UCD Transfer to UCLA or UCB

Hello everyone, I have been lurking on these forums since my junior year of high school but finally went ahead and made an account as I am in need of some advice!

I am currently enrolled at UCD as a second year, but have decided to go ahead and apply to transfer to UCLA and UCB. My high school grades were pretty weak along with my extracurriculars and volunteer work, so it wasn’t too much of surprise to be waitlisted by UCD and then luckily get accepted.

I am currently a STEM major at UCD and have done pretty well in all of my courses. Stats aside, I just want to know what you all would recommend as far as filling out the application.

I feel like I have a pretty good chance at getting in to either, but as I am putting the finishing touches on my application prior to the November 30th due date, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to get some advice from all of you, of which I’m sure many have gone through this process before.

Please let me know if you guys have any tips, tricks, or things you wish you included/didn’t include in your application as I am sure they would prove very helpful!