To what extent do your personal statements matter?

College Essays
1

<p>So basically right now my stats aren't too hot:
10-11: 3.0 UW 3.46 W 3.35(?) UC Capped
SAT: 1740 M-640 W-540 R- 560
ACT: Taking in Dec (Hoping for super high score... around 28-30?)</p>

<p>How much do essays matter? I believe that my extra cirriculars are quite strong. I run my own business, business camp taught by Haas instructor and rotary, marketing internship, varsity sport for 4 years, martial arts for 8 years, tons of martial arts awards etc etc etc. </p>

<p>I'm planning on writing about my business, and lets say i write very strong essays. Can that make a difference in my admission chances? Any chance at mid-tier UCs? UCI/UCD and or UCB/UCLA?</p>

2

<p>0 chance at UCLA and Berkeley. You can apply if you want but im almost positive you wont get in. They are too stat based. How the UCs work is they actually give you a score based on your whole application, and if you are above a certain number, you get in, and if not you dont. Rare exceptions. </p>

<p>Solidish chance at UCI. If your ACT is good maybe UCD as well. UCD is getting pretty hard recently though, so im not sure</p>

<p>I think ECs can only help for the UCs so much. its not so much about the “whole person” as a liberal arts school would be. More like, transcript, then test scores, then ECs.</p>