<p>I'm 23 years old and looking to transfer to UC Davis from my local JC within the next couple semesters. I'm currently just barely above the 3.1 GPA limit that my school counselor told me they will accept, so I'm assuming that extracurricular activities will be an important part of my application. For the last 2 years I've supported myself (I don't pay rent as I live with my parents, but I pay all my own bills, cell phone, car payment, insurance, gas, food, even started a Roth IRA, you name it) entirely from a small online business that I started myself out of pocket and have maintained by myself. Its legitimate, ie, I'm licensed, I have a sellers permit, I pay the dreaded self employment tax, etc and I do turn a profit month after month. It has very little, check that, essentially NOTHING to do with my prospective major (Civil/Structural Engineering) but I DO think it shows a little bit about what I'm capable of.</p>
<p>Should I focus on this kind of thing in an essay or otherwise on a college application? Will it help me despite being not directly relevant to the major? I'm very worried in the extracurricular activity department, because other than this business and placing 2nd in a Theoretical Physics Olympiad, I don't have much to show for myself.</p>
<p>Congrats on setting up a fairly successful small business!</p>
<p>As for getting into Davis…you do have a unique situation and the business does help your cause. I am assuming you spend a lot of time on your business and thus do not have much time left over ECs. Work is a huge EC in an of itself! I would definitely explain your situation in your essay as it will show admissions that you were a busy guy trying to support yourself. Also, you still have time to do ECs if you haven’t applied yet! Join some clubs on campus of your interest/create some clubs/become an officer of a club. Do community service, etc. Your GPA is on the low side, so definitely work on getting it up if you can. Also you can play the whole “starting the business really helped me with my communication/leadership skills” card. Good Luck!</p>
<p>A roth IRA may look distinguished, but a young man talking about retirement just looks a bit contrived. You could mention the business, but you have no employees, and you probably don’t have insurance.</p>
<p>it won’t matter much for UC Davis though, you’d probably be better off increasing your GPA to 3.3-3.5 than starting a business. FYI the only colleges that really look into your ECs would be berkeley and LA</p>
<p>@andrew great job man, even though your major isnt business or econ i think you have a great chance at getting in. I am a fellow entrepreneur also (Best Auto Glass) [Auto</a> Glass Repair Shop in San Jose | San Jose Crakcked Windshield Repair and Replace | Window Tinting](<a href=“http://www.autoglasssanjose.com%5DAuto”>http://www.autoglasssanjose.com) and im waiting for admission requests from berkeley, usc, and UCLA. I dont know if i’ll get in though, my calculus class was “business calculus” and berkeley doesnt recognize it on assist.org. I have a 3.8 GPA at my local community college (De Anza College). I dropped out of high school and started my own business at 18 years old. Now my business has grown to over 300k in revenues with three employees. i know berkeley is always looking to take chances on kids like us but i dont know if they will accept me. I wish they would tell me already. What do u guys think???</p>
<p>^if you applied to haas they won’t even consider you. if you are missing one pre-req, you are automatically rejected. business calc is not calculus.</p>
<p>Your ECs are amazing, but I don’t think you will be admitted to any schools that require calculus-but hey, I’m no authority! Business calculus is an intermediate algebra pre req, which means you would have to take trig, geometry, precal, and calc1a and calc 1b; 5 classes total, if you did not take them. Clearly, this would take forever and cost a lot of money. Business Calc is calculus, but it is not as rigorous. Some UCs accept business cal as well as CSUs. </p>
<p>If you had done the pre reqs, I would say you would have a beautiful chance, but those classes you are missing are critical. </p>
<p>@ihateceltics. tru, thats what i thought but there is admission by exception at the UC’s. I have about a one percent chance of getting in for that. I also applied to Marshall, and Marshall does recognize business calculus as a requirement for business. I’ve stated my infatuation with their entrepreneurship programs and im willing to think these schools arent programmed like robots and actually take into consideration ones accomplishments. Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>I bet you play the megamillions too…haha. I mean if you like the odds of 1 %, then kudos for you. But like most things, the goal is to maximize our odds!</p>
<p>^yes i am aware of marshall’s requirements, as well as haas’s requirements. for marshall u can take business calc. whatever this “exception” rule is, trust me, it does not have any relevance to haas. if u are missing ONE prereq u are rejected. anyway, we don’t even know if the OP applied to haas so w/e</p>
<p>@lintij i started an auto glass repair and replacement company. Basically i replace Automotive Glass, Window Diagnostics and i expanded my business by doing window tinting also. I also helped my cousin with capital to start his own business recently sanjose-customs.com If anyone lives in the bay area or is in the future come visit us.!!!</p>
<p>I remember when Haas had the 9 breath requirements of which 7 had to be completed at cc. I know they changed the requirements, so I am not sure of the current requirements. I would probably have to agree with iHateCeltics. But I would assume if you had good stats, good ecs, and missed a minor class, you would still have some chance. The problem is, he is missing major prereqs ( meaning more than one). And the math would take forever to complete.</p>
<p>@ OP</p>
<p>I am sure you have a good chance, and you stick out.</p>
<p>@thebigshow i agree with both of you guys, im a long shot. I did complete trig, stats, and finite. The reason why i ended up taking business calc was because my accounting teacher pushed me to do bus calc at the last minute (the summer B4 applications started). I was planning to just go to SJSU and or UCSC because i still wanted to manage my business. but i will say we handle the same concepts in calc 1a.</p>
<p>I think business calc goes into calc1b, and maybe calc 1c. It is pretty much calc without the proofs and trigonometry. </p>
<p>And the word problems are 10x easier. </p>
<p>I never took the class, but I tutor it. As a econ major, it is just a fascinating class because it is more pertinent (or narrowly focused) to business than calc1a. </p>
<p>Hell hopefully they let you in and maybe you could take precalc in the summer and calc 1a during your first semester…</p>
<p>Well, do what maximizes your own self-interest. If you went to sjsu or ucsc, I can guarantee you that you will gain the skills required to grow your business. Haas is just a name; by that I mean it is good for jobs. And I am sure you are going to make more than most Haas graduates who end up landing an accounting job…</p>
<p>@ihateceltics. to be honest i kno haas is way more competitive than the econ program, but i am already an established entrepreneur and it seems logical that i had a better chance @ haas. plus, haas only requires one quarter of calculus, while econ requires two quarters. I just doubt that they automatically throw away your app without reading your essay or actually review who the person is.</p>