<p>Like the title says how much do hardships weigh in at UCLA ?</p>
<p>I’ve been through a lot of hardships throughout high school and have had to take on responsibilities that no normal high school student can handle and has seriosly affected me academically.</p>
<p>Can you use the essay to show how hardships affected you academically and will you still have a decent chance?</p>
<p>Nobody really knows. To be honest, we all know for a fact that your GPA, SAT scores, and class rank will play the most important roles in admissions. Focus on that instead. No sad story will overcome a ridiculously low GPA, SAT score, or class rank.</p>
<p>Trust me, you won’t be the only one who has a struggling parent or lives in poverty or whatnot. It can help a bit, but only if you were already a well qualified applicant to begin with.</p>
<p>Agree with above post. Our GC told us not to flower up the essays for UC, they are not about sentimentality/emotional pull, they prefer the straight shooter. Scores are what matter most in that system. Given two people with similar scores, the hardship may or may not influence them, hard to say. There are other schools where this would be taken into consideration way more than the UC system.</p>
<p>My daughter’s dad died last year (among a number of other tragic events). She applied to UCLA and did get a supplemental application allowing her to elaborate on her “special circumstances”… so, maybe at some point they do consider hardship if they’re on the fence about an applicant. Her grades,stats, and extra-curriculars are outstanding to begin with though. It’s just a <em>really</em> hard school to get into – for anyone.</p>
<p>how hard is it to say “my husband” “ex-boyfriend” or “ex-husband”?</p>
<p>@ etg are you talking about the way @coquimom referred to the father of her child? </p>
<p>@OP I am just going to agree with all the input you have already received. I am guessing if you are a borderline applicant the hardships may play a part in their decision.</p>
<p>They care more about how you have prevailed despite your hardships. Everyone goes through difficult times/situations, what will set you apart is how you handled those difficulties.</p>
<p>Ok obviously everybody goes through hardships. But there are some hardships that much greater than the “regular” hardships a normal high school student may have, hardships that only a special person can overcome. Those are the types of hardships I’m talking about.</p>
<p>Look, we told you the answer. SAT, GPA, and class ranking. If you don’t meet those requirements with outstanding quality, no story will help you. Unless you somehow invented a cure for cancer or single handedly prevented World War 3, it’s like whatever.</p>
<p>If you are a borderline applicant and have numbers close the average and median stats of a typical admitted applicant, then your sad story might give you some leverage. Otherwise, just no. College admissions are based on merit, not sympathy. This isn’t a charity.</p>
<p>“If you are a borderline applicant and have numbers close the average and median stats of a typical admitted applicant, then your sad story might give you some leverage”
That’s what I wanted to hear</p>
<p>sob stories have a much bigger factor in private school simply because public school receive way too many applications to read everything. on top of that, ucla has the most applicants out of any undergrad university.
if you are a borderline applicant, they will probably look at your race, your parent’s history, and whether or not you’re out of state more than your actual essay.
but if you have the median stats of a typical admitted applicant, then you’ll probably get in anyways…</p>
<p>to etg: Yes, my husband died. This is about my daughter’s journey, however, so I chose to say “her dad died”… okay?</p>
<p>…and, frankly, yes it is still hard to say “my husband died”… why the comment? :/</p>
<p>@coquimom Please ignore etg’s insensitive comment. I am sorry for your loss :(</p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T589 using CC</p>
<p>etg is a punk ■■■■■ ignore the idiots.</p>
<p>Ouch…talk about ad hominem.
Anyway, I know that hardships can be a determining factor at berkeley. I don’t know if this is the case at UCLA.</p>
<p>Congrats on your admit, etg2013. I hope that in your success you’re able to grow a heart.</p>
<p>Received 1 C in bc calculus 1st semester, 1B in bc calculus second semester, 2 Bs in AP physics first and second semester, 1 B in bio first semester because of my close friend passing away. Also had 4 Bs in high school level middle school classes. Accepted with honors at UCLA and UCI.</p>
<p>This was during junior year, the most important year^. Make sure you write an extra essay explaining how you dealt and got better as result of the hardship, and have your GC write a statement in your LOR. The LOR will make the most difference, as it will establish whether the excuse is actually worth taking into consideration or not.</p>
<p>Also, based on comment above on how colleges base on merit not charity, the more competitive colleges really do make a genuine effort to give you a fair shot at getting in. If your excuse is BS, it will hurt more than help. In some cases, I would say it would be better to just not say anything about it.</p>