I’m a sophomore and I don’t know if I’ll ever get into a UC. If i go according to plan throughout senior year I would have taken 7 ap classes in all, have 100 hours of community service, and be in some clubs. I can’t plan in sports because of all the limitations i was born with and I can’t prove any kind of strong leadership in a club since i go to a large school with almost all the good clubs mostly let by girls (the school i go to is really keen on encouraging girls instead of boys). I don’t know what to do since the standard is really high now ( I base it off of all the extra activities that those who got in did compared to the ones planning to get in) and now i can’t figure out what to do.
Why get discouraged so early, so easily?
7 AP classes are achievement in it of itself. Keep up your GPA and your standardized test scores, which are much more important than being a president of a club.
Also, I want to ask whether your physical “limitation” is something you placed on yourself like a mental barrier from success. May I be the first one to remind you that many, many people in the past and present have succeeded despite their (severe) physical disabilities.
Best of luck and we’re always here to help.
Well how are your grades?
The most important thing to UCs are grades and course rigor for sophomore and junior year, so that is what to focus on first. No one need to do any sports if they don’t care to. President of a club is fine but you can do other things. ECs don’t just have to be in your school. I don’t know why you would take UC off the table and ‘give up’ for what seems no reason, but but there are plenty of other schools to apply to.
You don’t have to do sports. Your current track is just fine and leadership is an overrated non-essential. Are you in-state for UC’s?
my grades are fine (I have all A’s and i do often do very well in my ap’s) and I’m in-state for uc’s (which worries me for impacted majors)
UCs like students who get all A grades in hard courses (those listed as honors at http://doorways.ucop.edu ). However, be sure to apply widely among the UCs and perhaps add some CSUs, because the most selective UCs, particularly their most impacted majors (e.g. BioE, EECS, and Engineering Undeclared at UCB), can be very selective.
I would have to highly and strongly disagree with @TheDidactic statement of “leadership is an overrated non-essential.” Leadership, ESPECIALLY in the UC system, is so important. It is truly a holistic review and I am a perfect example of that. A friend of mine works at a UC admissions office and I got help from him, knowing how important ECs are. I focused highly on student gov, leadership class, commissioner roles, clubs, etc. and less on my grades. I got below an 1800 on my SAT in one sitting and had 3 D’s on my transcript… yet I still got accepted to UCLA and UCB. No sports ties, no family ties, or any catch. I spent a great deal of time on my ECs and also a great deal of time on my essays, and was honest about it in my personal statements. It worked for me so I personally know that you should most certainly try to be more involved in these!
Actually you did have a hook. According to your post at http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-los-angeles/1757119-academic-advancement-program.html you were offered a space in the EOP program at Cal and were interested in the AAP program at UCLA.
While technically affirmative action is no longer used by UC after Prop 209, holistic admissions is a way to sidestep the rule.
Post #7, I thought the minimum GPA for UC, particularly UCLA, UCB, UCSD, there can’t be no Ds, are you sure you are not making it up. It’s unbelievable even in the land of holistic admissions, unless you are transfer student.
Minimum UC GPA for in-state to apply is 3.0 and 3.4 for OOS, so I agree with DrGoogle, it seems impossible that an applicant with several D’s was accepted.
Perhaps the D grades were in 9th grade, and in courses not needed to complete the a-g subject requirements, or which can be validated by higher level courses (e.g. a C or higher in Foreign Language 3 validates Foreign Language 1 and 2).