Hi, I have just been wait listed for UC Santa barbara and it was one of my top choices!
I am an ib diploma candidate, so i take 6 ib classes a year and APs, i do loads of community service, i tutor elementary school kids, i am varsity golf captain and played varsity soccer.
i have about a 92 avg unweighted, 94 weighted.
I had a concussion in the fall causing me to do very poorly on my act getting a 25.
I am repealing my application
Here is my essay… what do you think?
Dear UC Santa Barbara Admissions Committee,
My name is XX from NY and I have been waitlisted at UC Santa Barbara. Ever since the beginning of August 2014, when I visited UCSB I new it was the place I wanted to spend my four years of college.
I am a botanist at heart. I love nature and enjoying all it has to offer. Which is why it was so clear to me that for my life career I wanted to do my part in preserving the environment and world we live in, becoming a Environmental studies major. I new I wanted to do something like this since I was 5 years old taking environmental and gardening camps. And through the years it has only solidified even further. As an IB diploma candidate I have spent hours creating a greener environment in our school, striving to adopt meatless Mondays, have done presentations behind peoples incentives to act on climate change and I have finished righting my EE (extended essay) on the environmental impact of the Americans meat production system.
A recent honor I have just received was my group of 3 and I winning best in New York State for the an app challenge. We built an app which tracks a person’s carbon footprint through an input of their various activates and consumptions throughout the day. It was a huge honor for my team, my school and myself. (I will attach articles to this letter)
As a member of my High School, I strived to be the most actively involved I could in my 4 years, while challenging my self with and AP and IB course load. I strived to be the best I could be and never let anyone bring me down. Which is why I was mortified when I had a severe concussion in the fall of my senior year which did bring me down. With symptoms lasting over 4 months, my preparations and taking of the standardized tests were almost impossible. I have no doubt in my mind that I am as smart and committed then any other candidate for UCSB and I hope that when analyzing these scores this is taken into consideration.
Since the 9th grade I have been asking my mom to visit UC Santa Barbara. And when we finally planned a trip last summer, I insisted it be our first stop. Walking down the sunny courtyards and hearing about sustainability aspects of UCSB was like a dream. I was flabbergasted by the UCSB’s “zero net energy” recreation center and insane amount of bikes traveling past me. Walking through the campus I could not help but smile and picture my self here the following year. The UCSB environment offers everything I could have hoped in a school and new that I wanted to be a Gaucho.
Thank you for your time and hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
XX
Edited out specifics
ED