<p>i was told:</p>
<p>Hello, cja1130, it appears that you have not posted on our forums in several weeks, why not take a few moments to ask a question, help solve another member's problem, or just join a conversation?</p>
<p>so i'll try to give you my two cents.</p>
<p>i'm kind of weary that counselors are giving that kind of advice. i know a handful of people from my community college who got into cal with a 3.3-3.5 gpa, but one was the president of the student govt, and he wrote about his experiences immigrating to this country, overcoming the language barriers, going to a community college, high school, and language schools to help improve his english/communication skills and then having success in speech and debate a couple of years after. he wrote about starting a business and how that business sustains his family and other ECs he was in. of course it was flowery, and most people dont have experiences like that, but to say gpa is the only criteria that matters would be a lie. because from what i've seen here at cal (in my poli sci classes) so far, most of the students are well-rounded, friendly, and ridiculously smart and i dont think GPA alone would be a good indicator of that. i think gpa would be too one-dimensional for it to be the only thing that mattered. </p>
<p>i think admissions officers here at cal like to see growth. not only that, i think they want you to differentiate yourself. they want you to show how what youve learned in life/school can be applied to the "bigger picture" and how you will impact that picture. (how you will contribute back to society) </p>
<p>my gpa wasnt that great, and it took me awhile to bring it up from a 3.0 but my essays were gold!</p>
<p>i wrote about how student govt and the issues that it faced required the same processes to solving them as if they were world issues. in essence, it was just a microcosm of real world politics. i wrote about how the skills i learned in student gov't were skills necessary in the real world. basically, in a smaller context student gov't was the means by which i learned how to recognize, and develop solutions to problems. because of it, i improved my communication skills, critical thinking, etc. which is also necessary to have success in the political arena. i wrote how success at a smaller level only makes me that much wiser and more able to cure and improve poverty, illiteracy and such things i've seen growing up for a little bit in a 3rd world country.</p>
<p>anyway, it was something like that. i havent read that essay since last year. </p>
<p>maybe this helps.</p>
<p>get involved. make a difference. and give back. there are tons of kids from all over the place w/ stellar gpas, but do they all get into cal? no. distinguish yourself.</p>
<p>regards,
cja</p>