Can you count recreational sports, such as playing neighborhood basketball or soccer in the activities section in the UC application? Is 10 hours per week too much for that?
Almost anything you do outside of the classroom can count as an extracurricular activity so Recreational sports can be listed.
The UC’s aren’t looking for particular activities. Rather, they are looking for commitment and accomplishment in your activities.
If you feel that participating in these sports are important to you, then list them. Do you participate year round? What other activities will you be listing on the application?
Activities showing Leadership, Community service and Volunteering would be more desirable.
thank you for your response. i do soccer for almost all year around (40 weeks for all four years, appox. 10 hrs a week including commute time to the field), have also played in high school soccer team for one year, track and field - 10 hrs a week for (10,11, and 12 grade), music ( 10 hrs a week for 9 th and 10 grade, played in high school music band, includes teaching time for younger kids), leadership in one club and two volunteer services. Here is my summary of all EC/Volunteer/Community Service/Leadership hours per week over 40 weeks period:
9th grade - 24 hrs/week
10 grade - 26 hrs/week
11 grade - 19 hrs/week
12 grade - 19 hrs/week
As you can see, my hours increased in 10th grade as the school was online for half a day and decreased in 11th and 12th grade as i was taking 5 and 4 AP courses respectively. I took 2 AP courses in 10th grade.
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Assuming you are not be recruited for soccer, listing sports activities is fine. Your Volunteering/Community service and showing Leadership abilities will be more highly regarded. Best of luck.
My son was just talking to me about the activities list. He is a busy kid and he had to cut/merge some of his activities to fit into the 20 spaces. He is now second guessing himself, because when he talked to his friends, most of them are only reporting 5-10 activities. He is worried that he is reporting too many things and it might be seen as fluff to pad his application? He has some activities at the top of the list that he did for 4 years with many hours (like orchestra), but also has some activities low on the list like school climate club (where he worked on a beach cleanup, newsletters etc., but did not hold a leadership position).
My thinking was that since there are 20 spaces, he should feel free to use all the spaces as long as they are legitimate activities?
thank you! i am not going to be recruited for soccer. i just play for fun, and that is why i was wondering if it is ok to list this as a significant part of my extracurricular activity.
Gumby mom is the expert, so I’d defer to her on this, but I agree with your take that there are 20 spots for a reason - to tell a story. They don’t all need to be filled, but if an activity adds to the overall picture of your kid, it shouldn’t be omitted on the logic that “they” won’t like it if there are too many activities.
I think my kid put more than 10 but less than 20…she felt like she could decompress some of what had to get crammed and combined for common app. Got into UCLA, WL at Berkeley.
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I agree that as long as the activities are legitimate and your son is not listing 10 clubs where the he attended only 1 or 2 meetings (as you stated Fluff), it should be fine.
Yes, they give 20 spaces and for some applicants, they can fill all 20 like your son and for some only listing 5-10 activities could still present a good overall picture of the applicant.
Just make sure there is a hierarchy to the list and the most significant activities are listed first.
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My opinion is that you have 20 opportunities to tell the UCs what you have done both in and out of the classroom over the past 4 years. Four years… that’s a long time. How have you changed and what have you done since 8th grade? Choose the most significant accomplishments/activities and list those first. Look over your application and identify and add anything that isn’t shared in your PIQ and other activities. If you have a couple of spaces left at the end, it is, in my opinion, okay to say that you participate in soccer (or running, photography, singing, etc.) for fun, to stay fit, to let off steam, to relax, etc. Don’t just list it as a title and expect them to know what it meant to you. Tell them why you participated in the activity and what you got out of it.
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D23 is also super busy and filled in all 20 slots - those she spent the most time doing at the top - it presents a nice well-rounded picture of her so we thought it was fine - no real fluff.
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thank you! this makes me feel so much better. yes, i love playing soccer for fun and letting off steam. i will write about why i participated and what i got out of it.
Overlooked including NMSF award, the application has been submitted already. Since UC does not consider SAT scores or provide scholarships based on PSAT scores, is it worth pursuing options to update the application?
From the UC website: If there are changes to other sections of your application: Minor changes to your activities, awards, volunteer work or employment are unlikely to have an impact on your admission decision.
Congratulations on NMSF. You can update but since they are test blind and no longer participate in the NM scholarship program, the impact is unknown.
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It turns out that there is no way to update the activities/honors section. The UC Application support team cannot help, and if I wait till Dec for the UC Applicant portal, this information could be treated as a new award and might not even get updated. I am wondering if there are other options, tried calling UCs (UCB/UCLA/UCSD) directly, only UC Davis has responded positively so far.
UCB and UCSB do not allow updates to the UC application. You might have to wait until the student sets up each campus portal to submit an update.
Campus instructions & websites for reporting changes:
- Berkeley will not accept post-submission updates. Any updates that are sent will not be considered in the application reading process.
- Davis
- Irvine
- Merced - Post-submissions updates are only accepted if you are admitted. Click on the “myCourseUpdate” link in your connect portal.
- UCLA - Some post-submission updates will be accepted. Visit the UCLA contact page for further details.
- Riverside
- San Diego
- Santa Barbara will not accept post-submission updates. Any updates that are sent to our office will not be considered in the application reading process.
- Santa Cruz
Hi @Gumbymom and UC experts, My daughter attended UC Berkeley’s ATDP program in the Summer after 8th Grade but before the 9th Grade. Can she report this under “Educational preparation program” in Activities/Awards? Or this activities cannot be reported because technically she had not started high school yet.
Thanks
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Activities the summer prior to 9th grade can be listed on the UC application since according to the UC’s, HS starts the summer after 8th grade.
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Thanks so much @Gumbymom for a quick response! The UC application says:
If you participated during the summer, “select the grade you were in before that summer”.
The options are:
9th
10th
11th
12th
Should she just select “9th Grade” in this case?
Yes, 9th grade.
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Thanks so much @Gumbymom ! Really appreciate your super quick response. She was stuck here not knowing how to move forward.