<p>I am currently in the process of transferring out of my CC with a transfer degree in Anthropology and want to continue to get my B.A. in Anthropology. </p>
<p>I am looking into UCSC, UCSB, UCLA, and Cal - I would love to hear any and all input, from current or prospective students about these universities. </p>
<p>Here is some basic info on my current academic standing:
-I currently have a 4.0 GPA
-All prerequisites are done </p>
<p>By graduation:
-IGETC certified
-Transfer AA degree in Anthropology</p>
<p>Other:
-Weak ECs
-No experience in the field</p>
<p>You don’t really need legit experience in your field to transfer. Remember, you’re applying as an undergrad - not grad school. They’re not looking for any specific extracurricular that is completely related to your field. You can talk about other extracurriculars that influenced you to pursue an interest in social sciences. This can include volunteering, work experience, or research experience. It can also include clubs, ect.</p>
<p>The UC’s really don’t care about EC’s. Unless maybe you cured cancer or are a military vet. Everything else is negligible. You’ll get into all schools. Good luck!</p>
<p>@mermaker: I’m getting a B.A. so the emphasis is going to be on Cultural Anthropology.</p>
<p>@ocnative: Thanks for the insight!</p>
<p>@Snorlaz: I always wonder if experience counts for much or not because for the UC admittance essay for transfers they ask what experience you have in the field as part of the prompt.</p>
<p>@ocnative, wrong! I know Anthro majors at Cal that did absolutely nothing outside of JC but party. And I highly, highly doubt UCLA is going to care about EC’s. Something that has been said many times on this site. </p>
<p>EC’s can help people out. However, these are almost always the kids applying to impacted majors or kids who have lower GPA’s and are borderline. </p>
<p>We’re transfer students. They want us in and out ASAP. They admit plenty of freshmen every year that have a plethora of EC’s. I’d go as far as saying the PS is more important than EC’s. I’ll say this again, it’s incredibly hard for adcomms to gauge EC’s. </p>
<p>Having said all that, EC’s can ONLY help an applicant.</p>
<p>Honestly, if you’re going to do cultural, any UC will do. I’m at UCSB doing Biological Anthropology (emphasis in human nature) and the classes and professors are awesome. And you get the pretty good social life. I can’t even begin tell you how fun it’s been the last few days. Obviously UCLA and Cal are going to be the top ones, but try not to base your decision too much on rankings. Go somewhere where you’re going to be happy. You’ll be surprised how much free time your going to have majoring in Anth, so you don’t want to spend it being bored all the time at some studious school. I’m super biased so there’s that. I’m sure other schools are fun too, but UCSB does have a reputation and I can tell you from first hand experience that it’s ****en awesome!</p>
<p>@Snorlaz - I doubt any of that is true. Unless you actually spoke with an admission rep. I spoke with an admission rep and they said that your work experience, personal statement and extracurriculars is considered in the holistic review at Cal.</p>
<p>@mermaker: I’ve read that most UCs have stronger Cultural Anthro program in comparison to Biological Anthro but there also isn’t denying that some schools have stronger programs than others. </p>
<p>Could you give any further insight into UCSB? The program, courses, instructors, dorms, and campus life in general would be great if you had the time. I agree, the reputation is something that makes me hesitant, I’m not really into parties, greek life, sports or anything of the sort…</p>
<p>@ocnative, that confirmation bias is prevalent. You made a blanket statement in which no one can get into Cal or UCLA without any EC’s. I simply stated that I personally know two people that got into Cal and they didn’t have any EC’s. You don’t have to believe me but I’m telling the truth. </p>
<p>Admission reps are paid to get people to apply to the school. Plain and simple. The more people that apply, the better. I shouldn’t even have to tell you why. </p>
<p>You’d have to be naive to think that Cal’s “holistic review” is anything other than a backdoor to the AA ban. Someone telling you that the school looks at an applicants PS and EC’s doesn’t equate to “Extracurriculars only matter truly at Cal and UCLA. You won’t get into either of them if you did NOTHING.” That’s quite a leap right there. Think about that. You’re speaking for thousands upon thousands of kids that have been accepted when you couldn’t possibly know what their EC’s were haha.</p>
<p>If you want to become a lawyer, you’d better get over this idealistic nonsense. You are the kind of person that would benefit joining us on TLS.com. It’s clear you’re an ambitious kid and you want to go to UCB or UCLA. That’s great. I’m just telling you that if you want to go to a T14 LS and have an actual shot at landing biglaw or clerking, you’d better cool it with the EC mindset and focus on that GPA and LSAT.</p>