<p>It's limited to 550 characters, and I want to use it to explain my comparably low grades which I purposely tried to avoid mentioning in my essays.</p>
<p>I have a cumulative score of 33 on the ACT, 750 on the Math lvl2 SAT II, 720 on the US SAT II, but a 3.50 weighted GPA.</p>
<p>Here's what I'm thinking of writing-</p>
<p>"I am largely driven by hands-on experience and application of knowledge rather than simply memorizing meaningless data. It is because of this that my grades are not all reflective of my abilities. For example, linguistics come easier to me due to my international background, overcoming the language barrier and fluency in Russian, Ukrainian and English, all three of which I use regularly. By contrast, I perform worse than I am capable of in classes to which I can't visualize a direct application, as I begin to focus on other aspects of my life."</p>
<p>549 characters long</p>
<p>What do you guys think? Good? Should i rephrase something? Ideas on how to rephrase it?
I ask because the character limit is so small and every word need to count.
Should I mention my test scores in there (even though they appear in a different section of the application)? If so, what sentences do I throw out to put this in?</p>
<p>I do not think the paragraph you have written will be helpful in garnering admissions. You have suggested that classes the UC requires for admission consist of memorizing information you find meaningless, your explanation is indecipherably vague (you perform worse than you are capable of, and explain that is because the classes are not important…?), and you go on to suggest that other aspects of your life are more important than your classes (will that continue to be the case in college?).</p>
<p>To sum up, your paragraph sounds as though you are saying you didn’t do well in your classes because you didn’t care about your classes. It would be better to leave that section blank in that case. In general, colleges are looking for students who DO care about their classes.</p>
<p>If you are just looking for cuts, there are lots of them. You can remove the bolded words w/o changing the meaning and cut over 100 characters. (But I still would not advise including the information.)</p>
<p>In that light, it really does sound bad… However, I’m certain that an admissions officer would be looking for an explanation for the grades. How would I explain it then?
Or is it really better to not mention them at all?</p>
<p>Thanks, Alamemom, I’ll leave this argument out.</p>
<p>I agree with alamemom-- either leave it blank or SIMPLY and CONCISELY say: “I have overcome language barriers and am fluent in Russian, Ukrainian, and English.” or something similar to this.</p>
<p>Edit: This is assuming you have not mentioned overcoming language barriers anywhere else in your application. If you wrote an essay about this, then you want to leave this space blank. </p>
<p>The fact is that UC values gpa much moreso than test scores, so trying to explain away “poor grades” in a simple paragraph is impossible. And it is impossible to explain away grades because certain subjects lack “hands-on experience” or make you memorize “meaningless data.” </p>
<p>UC does not offer co-op programs; it does not offer many hands-on experiences, and when it does, they are tangential to undergraduate education. UC is a major RESEARCH university. It requires one to memorize “meaningless data.” </p>
<p>If you are truly a visual learner, and only a visual learner, then you need to make your main essay about that item and how you over-came that trait to compete in school. </p>
<p>Today, with a large immigrant population, California has a LOT of multi-lingual students who apply. And many of those student have excellent grades. </p>
<p>Right now the only thing to put in that box is, “Also Fluent in Russian and Ukranian.” (Your mastery of English will be noted by your HS English courses and by your ACT score.)</p>