How Stong is my Resume for UCLA

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>I’m currently a rising senior living in NJ. I feel as though I have a fairly strong resume, but I know how many applications UCLA gets and how a lot of really talented and intelligent people get denied every year. Just so you know I’m planning on applying to the Neuroscience major if this will make a difference on my resume.</p>

<p>My resume for college up to this point is:</p>

<p>Grades:
GPA: Unweighted- 3.8/ Weighted- 4.2
SAT I : 1990 (690 Reading 670 Math 630 Writing)
SAT II: 700 Chemistry, taking Biology/History in October
ACT Plus Writing- 32 ( 35 Reading, 30 Math, 32 Science 30 Writing (9 Essay))
*I feel as though I show better on my ACT then my SAT so I’m undecided whether I will send both of just ACT and SAT II, thoughts?
Up to this point I’ve taken 2 AP’s and 14 honors courses, and My senior year I’m taking 5 (maybe 6 depending upon scheduling conflict) AP’s and 1 IB class. </p>

<p>My AP’s to date are AP English Language and Composition (Scored 5) and AP Physics AB (Scored 3). </p>

<p>Next Year I have;</p>

<p>AP Economics, AP European History, AP Biology, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Stats, and IB Psychology</p>

<p>Extra Curricular’s:
Part of Lasiallian Youth Community Service Group (Grades 9,10,11)
Key Club (Grade 12)
FBLA Member (Grade 10,11,12) (Officer grade 11,12)
SADD (Students against destructive decisions) Club member (Grade 9,10,11)
*I transferred High Schools mid-way through Junior Year so I will have a couple more clubs for grade 12 (Most likely debate and mock trial).</p>

<p>Member of National Scholar Program for gifted students (Grade 11) </p>

<p>Member of National Honors Society and Math Honors Society
Currently in progress of founding History Honors Society at my school</p>

<p>Played Basketball all four years (2 varsity) and will play varsity Golf grade 12</p>

<p>I also have a part time job filing for a law firm in NYC that I go to about 4-6 times a month (Grades 10,11,12)
Also have on online tee-shirt store that I run
Have babysat for multiple families consistently all four years of high school</p>

<p>In addition to the above jobs listed I also post video game commentaries to both Youtube/Twitch and have earned a small amount of money from that (Though I spend about 30 hours a week combined working on those) </p>

<p>Volunteer at both a soup kitchen and a food bank all four years of high school</p>

<p>Misc:
I have skills in video editing and have had some videos featured on popular Youtube channels
First Aid/ CPR Certified
Passion for music remixing
Can Read, Write, and almost fluently speak Spanish
I also once saved on old lady’s cat from a tree</p>

<p>If you guys have any advice on how I could improve my resume and want to tell me any other things feel free to do so!</p>

2

<p>Your resume is pretty weak compared to other applicants. Bring your SAT up to around 2200+ for a better chance. Your EC’s aren’t as strong either. For advice, I’d say don’t make any spelling mistake like you did on your title.
UCLA: Reach.</p>

3

<p>2200+ would be a solid score for any school, not just UCLA. Obviously a higher score would be helpful.</p>

<p>Just to give you an idea, a CA resident friend of mine got in Undeclared w/ a ~1960 or something, but had pretty strong ECs, competed at a very high level in both sports he did and put a lot of time into that, but his AP scores/grades were decent.</p>

4

<p>Quick side note, I just calculated my UC GPA from their calculator and it gives me a 4.6 (Weighted), not a 4.2.</p>

5

<p>AchieveLife Feel like an idiot for not looking over my title spelling, and I can assure you I would never be that careless on a college application. I’m taking the SAT/ACT again and hoping for at least a 2150(SAT) and 34(ACT). I’ve only taken them each once and didn’t study for either so I think my grades will go up after I study. Also, why do you categorize my EC’s as weak? (I know they are NOT strong, but I was under the impression that they were not that bad).</p>

<p>Adidinecsu Do you think it would be in my best interest to apply undeclared? I don’t know if that would help/hurt my application, any thoughts?</p>

6

<p>Will you be full pay?</p>

7

<p>Dr. Google, I have qualified for scholarships, but not financial aid</p>

8

<p>@Jmarcin4 4.6 UCGPA? Seems oddly high but nevertheless I never said your EC’s were weak I just stated that they are not AS strong as some UCLA applicants. Although we can never know whether or not you’ll get in, there’s numerous factors. Also, considering that you’re OOS, do you believe you’re able to pay for it to as mentioned by Dr. Google? Some scholarships will help but it’s still expensive for OOS residents and they do not provide financial aid. It’s still a low reach but if you can bring your SAT up you will gain competitiveness among other applicants. Good luck! :)</p>

9

<p>AchieveLife Yeah I thought it was high too so I checked again and I think its correct. Also, I apologize, I misread your EC’s comment and did not mean to sound angry, I actually just wanted to know if you had any advice to strengthen them (Such as gaining leadership roles in clubs). I’m really trying to make the application the best it can be so any advice helps! In addition, I’m lucky in the fact that the expense is not really a concern of mine because I’m lucky enough to be in a position where I can afford the most expense schools (50-65K). Finally, I am taking both the SAT/ACT again and I’ll have to choose whether or not to send both or just one. I think that if I get above a 2100 on the SAT I’ll send both, but if my SAT’s come back and aren’t what I hoped, I might only send my ACT’s because I’m sure I’ll score at least one point better than before (which would be at least a 33) and from what I’ve read online a 33 is good enough for some very competitive schools. Sorry if I sounded angry/defensive at all in my posts, it is just that UCLA is my dream school and getting in would be amazing! Thanks for wishing me luck and good luck on all your applications as well!</p>

10

<p>Another Update, my school just released official GPA’s and mine are 3.9(UW) and 4.4 (W)</p>

11

<p>As long as you don’t apply to engineering or computer science you should be ok. Plenty students I’ve heard got in with similar SAT and ECs. But it’s a match for you and that means you have 50% chance of getting in.</p>

12

<p>I would say the number one thing that is going to make a difference right now is your SAT/ACT. Retake one of those tests, and get AT LEAST a 2200/33. Your GPA and course rigor put you well in the range for UCLA. I would hate to see you get rejected just because of a test score, so put in some solid effort between now and Nov 31st! </p>

<p>Your ECs are set in stone at this time. And trust me, UC colleges value ECs far less private schools. The government laws they have to abide by gives them little flexibility, which means your numbers will matter way more than your other activities. ECs will only make a difference if you have national recognition in them, and its a bit late for that. </p>

13

<p>@jmarcin4 how is your uc gpa so high with 2 AP courses…</p>

14

<p>I think UCs do not add one extra point for Honor class for OOS.</p>

15

<p>Is the weighted gpa a UC GPA? UC GPA’s are generally capped, in terms of how many weighted classes you can use, and only AP’s are generally weighted OOS. On the other hand, I think UCLAi is one of a few UC’s that also consider un capped GPA’s. They probably have some limits on what they would weight, and probably not OOS honors classes. </p>

<p>2014 preliminary freshman profile; Based on GPA, 4.0’s "fully weighted "GPA’s and above had a 37 percent admit rate. Weighted classes and number of “A-G’s” seems to account for a lot. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof14.htm”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof14.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>2013
<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof13.htm”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof13.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

16

<p>@sallymeno11 @DrGoogle My school has an accelerated program (basically honors courses) that has been previously screened by UC (along with many other OOS public universities) and these courses get the weight of in-state honors courses [Info given me to by my counselor]</p>

17

<p>Well in that case you may have slightly better chance with your UC GPA.</p>

18

<p>@puzzled123 thanks for the advice! I’ve signed up for both tests again and wll prep hard for both. The one question I have is do you think I should only send the one I do better on (Say i get a 2200 SAT and 35 ACT should I only send ACT). From what I’ve read online ACT and SAT are looked at as equal by colleges and neither one is considered better, but here in the northeast people seem to be under the impression that you either send just SAT or both SAT and ACT, but never just your ACT.</p>

19

<p>With the scores that you actually have, only send the ACT. If you improve, send only the best one. UC’s don’t expect to see both. Curious, with all the great schools nationwide, including privates that would give merit scholarships, why pay OOS at UCLA?</p>

20

<p>@maggpie The real reason I’m looking to UCLA is because they do have a highly ranked neuroscience major, but it is also not out of my academic range (or so I hope). On top of that, with it being such a highly regarded research institution, and having a large network (though I’ve read that its hard to actually get into this network) is does offer some things that other schools can’t offer. Many top schools for neuroscience (Ivies, Wash. St Louis, Johns Hopkins) seem like they wouldn’t be in my range of academics as well. I’m applying to several other schools (the only public schools I’m applying to are UCLA and UT Austin) but I’m skeptical of my chances at those universities like the ones previously mentioned. As much as I would love to go to UPENN (my dad/uncle/grandfather went there so I visited about a million times and its beautiful and it has Neurobiology, not mention I love the feel of the campus and the way they tackle academics) I don’t see myself being accepted there unless I do something crazy for a hook within the next two months or so. It’s hard to really decide what schools to apply to because I have to balance dreams with reality. If you know of good schools with neuroscience majors that fit my academic profile I’d love to hear about them! Anyways, thanks for the advice on standardized tests!</p>