Hi! My 10th grade UC weighted GPA is a 3.9 which isn’t very high considering I took 3 honors/AP courses (I only weighted 2 when calculating my GPA). But I know that through this year I learned how to study better and that my studies mean more to me now, so I will be working harder junior year (3 APs). I did a crap load of EC (var sport, county finalist mock trial team member, officer for a few clubs, and an executive ASB position next year!) I’m very passionate about EC, but my family thinks they’re a waste of time and I don’t blame them for thinking so. Do EC even make a difference in college apps? I’m also a minority (nepal) and immigrant, if that helps 
but I don’t like using affirmative action to get in if someone deserved it more. Any ways, what do you think are my chances of getting into a UC (maybe berk, LA, SD?) for an political science? Thank you!
yeah ECs are good for college application. do what you are passionate about and the colleges will know
A 3.9 GPA and a ‘crapload’ (I love it!) of ECs in 10th grade is a great start and sets you up well to be a strong candidate for all the UCs. UCLA, UCB and even UCSD are a stretch but, could happen.
You are off the hook on affirmative action, UCs (and CSUs for that matter) don’t consider race in admission at all. Which is a good thing because, now everyone is a minority in CA. (Latinos are now the largest block at about 38%, followed by white at 37% then Asian with 16%)
Read it for yourself here:
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article25485157.html
Keep up the good work, keep your GPA close to 4.0 and get some strong test scores and you’ll be in good shape.
Use this link to see what it took to get into each UC campus this year:
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/freshman/profiles/
Davis, for example, an average admitted student had a 4.07 and 1920 SAT,
ECs are tricky for the UCs. You have to be in the ball park or they don’t get you anything. Even single-handedly curing cancer in your spare time won’t overcome a 3.1 and 1650 for UCD. Similarly, you don’t need a ‘crap-load’ of ECs if you are well above their average GPA/SAT for admission. A 4.3/2200 is likely to get into Davis, even if all they did was study.
Where they matter most is sorting through the kids in the middle. A 3.8/1850 with an Eagle Scout, 4 years of a sport, 4 years of jazz band and a 2 year part time job that ties back into the sport probably beats out a 3.9/1900 with nothing in the EC bucket. It does get kind of abstract and in some ways, it comes down to how it is conveyed in the application essay. Usually, quality beats quantity, so, being passionate about them is perfect.
Great job so far.
Good luck.
I didn’t realize that EC’s weren’t as important as GPA until this year and will surely focus on it more next year 
thank you!
BUMP anyone else want to add their two cents?