<p>What can I do to improve my application and therefore be more competitive for admission?</p>
<p>Basically, I’m a CCC student, at the end of this semester I’ll hopefully have a 3.92 GPA, and I hope to keep it that way through Spring 2010 semester, 60 transfer credits (semester), Sociology major, female minority (don’t know if it matters, but hey), 2 years ahead (currently 16, when I transfer I’ll be 17) because I graduated a year early and will finish 60 units after only one year of CC by Spring 2010. …And that’s pretty much all I have going for me. I don’t have any ECs and I don’t work, but I <em>know</em> that my writing skills are excellent, so I’m hoping that since my personal statement will be amazing, my chances will increase. What else can I do? I just feel it’s a bit late to start volunteering or working, so I don’t know what else <em>can</em> be done. Thanks for any help!</p>
<p>Ummm, just so you know sociology is an extremely female dominated major, its also extremely diverse. But seriously stop masturbating your own ego. You have a 3.92… if you really wanna be more competitive, get a job. Always looks good.</p>
<p>Have you finished the prereqs? I believe this is far more important than ECs. Just try to be slightly less pretentious in the personal essay and you’ll be fine. =P</p>
<p>holy **** you are barely turning 17, i hate you. i would love to be in the position you are in, then again its sociology aka soeasyology as they say. congrats on your stats though, im not trying to put you down or anything.</p>
<p>I graduated 2 years ahead with a 4.0 GPA and was a National Merit Semifinalist. Owned.</p>
<p>Seriously though, I guarantee you just posted this to stroke your own ego. What a joke. It couldn’t be easier to do what you did, you just have to be opportunistic. Young transfers aren’t as common as some of us delude ourselves into believing.</p>
<p>edelynly: What’s there to brag about? My whole point is that I don’t have any ECs or work experience going for me, and no interesting life experiences to bring, so I’m basically relying on my GPA and I’m wondering if that’s enough. As being a female and minority a bad thing when trying to get in? I don’t get it…</p>
<p>SimonPhase: Excuse me, but my point wasn’t that I would the only female and/or minority in the field, I was talking about over-all admission chances, and I mentioned that part because I wasn’t sure if it mattered or not. And from being on CollegeConfidential so long, I’ve pretty much noticed that people consider a 3.92 the same way they would a 2.0. Anything that isn’t a 4.0 apparently sucks. So there’s nothing to have an ego about.</p>
<p>SeeHerFly: I’ll be done with my prereqs by the end of Spring semester. I just have Math 112 (business calc) left for my major. And what do you mean? I’m not trying to come off as pretentious. There’s nothing to be particularly pretentious about. =/</p>
<p>samsizzle: yeah, i know soc is a way easy major (but I don’t intend to actually do anything with it, i’m just using it as a stepping stone for law school), but I’ve read that it’s pretty competitive at UCLA for soc majors.</p>
<p>CollegeHopeful: Well good for you. And once again, there’s really no ego to stroke. I’m basically riding on my GPA and my age. =/</p>
<p>Ooo easy tiger. It would seem you lack a holistic understanding of the admissions process and that people on this board generally have little to no understanding of cut offs and limits for admission. Instead of posting something like this you should just look at average GPA admissions for your major to UCLA. Honestly, I can almost guarantee that you came on here to have your ego built up and now that it has backfired you are getting really defensive. Its funny that you think you have been on here so long. I have been on here under multiple different names for far longer than you and have seen this a million different times. 3.92 is effectively a 4.0, especially for soc. Its also extremely obvious for how to become more competitive, get involved in clubs, get a job. Simple stuff…</p>
<p>Yes, you’re correct, I do lack an understanding of how it works, which is the reason I’m asking this question. And once again, I definitely don’t have anything to be egotistical about, considering that the average GPA admitted for my major was a 3.72, which is the highest avg. GPA of all the CL&S majors, and the admit rate is approximately 21%, which is the lowest out of that same group. So that makes my odds look kind of sucky in my opinion, since it’s so close and competitive with not much room for movement. But again, I <em>don’t</em> know if GPA and ECs only matter, which is exactly what I’m inquiring about. And if you actually read the last part of the question, I clearly say “I just feel it’s a bit late to start volunteering,” meaning that I know that volunteering, clubs, and work experience help, but that I’m afraid it would seem as if I just rushed to join a large number of activities for the sake of getting accepted, which (I think) would be bad. Sorry you feel as if asking for unofficial advice on how to improve my chances, when all I’m offering to them currently is my GPA, is “wanting my ego to be stroked,” but that’s your opinion and therefore not my problem. EOD.
So back to the <em>actual</em> subject, I would really appreciate it if anyone else can shed some light on how to improve my chances (without looking desperate for activities at the last minute). And I guess as a second question, <em>would</em> it in fact look desperate if I suddenly joined a lot of activities? Thank you!</p>
<p>You <em>will</em> get into UCLA if you maintain the same GPA. In all honesty, your odds, in my subjective <em>opinion</em>, are about 90% of getting <em>in</em>, and modestly higher <em>if</em> <em>you</em> have TAP. </p>
<p>That doesn’t <em>mean</em> that I find you any less <em>irritating</em> or <em>pretentious</em>. <em>Assuming</em> you don’t <em>write</em> <em>admissions</em> essays that are as preening or instantly dislikable as your initial post on this thread, your <em>strong</em> GPA will probably <em>get</em> you in. I’d worry <em>more</em> about <em>acquiring</em> the social skills you have <em>quite obviously</em> missed out on <em>developing</em> by not going to <em>school</em> with your peers for however <em>long</em> you have not <em>attended</em> with them.</p>
<p>Will you get into UCLA though? Yeah, probably. If this is your singular goal, you probably don’t have to change your behavior (ie: joining clubs, starting new activities, making friends) to achieve it. Your GPA will get you in- it the most important element of your application. So yeah, don’t sweat it, and for the love of god don’t post another comment bragging about your GPA and how you know your writing skills are excellent unless you want to **** me off and get flamed by a dozen people.</p>