<p>I know that it’s pathetic of me, but I’m still bothered that I wasn’t accepted at UC Berkeley (my dream college.) I have a 3.9 GPA (4.0 in my major, which is Poli Sci) and all of my major prereqs either done or in progress. I didn’t have any extracurricular activities or groups or whatever, but I had the advantage of applying at the age of 18 owing to the fact that I’ve been taking CCC classes since 16 (I was in a homeschool program that let me take my entire junior and senior years at a CCC.) I wrote my essay (it wasn’t my best, but my essays are usually considered great by my profs) about how I, during my shift from public school to homeschool and then to my CCC, discovered myself intellectually and about how my major fit perfectly with the intellectual character that I’ve found I have. I just don’t get it. I guess I just want to be told to shut up so that I can get on with my life.</p>
<p>why don’t you post your essay so people can tell you if your essay was really that great. You probably should have done some extracurricular activities since poli sci is in social studies which is a very difficult department to get into.</p>
<p>if it makes u feel worse, i got into cal with 3.66 ECON major. i had ***** loads of experience starting starting from working at the age of 17 ~30 hrs a week until now (19). I also met henry paulson (ex-us tresury secretary) and did many stuff in my major …
guess tht gave me an edge over ppl like u</p>
<p>But however, at Moorpark college, i knew a guy (17)who transfered to CAL aftr being homeschooled and majoring in applied math. Did tutoring here though</p>
<p>Also, the age isn’t really an impressive factor. At the Cal transfer reception they told us the youngest person to transfer was 15.</p>
<p>I’d be bothered too if I were you. Is Poli Sci really that competitive? Jeez…</p>
<p>Yeah, I had guessed that my lack of work experience, groups, etc would be my biggest detriment. I knew I should have joined a political campaign or a lobbying group or even the student senate, but instead I chose to spend most of my time reading about politics instead of actually trying it because that’s what I enjoy more.</p>
<p>This was clearer in my essay, but it wasn’t so much my age as it was the way I pulled myself up by the bootstraps after some pretty hard early years (I basically went from looking like a certain drop-out degenerate at 14 to being a good deal ahead of most people my age at 18 through power of will).</p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t have the essay on this computer and there’s no convenient way I can get it .I tried to imply in the edit that it wasn’t that it was “really that great”, just good enough that I found my rejection surprising.)</p>
<p>I know I’m sounding really self important with all this, but indulging yourself in that from time to time is therapeutic I think.</p>
<p>Hmmm…did you appeal? What do you think your reason was? That’s ****ty. I honestly think you should have gotten in.</p>
<p>So where will you be going now? Where else did you transfer, and what did the other colleges say?</p>
<p>I got into Cal, but choose not to go. I don’t get the hype of Berkeley. It really does not make THAT big of a difference. Everything you can learn there you can learn at UCLA or most other UC. </p>
<p>If you are a Poli Sci major and plan to go to grad school for your major, going to Berkeley vs UCLA or UCSD won’t change your admission success. And if you don’t plan to go to grad school in any form, who cares where you got your BA if it is all you have.</p>
<p>I plan to go to law school and all that really matters is the LSAT as long as you have a decent GPA at a decent school.</p>
<p>Shut up, and get on with your life. </p>
<p>Glad I could help.</p>
<p>I still got into UCLA, so I dont really consider myself too deprived academically (the difference is pretty negligible with my major.) I was disappointed more because of the fact that I feel more at home in the Bay area than anywhere else (and I hate LA), the superficial side of me that feels like UCB is just a higher status school, and the simple fact that I had wanted it for so long.</p>
<p>Dem Bones,</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>Sincerely,
Raincoats</p>
<p>well it is too bad you were a loser because Berkeley looks for students that are active in social activities or extracurriculars related to students’ majors</p>
<p>Iildimsum7,
I may be a loser, but how many obscure and ultimately useless facts can you recite ad nauseam about obscure topics that nobody in their right mind would think twice about. Bwahahaha, I win.</p>
<p>I didn’t have any extracurricular activities and social activities really, and I got in to UCB. UCLA is a great school, and LA is a great city (especially the SF Valley!). Don’t worry, you will be fine.</p>
<p>It’s probably because your pretentious holier-than-thou attitude shared by most homeschool students bled through in your essay. In retrospect, don’t you wish you’d developed social skills in a regular high school instead of working so hard alienating yourself just to fall short of expectations in the college admissions game?</p>
<p>Do you go to Canada College, raincoats?</p>
<p>What major, Hijynx99?</p>
<p>hey, hey. Give this guy a break; most people would feel bummed in his shoes.</p>
<p>Anyway, UCLA is a wonderful school. Hope you’ll enjoy it.</p>
<p>History (though I was accepted as Poli Sci as a backup major).</p>
<p>Are home school students really that pretentious? I do not have a lot of experience with them, but they seem to be more timid and therefore not so ego-inflated. I have always pitied home school students for missing out on real life and the most important aspect of learning, interaction.</p>