his time outside of the classroom. If he doesn’t have something he is really excited about (and many, many students his age don’t), what kinds of things are interesting to him, and how can he do more of those things. Have him keep following a path that is truest to him. Simply to say, difficult to execute, but in the end it will get him to a place that is good for him.
ps, “STEM” is not a major- it’s made up of dozens of majors!
pps, I will push back gently on the “he’s not smart enough” description- olympiads suit some personalities / students and not others. IME the biggest differentiators as to who does well in Olympiads isn’t raw brain power but either how much the student enjoys it, or how fierce the parental pressure is.
You mentioned his future major might possibly be some sort of engineering. Perhaps have him find a job or internship in the direction of his interest? Robotic clubs? On top of adding to his application, it might further help him to discover his area of interest. Summer is coming up so might be good to start looking now. For example, my son secured a job to help with network/camera equipment installation in a large warehouse. And he was involved with a robotics club. Hope this helps.
Think about volunteering in the community. Or working a part time job. If he’s strong in stem, tutoring, either in some volunteer position, or paid can be a nice addition to academic accomplishments.