I’ve been told a lot of conflicting information such as how having extracurriculars is important. Some people told me that EC’s are not important and that it’s solely based on your performance in your major prep courses / completion. I’ve also heard that engineering doesn’t care much about essays.
So anyone know what’s the most important thing? Do essays / EC’s really matter?
Having an extremely strong academic record is necessary but insufficient, and extracurriculars/essays must count for a lot, simply by looking at the numbers. In general, you need a 3.85+ GPA to be competitive, but I know a lot of people who had 4.0s but did not get in, so non-GPA factors absolutely do count.
FWIW, an admissions rep from UCLA told my son that volunteer work didn’t matter, explaining that, basically, they know engineering students don’t have time for that. But like I say, for what it’s worth.
I’ve gone to college fairs and talked to many UC admission officers but all I can say is that to my understanding yes, extracurriculars are important… You don’t have to have like 10 but for engineering it’s nice if you have internships or other kinds of experience which will also help you when you write your required PIQ which asks how you have prepared for your upper divs. This essay is the most important so I feel as though this is why both are important for admission to UCLA and Berkeley for Engineering.