Is UCLA a realistic school for me?

Colleges & Universities University of California - Los Angeles
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- 3.9/ Weighted- 4.4
UCGPA- 4.6
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 33 English (9 Essay))
*Taking both again as I’ve only taken each once without prep so I hope to improve both. Also, deciding on whether or not to only send the one that I show stronger on, is this a good idea? (Meaning if I score a 34 on the ACT next time but only go up to a 2050 on SAT should I leave the SAT off the resume)
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>Class rank is a bit wonky at my school, but I’m ranked in the 96% percent tile which means only I’m in the top 5% of my class</p>

<p>My essays are very good (The one good thing about having a congenital medical condition that is incurable)</p>

<p>My LORs are very good (Have 3 including one from the president of the first high school I attended)</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 both a History National Honors Society and a Science National 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 (About 150-200 Community Service hours)</p>

<p>Background:
White Male
Income 200k+
Out of State Applicant
Have a medical disorder (Bleeding Disorder)
Major Intended: Neuroscience (but I’ve heard undeclared gives you a better shot of being accepted, is this true?)</p>

<p>Misc:
First Aid/ CPR Certified
Can Read, Write, and almost fluently speak Spanish
I also once saved on old lady’s cat from a tree (Not really resume material but i thought you should know)</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>

<p>UCLA is my dream so I’m really hoping my work has paid off!</p>

2

<p>Everything about your resume is spot on. Although I am a little bit skeptical about that 4.6 uc gpa (really high I thought maximum was 4.3 or 4.4?), you have a good chance (High match- match) and I only say this because you could write about your condition AND your wonderful extracurriculars are a winning factor for Ucla… but neuroscience IS impacted which means it will be a hard process to get into once your in the university. To be honest, your the real deal. I wish my uc gpa was as high as yours (mines barely under 4.0) Good luck for U.C.L.A!!!</p>

3

<p>@IBGuy101 I thought the same thing about my UCGPA so I checked it multiple times and it seems to be correct so I’m not sure if the way my school does GPA affects it (I should mention we are on a 100 scale but then the school released us our GPA’s so I’m not exactly sure how they came up with it to be honest) but if its correct I’m so very excited. Thank you so much for the reassurance on my resume I’m in the phase where I’m freaking out right now ahaha. You brought up Neuroscience being IMPACTEDn andot sure what that means, could you explain? Does that mean I could apply neuroscience and get into the school but be rejected from neuroscience? </p>

4

<p>@Jmarcin4‌ yes it does mean that even if you do get in, you <em>might</em> be undeclared because neuroscience is a very hard major to get into but not impossible. Good luck!</p>

5

<p>Out of personal experience, it was easier for me to get a higher score on the ACT after practice, especially as my SAT score just dropped my second time around. I took ACT science practice tests and my score jumped 8 points, but then again we’re all different people.</p>

<p>In a perfect world, your APs could be better but you still took some last year and are showing initiative in the coming year. Also, make sure that your essay focuses on what you can bring to the school, and what makes you an impressive candidate, but definitely tie in something unique, like your condition, to it.</p>

<p>Admissions are really hard to predict and often random, but I feel that you have a good shot at UCLA. Make sure to find some other schools that you would be happy at, too!</p>

6

<p>@truestunner‌ thanks for the vote of confidence! I definitely have other schools that I would be happy at if UCLA doesn’t accept me. I thought the ACT was easier the first time so I’m sorta in the mindset that my second ACT is gonna be better than my second SAT but we will have to wait and see. I’m currently working on my personal statements and I’m trying g to get a good balance of how I would be a good for along with how in a unique individual </p>

7

<p>@Jmarcin4‌ Good luck!</p>