Hello, I currently go to Foothill Community College and as it looks, I will end up going there two years and transferring out under TAG (Transfer Admission Guarantee) to UC Davis and this TOTALLY satisfies me. All I need is a 3.3 GPA to be guaranteed a spot and I believe I’ll end up with between a 3.5 and 3.75 (more likely the higher side, I might even be able to get above 3.8 if I take more classes). I’m majoring in ECS (Engineering And Computer Science) and minoring in Economics. But I’m now considering spending an extra third year to possibly go to a better school (I’d love to go to an even better UC school like my dream school UCLA).
If I take a third year I will probably end up getting between a 3.8 and a 3.9 since I will be taking A LOT of easy/average classes (but still useful for my field) and will be able to have a slightly lighter load my first two years. But I think maybe more importantly; I’ll have lots of free time to very productively use. I’ll be able to work in my field at a tech company for a year as an intern, I know several people at Google so I might be able to get an internship there (which would look fantastic) and if that doesn’t work I have another one I know for a fact I can get.
[Btw the short version of the next paragraph is the third year would allow me to work on a bunch of different business ventures I’m pursuing that could really make me stand out from other applicants] ↓
The third year would also importantly allow me to work on/complete several business ventures/sources of income I’m working on. What I’m about to list off are all just simply possibilities of course though, no guarantees (but I do believe I can make them happen). I have two business ideas for a website and an app that I could finally have time to do the coding for and possibly make a reality. Both of them are very original ideas I’m surprised no one has done yet and I could be hitting gold with them, but then again maybe not since it’s a very competitive market. I also have a novel series I’m writing that I would like to try and get published (or put into some sort of profitable media). I also have a YouTube Network I run; think essentially a private advertising company. We get YouTubers to let us put ads from advertisers on their videos and in exchange we get a cut of the profit. Now it is a total wild card as it stands (it seems to be doing well so far though) but it’s definitely within the realm of possibility that within three years I’m making a five figure income a year from it and it could end up growing into something special. That third year would allow it to grow more alongside my YouTube channel. Speaking of, I have a YouTube channel with over 10,000 subscribers I could get to approach or pass 100,000 subscribers (Which would raise the money I make from it from a minimum of $1,000 a year to a minimum of $10,000 a year). I think this third year could really let me show off to colleges that I’m not just another random student, but someone looking to innovate in their field and be a leader.
The thing is I have NO CLUE how much all these unique business ventures could trump someone having a GPA higher than mine by 0.1 or 0.2 (I think in the written portion of my applications I could explain why these ventures are important to my major and why I choose this over getting an extra 0.1 or 0.2 in my GPA; I’m a fairly good writer). Also on colleges a few last things worth noting is I’d be interested in going to private schools if somewhat significantly better than UCLA (but my performance in high school was mediocre since I always planned on going to community college, which could stop that from being possible, although granted I would hope college performance and actual innovation in my field could help overwrite that). Also for UCLA (my dream school, it’s also close to the YouTube headquarters/YouTube Space LA which could really help me with the two YouTube things) they have something called TAP that would REALLY raise my chances of getting in, but I’d have to go into Physics for my undergrad and try to switch to my intended major for Grad School (would love opinions on that). Also guys on my transcript I’ll be Hispanic which should help too I think.
Anyway thank you for any responses, this stuff is very important to my future so it’s VERY much appreciated!