Will prior military experience make up for zero EC's when applying to transfer to UCLA?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Will prior military experience make up for zero EC’s when applying to transfer to UCLA from a CCC?

As application deadlines approach, I am starting to get everything gathered and I would like to get an idea of what my chances are for UCLA given my particular situation. This is my first post on this forum despite reading through its vast amount of information for a number of months now so I apologize if this belongs in another forum.

A little bit of background information:

I had the privilege of attending UCLA’s open house today and I will admit that I was rather impressed with the campus and students/faculty that I encountered. UCLA, due to its well-regarded Psychology program, has been an option that I have been considering since I first started attending college. However, when I was first starting college I was unaware of what to expect and completely unaware of what I could achieve academically since I had been out of high school for so long (I graduated HS in 2007). I am prior Air Force with a fairly small amount of college classes taken during my service. I was medically discharged (honorable) at my 5.5-year mark due to an inoperable shoulder condition that was incurred as a direct result of my duties. Immediately upon my discharge at the end of 2014, I started at a California Community College here in South Orange County with the intention of transferring to a University by fall 2016.

Prior experience, GPA, degree program etc.

Race/ethnicity- Caucasian

Age- 26

Degree/GPA- Psychology/ 4.0 at a California Community College
As per assist.org and my counselors, all of the required prep courses to transfer to UCLA’s Psychology/B.A. program will be completed by spring 2016.

Work experience- I was a Crew Chief on F-16’s in Northern Japan whose mission were the suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) and the defense of mainland Japan. After multiple deployments, I was then sent to Northern California to be a Crew Chief on the U-2S reconnaissance aircraft. Before my injury and subsequent medical discharge, I attained the rank of SSgt (E-5), and as a result I gained a considerable amount of leadership skills that I am hoping when compared to my military service will makeup for the complete lack of EC’s during this year of college.

How much of an emphasis do they place on EC’s when reviewing applications? Is there any chance that my prior military experience will makeup for the complete lack of EC’s? I have not had a job since my discharge less than a year ago, as I wanted to purely focus on my academics. Unfortunately, I think this is what may hurt my chances of getting into UCLA. I have not needed a job because I have been living off of what the GI pays every month and will continue to do so throughout the remainder of my undergrad.

What do you all think? When I look at the profile of admitted students for 2014, it honestly scares me a bit. At an admit rate of 21.14% with an average GPA of 3.83 I am wondering if I shot myself in the foot by not doing anything other than college this past year. My backups, not that they are bad by any means, are UCI and Chapman. What other Universities in the LA/Orange county area would you all recommend for a Psych major?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

2

You’ll be fine. Please make sure you apply with help from the vet’s offices at UCLA.

3

You sounds like a good candidate, to be honest, and UCI and Chapman are good schools. Great backups. I think your military service will help considerably in admissions. It adds to diversity on campus. LA/OC has several CSUs - CSULB, Cal Poly Pomona, Fullerton, CSUDH. Have you considered these as options? The CSUs do not look at ECs so they can be good safety/match schools for you.

4

Thank you both for the reply, but I have certainly considered CSUs such as Fullerton and some of the other ones in my area. Unfortunately though, they require a speech class to transfer and there is a good chance that I will not have time to take one. Currently this semester I am taking 20.25 Credit hours and next semester should be right around 21. While I am not entirely comfortable with only three schools to apply to (at this point), I am even more uncomfortable with the idea of a speech class potentially becoming a hassle and having a negative effect on my GPA.

5

I think your military service will be regarded very positively on your application wherever you apply!

6

Apply to UCLA, you will get in. You have been serving our country, putting your life on the line. I don’t know of a better EC.
Don’t forgot to use the Veteran’s Affairs office.

7

I’ve read here that GPA is more important than ECs even for non vet applicants.

8

He has a 4.0 from community college.

9

What about backups like Whittier or Oxy. They tend to aim more at the younger crowd. Oxy is a very good school. There is also Redlands. Is UC Riverside to far?

10

Hmmm yes it would seem that there are more private colleges that I should look into. Another thing that I failed to mention in my original post is that I am wanting to avoid getting into a great deal of debt for my undergrad. Seeing that I am utilizing the GI bill, I can go to any public university and my tuition is covered 100%. However, with a private college I am capped at $20,235 a year making many private institutions out of reach without additional financial aid (assuming that they don’t participate in the yellow ribbon program). A quick google search indicates that Oxy participates in the yellow ribbon program effectively covering the other half of tuition which is nice. I’ll be sure to check out the college and see what they can offer. Thanks!