UCLA: GPA, Essay, or Activity?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Out of these three components, what do UCLA’s admission look at the most?</p>

<p>I met with 2 UCLA couselors, and each told me different story.</p>

<p>One told me: As long GPA is not very low (below 3.5), admissions won’t really care about GPA; instead, they will put more heavy emphasis on essay to know about your personal background and life experience. And most important of all, Family Responsibility is the biggest component. So you should care most about building up experience and expressing yourself through essay.</p>

<p>conclusion: Essay > GPA</p>

<p>Another counselor told me: Unlike the freshman admission, the UCLA won’t really look at your volunteer/activity as much. However, they will look at the intensity of the couses you took, and most important of all, your GPA. Most admission committee don’t even read more than 4 lines of each of your essays. You should definitely focus on getting 4.0. Try not to put too much emphasis on activities. It is good, but not as important.</p>

<p>conclusion: GPA > Activity & Essay</p>

<p>Which should I believe?</p>

2

<p>that’s a really good post, i’m curious as to what the answer is as well. My bet would fall with counselor # 1. I think since so many students have good gpas they want to really get the ones that stand out from the rest of the crowd. My gut feeling says that 3.5 is the “magical” number however I would classify it into two groups…a 3.5 to a 3.79 and a 3.8+ I think essays are VERY important as it shows them your character and what you had to go through during this time at a ccc. I don’t think course work is that bad, as long as you have a good chunk of your pre-reqs done when you apply (i’ll have 4/5 after fall quarter) and grade trends (obviously if there was a time in which you did bad hopefully it’s early on because they need to predict what you’ll be getting in the winter and spring). I’m sure what counselor # 2 meant was that your taking clases that are meaningful to ur major…someone who is majoring in MCB isn’t taking art history and other classes that don’t relate to the major.</p>

3

<p>I think that in fact, both counselors were right. Firstly, there is no set formula. Essay > GPA or GPA > EC and Essay. That, is a myth.</p>

<p>Firstly, lets begin with the major. If you are in an impacted major say Biz Econ or Communications, the main thing to do would be to complete your major prep courses, ALL of them. Just leaving even one course undone would result in, I predict, two things: Either your app would be rejected or if you’re missing one course and you’ve a 4.0, I don’t know how much consideration they might take there. But to be on the safe side, do all major prep courses for these majors and maintain a high Major GPA. You are after all competing with many other equally qualified people.</p>

<p>Moving on. I think the most important thing the admissions people want to see is that you have maximized your time at C.C. By that, I mean that it doesn’t matter if you have spent that time working 30 hours a week, or volunteering at a library, or having various internships, or even taking care of your children, ALL these count. </p>

<p>For example: say you’re a decent student, GPA is within the range of the other applicants. You don’t have any EC’s but you do explain in your essay some family circumstance that has prevented you from joining clubs on campus etc. They wont hold it against you.</p>

<p>However, if it appears that you have been taking say 7 units a semester, not working, no feasible reason to why you haven’t been pushing yourself harder, it will look bad in the application.</p>

<p>So yes, GPA is important. The essay is too. They are complements. Think of them as a package. The essay is there to fill in the details of your life that the GPA cannot explain. UCLA and UCB take both into serious consideration. I cannot speak for the other UC’s.</p>

<p>The good thing about transfer admissions is that they more forgiving in terms of student circumstances. Just keep the GPA up, maximize whatever time you have wisely and no one can tell you, my GPA is better than yours therefore I will get in. The same goes for EC’s. Complete major prep! Try your best to do so; this applies for any major but is required for high impacted majors and competitive programs such as the sciences and engineering.</p>

<p>Most of the major prep courses, if not all, are prerequisites for upper division classes at the UC. They want to see you complete those classes because if you enter as a junior without the prereq’s, you will have to take those at the UC. This will slow down your progress at the UC when the rest of your course mates can move on to upper div classes. Some major prep classes are sequences too. By that I mean, they come together. So try to keep them together. For example: if you do chem 101 at CC and leave chem 102 to the UC, you will be at a disadvantage because most CC’s run on the semester system and UCLA runs on the quarter system. You might find yourself repeating the first part of the sequence.</p>

<p>Taking classes out of your major isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Bio majors can take art history and vice versa. Most of the time, these classes will help count towards IGETC. Say you have an interest in philosophy but you’re not a Philo major, why not take that class? It counts for a Humanities course in the IGETC. You will be killing two birds with one stone.</p>

<p>That’s my two cents on UCLA transfer admissions. Hope it helped!</p>

4

<p>dhl3 why does it matter seriously this is a dumb post… if you do good in both you wont have to rank which is placed most emphasis on. its like asking the wieght of the test you have taken in class, when you know you ought to do well in all of them.</p>

5

<p>Because I dunno if i should take somewhat easy courses this semester just so that I dont have to study like 5 hours a day trying to keep up with the class, and allow myself plenty of time to concentrate more on activities, jobs, and volunteering. </p>

<p>or if i should concentrate on taking hard courses and allow myself less time for ECs and work hard to get A on those classes. Of course, that would mean more studying, meaning less time for activies, volunteer, and work.</p>

<p>Of course, I should be doing good on all of them, but it never hurts to know which is more emphasized. And don’t tell me they are all emphasized to the same degree cuz I know they aren’t.</p>

6

<p>i hear they care about gpa the most…then the other stuff practically doesn’t matter unless your talking about a tough major to get into…(this is what i hear about berkeley.)</p>

<p>is it true?</p>

7

<p>well i am applying for the toughest major to get into in UCLA… Business Econ.</p>

8

<p>well why do you even care? if you have time left, improve academically and get invovled with things that inerest you.</p>

<p>if not,then you can’t change a thing.</p>

<p>whats done is done. write the best essay you can, be honest about extracurriculars, and hope for the best. figuring out which is more important isn’t going to make you any more competitive.</p>

9

<p>“well why do you even care?”</p>

<p>Becuase this is a discussion forum, and the questions I’m asking are probably the most seeked questions by transfer students. </p>

<p>“figuring out which is more important isn’t going to make you any more competitive.”</p>

<p>maybe it wont make me any more competitive, but it will definitely give me some ideas on what to do for next semester.</p>

10

<p>From what I know, personal statement matters most if you are a borderline canidate.</p>

11

<p>I thought it was a good question, so thanks to the OP and people who actually answered.</p>

12

<p>i didn’t and your welcome</p>

13

<p>I was neither thanking nor asking you, and it’s “you’re”.</p>

<p>Really now, there’s no need to be rude.</p>

14

<p>theres no need to correct grammar when i’m probably 10 times better at english than you are. </p>

<p>save YOUR (ya deal with it) grammatical correction for someone else cuz </p>

<p>if you go through all my posts, you’ll realize this is a mistake i’ve been corrected on 1000000 times a mistake i make and will continue to make cuz i just dont give a buck. your not my english teacher and your nobody i’d need to gain the respect of.</p>

15

<p>I don’t demand your respect, but I do expect some common courtesy among my peers.</p>

<p>I’d ask where you’re getting off thinking you’re “10 times” better than I am at English, but instead I’ll just take solace in the fact that MY DAD COULD BEAT UP YOUR DAD!!!</p>

16

<p>P.S. How is this question not as good as the one you posted about the easiest major @ Cal?</p>

<p>Can we say insecure?</p>

<p>Anyways, sorry guys, didn’t mean to derail this (interesting) thread.</p>

17

<p>Chillax yall! The transfer forum is supposed to be the chillest forum on here.</p>

<p>Let’s keep it that way, puhlease! I love you all equally :)</p>

18

<p>I love you Cardinal! <3</p>

<p>:P</p>

19

<p>lol you need to grow up.</p>

<p>to sum it up your such a prick…but cardinal is right. i like how hes always the peaceful one.</p>

20

<p>Indeed, I want people to remember me as the Gandhi of CC.</p>

<p>That would be a nice legacy :)</p>