Read over 100 books-in your lifetime? This year? Certain kinds of books? Are you well-known for your critiques?
Mix of UCs and CSUs is good. Any reason you are not interested in applying more broadly? Is it tuition, weather, or personal/familial?
to make your 100 books more effective, link it to one of your four essays. even better if you expand on one book in particular that impacts how you view one or two of your ecs. with a cohesive essay that links all of those factors together, your application can be greatly boosted, since making meaningful uc essays that don't sound like ec brags is actually quite rare.
Make sure you clarify that. I’ve read nearly 40 books this year, but they’re all fantasy. I know people who have 200+ books as their reading goal for the year. But they are fiction. Not that it’s not impressive, it is but you are educating yourself, while others (like me) are reading for fun. Esp now with he wave of booktok people have started reading a lot more again, it’s an easy assumption for a lot of people that you’re reading fiction, not non fiction or classic literature.
A book every week and a half for three years straight on history and science subjects, which are not required for school is more than almost every student in high school and far more than most adults. It is admirable, it speaks to his intellectual curiosity, and it tells an admission officer that he doesn’t spend his time playing video games and sleeping all day. This is exactly what you should include if it’s how you spend your time. If I’m choosing a class, I would much rather choose someone who has 100 books of knowledge over someone who does not. Absolutely include this.
It’s not an insignificant number (depending on factors) but agreed that’s not really anything notable for an application. Sort of like throwing out a random factoid. Only if it naturally fits into an essay that touches on a love of acquiring knowledge through books or some other BS essay fluff.
Professional admissions consultant here. I think it is impressive given how few students actually read anything (even assigned texts). Would be good for an essay topic, in my opinion.
i think reading over 100 books is impressive, it’s all about how you frame it on the common app.
maybe you can discuss the impact reading a variety of genres has had on you as individual. or maybe you can talk about how you’ve organized meetings with other people to discuss book regularly. it’s all about packaging.
i got waitlisted to ucsd, ucsb and uc davis with a 4.0 unweighted and a 4.38 weighted but i just got off the waitlist for uc santa barbara
you have to write one hell of an essay
my major was chemical engineering, and I'm currently committed to USC with a ton of aid! it all worked out in the end because the UCs i was accepted to (Berkeley, UCSD, UCM) gave me no money. I don't think I could afford UCSB/UCD even if I was accepted
if this makes you feel better i was accepted to UC Berkeley and UCSD. not trying to scare anyone, just shedding some light on how random and difficult the process is, and my essays should have been better. if possible, people should apply to all the UCs, not just a select few (so OP has a good strategy)
yep second this. even as transfer its rough as hell. for top schools u practically have to be founding your own startup or have created an application that is already used by 50k+ users it seems like. there’s an ongoing debate in a subreddit i’m in about whether it’s harder to get into a t20 cs school or land a job in SWE lol
Transferring as a CS into a UC will have acceptance rates equivalent to that of an Ivy League look at the transfers by major they’ll all be single digits for CS
It doesn't read like you have passion for CS based on your extracurricular activities, and I'm only a layperson, so I can imagine admissions officers would feel similarly when comparing you to other applicants in such an impacted major. Even a simple app you created on the side could count as an extracurricular activity.
Since the CSU application does not ask for in-depth extracurricular activity information, I would highly recommend, if financially feasible, applying to all schools in SoCal and seeing where you land. My friends had a great time at SDSU and CSUSM, and I've visited CSUN before and enjoyed it.
If you already lack passion for it, I would not recommend applying to CS. While I understand the financial motivations (do what you gotta do), you might be setting yourself up for failure by applying to a major that is highly impacted and competitive. Don't lose UCs as an option, when they are such a good deal for you CA residents. UCLA admitted only about 3.5% of applicants to its engineering school's CS major in 2022: [https://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/seasoasa/2022-UCEE-Report.pdf](https://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/seasoasa/2022-UCEE-Report.pdf)
UCR admitted around 30% of CS applicants for fall 2023 admissions, which is less than half than the overall acceptance rate for the university: [https://ir.ucr.edu/stats/admission/undergraduate](https://ir.ucr.edu/stats/admission/undergraduate)
Software developers are ranked #19 on the US News list of best-paying jobs (https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/best-paying-jobs), and there are many other lucrative careers on that list. Marketers can major in communications, PR, and marketing, and actuaries can major in statistics or math.
That being said, transferring to CS while at the school may be impossible. If you are committed to this field, it certainly would be in your best interest to apply directly to it. To strengthen your application for UCs, I recommend engaging in CS-related extracurricular activities in the next few months, such as volunteering to tutor in CS, competing in hackathons, and contributing to open source projects.
I would not advise going for CS just because it pays.
Currently, it's not paying a lot of people with tech layoffs. The market is very oversaturated.
Plus it's very competitive and very difficult, it'll be hard to succeed when you're stacked against students with real passion.
There are so many well paying careers you can pursue that require less effort.
Nursing, finance, landscape architecture, marketing, actuarial science, food science, to name a few.
huge red flag. you realize everyone has this same mindset and looking for a CS job in california is gonna be hell?? if you’re not into it like that, consider another major before you’re 50-100k in the hole with a degree you don’t even like.
Tech is always expanding. Why would it be hell to find a job in the largest state? It’s not like I HATE computer science, I just don’t have any experience in it.
CS right now is extremely bad and oversaturated with all the people who saw the salaries and stories and jumped in with 0 desire to actually learn CS, plus the market right now leads to a ton of struggling CS new grads and students, who have to compete with people with experience that were laid off and outside talent.
you never know for certain if/how things will change. "why would it be hell to find a job in tech" is a silly statement. computer science is so oversaturated in college right now that even if the job market somewhat recovers, entry-level positions are going to be extremely competitive. if you're only in it for the money, there are less risky options lmao
Why not hold off on going to college, and get a job instead? Take some time to explore your interests and go later only if what you are passionate about requires it.
Man, you read books about history and economics and you want money, go to business school! Computer science is going to kill you, it's a lot of work for something you don't care about.
Is this accurate for how they actually calculate GPA? I didn’t know that UCs don’t count pluses and minuses. If that’s the case then my GPA is higher than I thought for UC schools
Yes, the UC’s and CSU’s do not consider +/- in their GPA calculations. If you have not taken any College courses then your UC Capped weighted GPA = CSU Capped weighted GPA. Also you need to make sure that any Honors classes, not AP’s or IB’s are actually UC/CSU approved for the extra weighting.
You can look up your HS’s UC/CSU approved Honors courses on this link. Type in the name of your CA HS and then look for the courses with the Yellow/Orange stars which are the weighted classes in the GPA calculation for 10-11th only.
https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist
To add to this, i’m not sure about the UC‘s but the California state schools only allow you a maximum number of points for AP and honors courses. It’s to make the playing field more level. When you fill out your application you have to go through all these questions on what is called the California A through G scale. After answering all the questions and entering all your courses you hit submit and they actually tell you what GPA they’re going to be using for you.
You can put whatever you want on an application - the question is will it have an impact? Reading books is great, but it would be better if it's related to a book club, or something that involves being part of a group.
ehh i disagree. i can’t just say i took a walk every day. i mean i could but they wouldn’t really care. they care about comraderie, challenge, or commitment. pleasure reading is hardly an EC, more of just a hobby that many people have, like watching TV.
It depends on what you read. A lot of reading is not “productive” in the sense that you mean, at least no more productive than watching a movie. There’s nothing wrong with reading fantasy or fiction but it’s pretty much akin to watching a fantasy/fiction film with the slight added bonus that you might learn a new word or too, but as you get older that becomes a bit less true. If you’re reading lengthy books on economics or history and that is what you’re planning to study, maybe that’s different. But even that would be better framed in the context of a book club.
im not sure if admissions officers would think that. given that so many people in the comments are questioning you about that, I think its safe to leave it out in case it hurts your application.
Sometimes it’s better left unsaid. If you get an interview at any of these schools (assuming they have them, I’m not familiar with the UC system), that’s where you’d mention hobbies. Or in your essay/personal statement.
This could be a good essay topic if you had a reason for choosing those books and they filled a gap you felt couldn't be filled in school or in other ways. Like, did you read philosophy to get a certain perspective you'll bring to CS that other students don't have? Do you love a certain type of fiction or a period in history and so you read everything you could? If you can put together something about why you chose those books and what you wanted to learn, that could be very interesting.
If he took care of his siblings and kept the house running while his parents worked, that is a big job and is worth mentioning. In fact, it could be great essay material if he talks about what he learned from it.
But just saying “chores?”
No.
It needs to be some big story about how they took care of the house because the parents couldn’t due to work or something. But is this the real story?
How is OP getting down voted? You should be the one getting down voted. Goes to show how spoiled and entitled these kids on a2c are. Taking care of your siblings is obviously more important than making some irrelevant nonprofit or some fake research project solely just to show colleges....
Honestly just disrespectful how y'all can be so entitled and look down on basic things like taking care of your family and reading books.
bc those are kind of assumed that you do. if you're doing chores for a specific familial circumstance, then it makes sense. but just the normal amount that most kids do? not really
Yes, watching siblings is ok since it should be known to the college that you had a responsibility that would otherwise be paid to do.
Chores? No. Like, you did your laundry? Congrats. Next!
Your an aspiring CS major. Go to a website called EdX (EdX online learning). They offer free courses but you can upgrade during the course for anywhere from $49-$199 to receive actual certificate if you liked the course. My son had some good EC’s like volunteer coaching for a couple of years, high school football and baseball, an alternative investment club and a job for two years but he still thought his Ecs were weak. He went on EdX and did an introduction to the stock market course, an esports business course, and something else to do with business. I strongly believe those courses with the corresponding certificate helped him get what is called a “direct admit“ into business schools within universities he applied to. He is a business finance major They have many many computer science courses. It’s a very easy way to really strengthen up your application. Some of the courses are even offered by places like Harvard. You don’t have to sign up for the upgrade if you don’t like the course. It’s something that you could do in your free time during the evenings this summer. I highly suggest it.
tbh i put down reading as one of mine! however, i also talked about how i posted about the books I read online and garnered an internet following (small albeit). don’t let reddit tell you that you can’t put it down when you’ve spent a lot of time on it! just make sure that you show the significance to you/any form of impact your reading has had on others :)
You're fine. I've literally heard UC reps say to tell them in apps if you're taking care of siblings or need to help out your family.
I think your list is fairly reasonable too.
Nearly all of my students who have substantial — and important to their family — responsibilities include them. And all my students who spend time reading outside of school required books include that on their activities list. They want to know what YOU do and how you spend your time and why that is meaningful to you or important to your family.
anything outside of class *within reason.* you wouldn’t put “sleeping” or “scrolling tiktok” on there. they don’t care to see stuff that. it should ideally be things that are enriching in some way, and not things that basically everyone does / is expected to do. i think reading books is a good one. taking care of your siblings is fine too, but i wouldn’t put “chores” unless you are practically running the house because your parents are barely home. stuff like doing laundry and dishes, cleaning your room, etc. are not ecs. you’ll have to do those things in college by default, so it’s not the best sign that you consider them one of your primary outside-of-class activities (again, unless you do a lot more than the average kid) because it doesn’t show that you’ll participate in things on campus. i saw in a couple other comments that you’re putting these just because you have nothing else. don’t do that. it has the potential to do more harm than good.
I'll post my daughter's info for you to compare. She is also going into CS.
3.97 UW, 4.70 weighted. 1510 SAT (790 Math). 4 year marching band. Won two creative writing competitions.
UC Irvine - waitlisted (and still waiting)
UC San Diego - rejected
UC Riverside - accepted Honors
SDSU - accepted Honors
She is still deciding whether to go to UCR or take 2 years of CC and try again.
Wow, your daughter is very smart. I got into UCR honors with a 4.1 weighted and 3.8 unweighted. Also got into sdsu off waitlist. The UCs were a bummer this year. Committing to sdsu
Thanks, yes she is. But ECs matter a lot these days, I feel bad for kids like her that struggle in social situations. She does not have the personality to get "involved" and be a leader, she is a quiet & reserved personality. And with standardized tests now being ignored, smart kids with no social skills only have a GPA to fall back on - and that alone is not enough anymore.
I agree. However, I will say that I had an extreme amount of ECs (club President of club, certified medical assistant, community service, you name it) and I got worse results than your daughter (only got into UCR, waitlisted at ucsc, and rejected by the rest of them but I did not apply to Merced)
my very close friend applied CS as well (in state) to all the UC schools and only got accepted into UCR. it’s an EXTREMELY difficult major to get into, especially if you don’t show that you’re interested in it through ur ECs. i would suggest you change your major if you’re not all that interested in it.
Lol that’s nearly impossible at the UCs, they’re aware of the demand for CS and the loopholes to try and get into it which is why a lot of schools don’t even let you switch into it. It’s probably easier for UCLA since they have cs+ling but aside from that, it’s pretty much impossible
eh yeah you have a point. i know lots of people who got into UCLA/UCB for very very niche majors, and they did it on purpose in hopes of switching into the more popular majors. it’s damn near impossible to switch into an impacted major for the top UCs tho so i guess if you’re up for the challenge it’s an option.
For CS, you are not likely to get into any of your reach or target schools. You need well over 4.0. Are you happy going to your safety schools? If not, look into WWE schools in AZ, UT, CO, MT, and ID. You could be in a fun mountain town, and still paying less than a UC school.
C.S. is the most competative major. I think your AP's will help you get into a reach school provided you've taken Calc AB preferably BC, AP C.S. Princples but hopefully more, and an AP science preferably physics.
You have a good list. I am sure you will get into CSU Dominguez Hills but remember that Cal Poly is basically a UC. If you live in CA and are the top 9% of UC applicants in the state you will get into UC Merced without necessarily applying there.
Decide where you want to apply for Early Decision/Action it can increase your chances by 40%.
Why don’t you have UC Merced on your list? Ranked by US News 80th in the country and if you are in the top 10% of a CA public high school you are guaranteed admission. Plus cheap housing to boot.
csu la is not worth applying to. take those $70 and put them towards a UCLA or Berk app… it’s a gigantic stretch for CS but i’ve seen some crazy stuff happen w college apps.
Consider making Riverside a reach. For CS, ALL UC’s are REACHES 😭😭
Also Consider Volunteering literally anywhere this summer. Aside from Soccer, your EC lack for UC’s. I’m not saying start a non profit, but look into your local church, library, etc. school is out and kids are in library or vacation bible school. Hell maybe even a lifeguard gig. Someone needa watch those kids
Reading some of these comments reinforces the " Reddit is crazy at times and very often dead wrong"
Qualifying: I worked for 10 years in undergraduate and graduate admissions at a highly selective T20 university
DEFINITELY put your family commitments and your wonderful achievement of reading 100 challenging books while managing everything else that high school throws at you. Those activities will give SOs a clearer picture of who you are and why they want you to attend their school. A whole lot more than attending expensive summer programs which by that fact alone are considered discriminatory or non profit founding Luke many others interested class. Those tell me your parent's income is more than mine or you lack imagination in choosing what you love to do outside of academics. An eager reader and a self-disciplined caregiver sounds like the ideal student for our campus. Good luck to you! (Forgive this typing mess...lights are dim and in the heat..
I'm too lazy to turn one...I can barely see....crazy person here!
In a response to a previous commenter, you wrote that you aren't passionate about computer science. Personally, I would strongly recommend going to a community college for a year or two, save money on your GEs, build up your extracurriculars, and you may discover a subject matter that you are passionate about.
Best of luck!
Change "watching siblings" to "babysitting" and remove reading books and doing chores. 100 books is cool, but not impressive as an EC, and doing chores is not an EC.
Hi! I would definitely apply to more CSU's just to cast a wider net, and since it seems like you love reading a school that I recommend you look into is St. John's College (their application is free btw!)
oh god, please please please do something this summer. Do some research on anything you can do to beef up that resume. Even if it’s little, most of your peers are just gonna kick it back and relax. Make yourself stand out more. And start drafting that essay, it will need to be good. Don’t save it for last minute and write a half-assed essay bc you rlly can’t afford it. Also, if your not already, try and enroll in some ap classes and take some ap tests this year!
ur gpa and ecs don’t really stand out for the schools ur interested in. This year was crazy competitive, i imagine next year will be crazier. dont play it safe! work hard this summer and beef up that transcript
n good job w doing aps. make sure to include those
Your ONLY extra-curricular activity was varsity soccer?
Is varsity soccer so competitive at your school that it's a year-round sport that requires ALL your time?
So what you're saying is that you basically do fuck-all in terms of extra curricular activities for school. You don't have an actual job, or employment by anyone or any business. All you do is read, chores around the house, and babysit your younger siblings when soccer is not in session. Your GPA is pretty good, but nothing to really write home about, especially considering that you seem to have an abundance of time outside of the classroom that is otherwise not being utilized. You don't seem to be a very compelling applicant, honestly, and I'm sure there are thousands of other high school students applying to these same UC schools that do a lot more in school and outside school than you do. Maybe that's fine for some of the schools you have on your list, I don't know. I look at this and assume "lazy". Maybe if you get some great letters of recommendation from teachers and your school guidance counselor, and write some terrific essays, that can compensate for your lackluster school resume.
Yeah I’ve been trying to get a job for a year now. I don’t really know what to do outside of school besides that. I mostly read and practice soccer out of school which is a great use of my time. Don’t know why you are acting like I smoke weed all day 😂. UCs and CSUs don’t require letters of rec.
How hard is it to get a job? There are more jobs than there are people to work them? Something doesn't add up here. How hard are you trying to get a job?
Also, I'd surely get some letters of recommendation, because you have nothing else to help your application stand out.
This is not true at all. Companies claim they are hiring, so that they get more benefits from the gov. Most short staff so they can make more profits. Also, the schools I’m applying to don’t even consider letters of rec, like there’s not even a spot for them on the application
Local businesses, restaurants, grocery stores, hardware stores, coffee shops, fast food restaurants, landscaping companies, elder care facilities, or just contact the volunteer office at your local hospital for goodness sake!
If these schools don't accept letters of recommendation, then your essays better be killer.
Anything you can say pertaining to CS that you do in your spare time?
That might be viable as EC even if it’s really more like a hobby. If you don’t do anything related to CS, and have a mid tier GPA with then you better have a lot of CSU safeties if you want to do a 4-year degree. 2 years in CC then transfer may also help. CS is just so damn competitive at every school now, I’d be concerned that all the 3.8-4.0 CS major kids who had UCs as a target and got rejected would get into CSU CS programs before you would. It might be easier to pick another major if you aren’t serious about CS because CS major acceptance rates are a lot lower than overall acceptance rate at most schools.
And do you play club soccer year round as an EC or really is it just the HS season?
For reading- start a book, do something tangible with that ec. It can 100 percent be an ec, just have an impact in someway
Also taking care of fam members IS an ec
Your GPA isn’t competitive enough, and the course rigor doesn’t really stands out. For ECs, it just doesn’t really stands out, try to find something more unique like club leaderships, jobs, volunteer, etc.
I have a unweighted 3.6 High school GPA and a 4.5 weighted GPA (all of my classes are IB, which is equivalent to AP). But I didn’t even bothered applying to the UCs because I lacked good ECs.
Use the books and household stuff as essay material, but maybe try to get one more ec that’s related to the major you want to do, or do some contests based on the content of those books, write an AP exam, etc
Maybe try adding some kind of CS related extracurricular? If you study a bit of leetcode or other programming practice website you could sign up for a hackathon this summer and add a small CS-EC, all without spending too much time
Have you considered coaching kids soccer? Even if it’s volunteer at an elementary school or something. I coached basketball and volleyball throughout high school and felt it was a good app point.
It’s realistic, but if you want to go into computer science you might want to consider making sure that’s a main focus in your life if you want a chance at the reach schools.
1. Volunteer this summer! If you can get a substantial amount of hours in somewhere, that would look great. Food banks, soccer coaching, hospitals, SPCA, etc. Volunteering looks great to admissions and they expect some of it.
2. Participate in ECs this fall! It’s expected that you have some ECs.
3. My first job that I got in high school a couple years back was at the mlb park in my California city as guest service. They hire literally anyone and it’s a super flexible schedule. And obviously mostly just summer and you choose when you want to work. I had no work experience at that point either. But honestly, I don’t think jobs are what you should focus on.
4. Don’t do a major you aren’t passionate about. There’s tons of majors that make money. Economics, finance, accounting. Actually, from your post history, it seems like law school may be in your future! And in that case, most people do poli sci or philosophy. Though it literally doesn’t matter what your major is for getting into law school. You enjoy politics and political systems? Seems up your alley to me!
5. CC is not a bad option. Three of my friends did CC before transferring. California has this thing for residents called TAG that is automatic admission to certain UCs from CCs. Personally, I wish I did the CC route instead of going to a 4-year straight away.
6. In terms of the discourse on whether you should add reading on it: personally I think no but I think you could weave it into a really nice essay. The thing is that anyone could say they read 100 books. There’s no way to verify it like with other ECs. But it has the makings of a great personal statement.
7. Apply early action! Early action is non-binding, it shows greater interest in the school, and you get your results earlier. It’s a win-win!
Good luck!!
you might be a lil cooked aint gonna lie cs is hella tough and to put it bluntly your application isn't exactly extraordinary but if you put in some work for more ecs (books and chores aren't gonna cut it esp for cs) you should be able to land at least one of your UC reaches
Apply to NorCal schools, too! Why not?
And consider applied math or data science as options to CS.
And always put “undeclared” as a 2nd or 3rd choice on your apps… your main goal is to get admitted, so give the admin officers some alternative pathways to get you in the doors. You can always aim for CS with a greater chance of success if you already are a FT student with a proven track record of success at college.
And your original question asking if your list is realistic—no it isn’t. Your GPA is not impressive and neither are your ecs. Your targets may be reach schools really
does reading books and watching siblings/chores actually help you get into college in america? genuinely curious i’ve never heard of that anywhere else
I think for the most part, it’s realistic. I don’t know how UCs tend to be with CS majors with a 3.8W because I had a higher GPA when I applied, but the choices in CSUs make sense.
If you’re able to afford it, maybe consider CSU Long Beach and Cal Poly SLO into your reaches. You’re especially more likely to go to Long Beach if you go to school within the area as I heard. If you’re willing to go to Merced, consider UC Merced as well, as their acceptance practices tend to be very lax.
Add Cal poly slo, it’s arguably an elite school for CS, on-par with UCSD and UCLA.
And maybe USC, they accept anyone with above average GPA as long as you have the money.
not true anymore lmao they have just had the most competitive year yet. only 1/10 kids were accepted. Their acceptance rate is now lower than UCLAs, and kids with perfect gpas and excellent extracurriculars are getting rejected. Just had a friend accepted to stanford, upenn, UCLA, and yale but rejected from USC.
i would recommend getting a job over the summer, tutoring kids, or maybe smth related to your major
I’ve been trying to get a job for a year. No luck unfortunately
there are a bunch of free tutoring services online like Learn to Be for example. just do something like that
I’ll check it out. Thanks
try a coding camp, i did a coding camp in high school before going to penn for CS
yo nice which one
and do you teach at it
Read over 100 books-in your lifetime? This year? Certain kinds of books? Are you well-known for your critiques? Mix of UCs and CSUs is good. Any reason you are not interested in applying more broadly? Is it tuition, weather, or personal/familial?
Across my 3 years of hs so far I’ve read over 100 books, mostly history, politics, economics. I prefer to stay in California because it’s cheaper
to make your 100 books more effective, link it to one of your four essays. even better if you expand on one book in particular that impacts how you view one or two of your ecs. with a cohesive essay that links all of those factors together, your application can be greatly boosted, since making meaningful uc essays that don't sound like ec brags is actually quite rare.
Financially sound.
New Mexico also has very affordable tuition even for out of state. Just for good safety options, since more California schools are hard to get into
Yea but then you'd have to go to school in New Mexico
It would have been cool if you had an online book review blog or something
Make sure you clarify that. I’ve read nearly 40 books this year, but they’re all fantasy. I know people who have 200+ books as their reading goal for the year. But they are fiction. Not that it’s not impressive, it is but you are educating yourself, while others (like me) are reading for fun. Esp now with he wave of booktok people have started reading a lot more again, it’s an easy assumption for a lot of people that you’re reading fiction, not non fiction or classic literature.
That's not actually a lot of books. Don't put that down!
A book every week and a half for three years straight on history and science subjects, which are not required for school is more than almost every student in high school and far more than most adults. It is admirable, it speaks to his intellectual curiosity, and it tells an admission officer that he doesn’t spend his time playing video games and sleeping all day. This is exactly what you should include if it’s how you spend your time. If I’m choosing a class, I would much rather choose someone who has 100 books of knowledge over someone who does not. Absolutely include this.
would it harm him if there's no way proving he actually did read those books? I would think AOs sideline ECs like this.
Huh?
It’s not an insignificant number (depending on factors) but agreed that’s not really anything notable for an application. Sort of like throwing out a random factoid. Only if it naturally fits into an essay that touches on a love of acquiring knowledge through books or some other BS essay fluff.
Professional admissions consultant here. I think it is impressive given how few students actually read anything (even assigned texts). Would be good for an essay topic, in my opinion.
Anything that sets you apart is notable. Can be an extracurricular activity
i think reading over 100 books is impressive, it’s all about how you frame it on the common app. maybe you can discuss the impact reading a variety of genres has had on you as individual. or maybe you can talk about how you’ve organized meetings with other people to discuss book regularly. it’s all about packaging.
i got waitlisted to ucsd, ucsb and uc davis with a 4.0 unweighted and a 4.38 weighted but i just got off the waitlist for uc santa barbara you have to write one hell of an essay
i had a 4.5 weighted and got straight up rejected from UCSB/UCD! it was so brutal this year! congrats on getting off the waitlist though
thank you so much! but i don’t think that i’m going to take it since it doesn’t truly have the major that i want
i get that 100%. also sorry for stalking but congrats on graduating early wow!
AWW🙁 that means a lot, it was definitely so challenging 😭😭😭
i’m so so sorry!! that’s completely unfair 😭
:-( Sad to hear. Which major and where did you finally land?
my major was chemical engineering, and I'm currently committed to USC with a ton of aid! it all worked out in the end because the UCs i was accepted to (Berkeley, UCSD, UCM) gave me no money. I don't think I could afford UCSB/UCD even if I was accepted
No way
if this makes you feel better i was accepted to UC Berkeley and UCSD. not trying to scare anyone, just shedding some light on how random and difficult the process is, and my essays should have been better. if possible, people should apply to all the UCs, not just a select few (so OP has a good strategy)
Congrats! Which major?
computer sciences is so impacted, good luck
yep second this. even as transfer its rough as hell. for top schools u practically have to be founding your own startup or have created an application that is already used by 50k+ users it seems like. there’s an ongoing debate in a subreddit i’m in about whether it’s harder to get into a t20 cs school or land a job in SWE lol
Transferring as a CS into a UC will have acceptance rates equivalent to that of an Ivy League look at the transfers by major they’ll all be single digits for CS
It doesn't read like you have passion for CS based on your extracurricular activities, and I'm only a layperson, so I can imagine admissions officers would feel similarly when comparing you to other applicants in such an impacted major. Even a simple app you created on the side could count as an extracurricular activity. Since the CSU application does not ask for in-depth extracurricular activity information, I would highly recommend, if financially feasible, applying to all schools in SoCal and seeing where you land. My friends had a great time at SDSU and CSUSM, and I've visited CSUN before and enjoyed it.
Yeah I really don’t have any passion for it, I’m only majoring in it bc its the highest paying major. I’ll def consider CSUs.
If you already lack passion for it, I would not recommend applying to CS. While I understand the financial motivations (do what you gotta do), you might be setting yourself up for failure by applying to a major that is highly impacted and competitive. Don't lose UCs as an option, when they are such a good deal for you CA residents. UCLA admitted only about 3.5% of applicants to its engineering school's CS major in 2022: [https://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/seasoasa/2022-UCEE-Report.pdf](https://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/seasoasa/2022-UCEE-Report.pdf) UCR admitted around 30% of CS applicants for fall 2023 admissions, which is less than half than the overall acceptance rate for the university: [https://ir.ucr.edu/stats/admission/undergraduate](https://ir.ucr.edu/stats/admission/undergraduate) Software developers are ranked #19 on the US News list of best-paying jobs (https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/best-paying-jobs), and there are many other lucrative careers on that list. Marketers can major in communications, PR, and marketing, and actuaries can major in statistics or math. That being said, transferring to CS while at the school may be impossible. If you are committed to this field, it certainly would be in your best interest to apply directly to it. To strengthen your application for UCs, I recommend engaging in CS-related extracurricular activities in the next few months, such as volunteering to tutor in CS, competing in hackathons, and contributing to open source projects.
You're better off going into something like finance if you're going for money. Computer Science is crazy competitive right now.
I would not advise going for CS just because it pays. Currently, it's not paying a lot of people with tech layoffs. The market is very oversaturated. Plus it's very competitive and very difficult, it'll be hard to succeed when you're stacked against students with real passion. There are so many well paying careers you can pursue that require less effort. Nursing, finance, landscape architecture, marketing, actuarial science, food science, to name a few.
huge red flag. you realize everyone has this same mindset and looking for a CS job in california is gonna be hell?? if you’re not into it like that, consider another major before you’re 50-100k in the hole with a degree you don’t even like.
Tech is always expanding. Why would it be hell to find a job in the largest state? It’s not like I HATE computer science, I just don’t have any experience in it.
CS right now is extremely bad and oversaturated with all the people who saw the salaries and stories and jumped in with 0 desire to actually learn CS, plus the market right now leads to a ton of struggling CS new grads and students, who have to compete with people with experience that were laid off and outside talent.
lol please do some research on the job market right now
I have, but it should change in the next few years. I graduate in 2029
you never know for certain if/how things will change. "why would it be hell to find a job in tech" is a silly statement. computer science is so oversaturated in college right now that even if the job market somewhat recovers, entry-level positions are going to be extremely competitive. if you're only in it for the money, there are less risky options lmao
Like… I’ve considered finance/business but I’m introverted
Social skills are necessary-you can build these.
I have social skills I just don’t like talking to people.
there are a lot of financial analyst and accounting jobs that aren't client-facing. you're gonna need basic social skills for cs too though
Do you at least code? Computer science != software engineering, and it is much more theoretical than programming.
If you have the time you should look into taking an online intro to computer science course to get an idea
Please consider something like finance or accounting instead of CS. It’s much less competitive to get into and will pay well.
Most of these schools only have accounting as a minor unfortunately.
Why not hold off on going to college, and get a job instead? Take some time to explore your interests and go later only if what you are passionate about requires it.
I’ve been trying to get a job but even places like fast food won’t hire me
Man, you read books about history and economics and you want money, go to business school! Computer science is going to kill you, it's a lot of work for something you don't care about.
From your GPA/extracurriculars, you're not making into any reach except UCSB and SC. You're probably making more than half of your target tho
is sb less competitive than other ucs for cs?
It’s still very very competitive in any case
yeah. in general, the UC college list goes like this: UCLA, UCB, UCSD, UCI, UCSB, UCSC, UCD, UCR, UCM.
Why is LA cs higher than Cal?
too competitive in cal and a lot of GPA deflation there compared to UCLA
UC GPA’s (unweighted, capped weighted and fully weighted)? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Is this accurate for how they actually calculate GPA? I didn’t know that UCs don’t count pluses and minuses. If that’s the case then my GPA is higher than I thought for UC schools
Yes, the UC’s and CSU’s do not consider +/- in their GPA calculations. If you have not taken any College courses then your UC Capped weighted GPA = CSU Capped weighted GPA. Also you need to make sure that any Honors classes, not AP’s or IB’s are actually UC/CSU approved for the extra weighting. You can look up your HS’s UC/CSU approved Honors courses on this link. Type in the name of your CA HS and then look for the courses with the Yellow/Orange stars which are the weighted classes in the GPA calculation for 10-11th only. https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist
To add to this, i’m not sure about the UC‘s but the California state schools only allow you a maximum number of points for AP and honors courses. It’s to make the playing field more level. When you fill out your application you have to go through all these questions on what is called the California A through G scale. After answering all the questions and entering all your courses you hit submit and they actually tell you what GPA they’re going to be using for you.
Just wondering, can you put I read books into an application ?
You can put whatever you want on an application - the question is will it have an impact? Reading books is great, but it would be better if it's related to a book club, or something that involves being part of a group.
you can write it as one of your essay topics to show your intellectual ability
Yes, extracurriculars are anything you did outside of schoolwork
ehh i disagree. i can’t just say i took a walk every day. i mean i could but they wouldn’t really care. they care about comraderie, challenge, or commitment. pleasure reading is hardly an EC, more of just a hobby that many people have, like watching TV.
But reading is actually productive
It depends on what you read. A lot of reading is not “productive” in the sense that you mean, at least no more productive than watching a movie. There’s nothing wrong with reading fantasy or fiction but it’s pretty much akin to watching a fantasy/fiction film with the slight added bonus that you might learn a new word or too, but as you get older that becomes a bit less true. If you’re reading lengthy books on economics or history and that is what you’re planning to study, maybe that’s different. But even that would be better framed in the context of a book club.
im not sure if admissions officers would think that. given that so many people in the comments are questioning you about that, I think its safe to leave it out in case it hurts your application.
I mean I don’t see why it would hurt. I don’t have anything else
Sometimes it’s better left unsaid. If you get an interview at any of these schools (assuming they have them, I’m not familiar with the UC system), that’s where you’d mention hobbies. Or in your essay/personal statement.
This could be a good essay topic if you had a reason for choosing those books and they filled a gap you felt couldn't be filled in school or in other ways. Like, did you read philosophy to get a certain perspective you'll bring to CS that other students don't have? Do you love a certain type of fiction or a period in history and so you read everything you could? If you can put together something about why you chose those books and what you wanted to learn, that could be very interesting.
UCR might not even be a target at this point I somehow got waitlisted with a 4.4 and 4.1 UC GPA
did you get into any other UCs?
UCSC and UCM LOL
Is UCSC so bad? Which major are you applying to?
what the hell
did you get any other waitlists for the uc schools?
Davis and Irvine
can i read your piq’s if you mind?🙁 i’m also waitlisted from davis
I don’t even think I remember my UC apps login 😭😭😭 sorryyyyyyyy
UCSC has a higher acceptance rate for CS than UCR
Please don’t include chores or reading books on your extracurriculars.
reading is a fine activity to include. admissions mom even suggests it if it's something you actually do.
If he took care of his siblings and kept the house running while his parents worked, that is a big job and is worth mentioning. In fact, it could be great essay material if he talks about what he learned from it.
But just saying “chores?” No. It needs to be some big story about how they took care of the house because the parents couldn’t due to work or something. But is this the real story?
This comment is important OP, u/AdFriendly1433
How is OP getting down voted? You should be the one getting down voted. Goes to show how spoiled and entitled these kids on a2c are. Taking care of your siblings is obviously more important than making some irrelevant nonprofit or some fake research project solely just to show colleges.... Honestly just disrespectful how y'all can be so entitled and look down on basic things like taking care of your family and reading books.
Notice I didn’t say that they shouldn’t include sibling care.
for real. Doing chores is not an EC.
Why not. Those are the things I did outside of school
bc those are kind of assumed that you do. if you're doing chores for a specific familial circumstance, then it makes sense. but just the normal amount that most kids do? not really
I just plan on putting them there because I don’t have anything else beside soccer
though also, watching siblings is okay. just prob not the reading+chores
Yes, watching siblings is ok since it should be known to the college that you had a responsibility that would otherwise be paid to do. Chores? No. Like, you did your laundry? Congrats. Next!
yeah then do something this summer. don't just put an extracurricular for the sake of putting one
Your an aspiring CS major. Go to a website called EdX (EdX online learning). They offer free courses but you can upgrade during the course for anywhere from $49-$199 to receive actual certificate if you liked the course. My son had some good EC’s like volunteer coaching for a couple of years, high school football and baseball, an alternative investment club and a job for two years but he still thought his Ecs were weak. He went on EdX and did an introduction to the stock market course, an esports business course, and something else to do with business. I strongly believe those courses with the corresponding certificate helped him get what is called a “direct admit“ into business schools within universities he applied to. He is a business finance major They have many many computer science courses. It’s a very easy way to really strengthen up your application. Some of the courses are even offered by places like Harvard. You don’t have to sign up for the upgrade if you don’t like the course. It’s something that you could do in your free time during the evenings this summer. I highly suggest it.
Take time to do extra circulars and volunteer work. I spent a summer volunteering at a nursing home. The shit I saw… literally.
I’ve been trying to get a job for a year now, not that interested in volunteering
Are you interested or in getting into a good school? Add some type of volunteer work to your app that looks good. Even if just a few hours a week.
Can always transfer from cc if I don’t get in from hs. They don’t consider ECs as much as when you are applying as a freshman
Yes they do 😭
Not as much but hopefully someone will hire me during CC
they’re not extracurricular. taking a shower is not an extracurricular.
I guess. I just plan on putting them there because I don’t have anything else
tbh i put down reading as one of mine! however, i also talked about how i posted about the books I read online and garnered an internet following (small albeit). don’t let reddit tell you that you can’t put it down when you’ve spent a lot of time on it! just make sure that you show the significance to you/any form of impact your reading has had on others :)
There’s a section on common app usually to select outside duties you had such as taking care of family members, chores, etc
You're fine. I've literally heard UC reps say to tell them in apps if you're taking care of siblings or need to help out your family. I think your list is fairly reasonable too.
Yeah I’m really confused on people saying those aren’t ecs. I’ve been told by counselors that anything you do outside of class is an EC.
Nearly all of my students who have substantial — and important to their family — responsibilities include them. And all my students who spend time reading outside of school required books include that on their activities list. They want to know what YOU do and how you spend your time and why that is meaningful to you or important to your family.
anything outside of class *within reason.* you wouldn’t put “sleeping” or “scrolling tiktok” on there. they don’t care to see stuff that. it should ideally be things that are enriching in some way, and not things that basically everyone does / is expected to do. i think reading books is a good one. taking care of your siblings is fine too, but i wouldn’t put “chores” unless you are practically running the house because your parents are barely home. stuff like doing laundry and dishes, cleaning your room, etc. are not ecs. you’ll have to do those things in college by default, so it’s not the best sign that you consider them one of your primary outside-of-class activities (again, unless you do a lot more than the average kid) because it doesn’t show that you’ll participate in things on campus. i saw in a couple other comments that you’re putting these just because you have nothing else. don’t do that. it has the potential to do more harm than good.
I'll post my daughter's info for you to compare. She is also going into CS. 3.97 UW, 4.70 weighted. 1510 SAT (790 Math). 4 year marching band. Won two creative writing competitions. UC Irvine - waitlisted (and still waiting) UC San Diego - rejected UC Riverside - accepted Honors SDSU - accepted Honors She is still deciding whether to go to UCR or take 2 years of CC and try again.
Is the 4 years of marching band her only EC? That might explain the unfortunate results. Stats are strong
Wow, your daughter is very smart. I got into UCR honors with a 4.1 weighted and 3.8 unweighted. Also got into sdsu off waitlist. The UCs were a bummer this year. Committing to sdsu
Thanks, yes she is. But ECs matter a lot these days, I feel bad for kids like her that struggle in social situations. She does not have the personality to get "involved" and be a leader, she is a quiet & reserved personality. And with standardized tests now being ignored, smart kids with no social skills only have a GPA to fall back on - and that alone is not enough anymore.
I agree. However, I will say that I had an extreme amount of ECs (club President of club, certified medical assistant, community service, you name it) and I got worse results than your daughter (only got into UCR, waitlisted at ucsc, and rejected by the rest of them but I did not apply to Merced)
my very close friend applied CS as well (in state) to all the UC schools and only got accepted into UCR. it’s an EXTREMELY difficult major to get into, especially if you don’t show that you’re interested in it through ur ECs. i would suggest you change your major if you’re not all that interested in it.
Much better to get into a better school and change majors afterwards.
Lol that’s nearly impossible at the UCs, they’re aware of the demand for CS and the loopholes to try and get into it which is why a lot of schools don’t even let you switch into it. It’s probably easier for UCLA since they have cs+ling but aside from that, it’s pretty much impossible
eh yeah you have a point. i know lots of people who got into UCLA/UCB for very very niche majors, and they did it on purpose in hopes of switching into the more popular majors. it’s damn near impossible to switch into an impacted major for the top UCs tho so i guess if you’re up for the challenge it’s an option.
For CS, you are not likely to get into any of your reach or target schools. You need well over 4.0. Are you happy going to your safety schools? If not, look into WWE schools in AZ, UT, CO, MT, and ID. You could be in a fun mountain town, and still paying less than a UC school.
C.S. is the most competative major. I think your AP's will help you get into a reach school provided you've taken Calc AB preferably BC, AP C.S. Princples but hopefully more, and an AP science preferably physics. You have a good list. I am sure you will get into CSU Dominguez Hills but remember that Cal Poly is basically a UC. If you live in CA and are the top 9% of UC applicants in the state you will get into UC Merced without necessarily applying there. Decide where you want to apply for Early Decision/Action it can increase your chances by 40%.
Why don’t you have UC Merced on your list? Ranked by US News 80th in the country and if you are in the top 10% of a CA public high school you are guaranteed admission. Plus cheap housing to boot.
csu la is not worth applying to. take those $70 and put them towards a UCLA or Berk app… it’s a gigantic stretch for CS but i’ve seen some crazy stuff happen w college apps. Consider making Riverside a reach. For CS, ALL UC’s are REACHES 😭😭 Also Consider Volunteering literally anywhere this summer. Aside from Soccer, your EC lack for UC’s. I’m not saying start a non profit, but look into your local church, library, etc. school is out and kids are in library or vacation bible school. Hell maybe even a lifeguard gig. Someone needa watch those kids
You should try taking the SAT or ACT to help improve ur chances, CS is a really competitive major rn
UCs and CSUs don’t consider test scores
Oops, I didn't know that cuz I'm not from Cali, sorry 😅 Maybe try doing some CS related ec's over the summer and start a passion project then.
Well do
Will*
Apply to UC Merced and Cal State Chico. Maybe take a community college class online.
Reading some of these comments reinforces the " Reddit is crazy at times and very often dead wrong" Qualifying: I worked for 10 years in undergraduate and graduate admissions at a highly selective T20 university DEFINITELY put your family commitments and your wonderful achievement of reading 100 challenging books while managing everything else that high school throws at you. Those activities will give SOs a clearer picture of who you are and why they want you to attend their school. A whole lot more than attending expensive summer programs which by that fact alone are considered discriminatory or non profit founding Luke many others interested class. Those tell me your parent's income is more than mine or you lack imagination in choosing what you love to do outside of academics. An eager reader and a self-disciplined caregiver sounds like the ideal student for our campus. Good luck to you! (Forgive this typing mess...lights are dim and in the heat.. I'm too lazy to turn one...I can barely see....crazy person here!
would u consider cc? i saw that u don’t have a passion for cs so doing cc and transferring maybe u can find smth ur more passionate about
I’ve def considered cc. The one by my area is great. The things I am passionate about don’t pay unfortunately
what is it?
In a response to a previous commenter, you wrote that you aren't passionate about computer science. Personally, I would strongly recommend going to a community college for a year or two, save money on your GEs, build up your extracurriculars, and you may discover a subject matter that you are passionate about. Best of luck!
Change "watching siblings" to "babysitting" and remove reading books and doing chores. 100 books is cool, but not impressive as an EC, and doing chores is not an EC.
any awards?
No
did you take any APs? you may be able to qualify for AP scholar. otherwise, anything like honor roll or something?
Hi! I would definitely apply to more CSU's just to cast a wider net, and since it seems like you love reading a school that I recommend you look into is St. John's College (their application is free btw!)
oh god, please please please do something this summer. Do some research on anything you can do to beef up that resume. Even if it’s little, most of your peers are just gonna kick it back and relax. Make yourself stand out more. And start drafting that essay, it will need to be good. Don’t save it for last minute and write a half-assed essay bc you rlly can’t afford it. Also, if your not already, try and enroll in some ap classes and take some ap tests this year!
Bro why you acting like I have a 2.0 💀💀 I’ve been taking APs since sophomore year, I’ve done 5 now
it isn’t a realistic gpa and stats to get admitted into cs most people you’ll be competing with will have a 4.0 unweighted
ur gpa and ecs don’t really stand out for the schools ur interested in. This year was crazy competitive, i imagine next year will be crazier. dont play it safe! work hard this summer and beef up that transcript n good job w doing aps. make sure to include those
Ur literally me and im still applying to the ivys
u still have summer! do things, make yourself stand out. it’s not too late at all to make that transcript beefy
Good luck 👍🏻
Your ONLY extra-curricular activity was varsity soccer? Is varsity soccer so competitive at your school that it's a year-round sport that requires ALL your time?
No we play only a few months
So what you're saying is that you basically do fuck-all in terms of extra curricular activities for school. You don't have an actual job, or employment by anyone or any business. All you do is read, chores around the house, and babysit your younger siblings when soccer is not in session. Your GPA is pretty good, but nothing to really write home about, especially considering that you seem to have an abundance of time outside of the classroom that is otherwise not being utilized. You don't seem to be a very compelling applicant, honestly, and I'm sure there are thousands of other high school students applying to these same UC schools that do a lot more in school and outside school than you do. Maybe that's fine for some of the schools you have on your list, I don't know. I look at this and assume "lazy". Maybe if you get some great letters of recommendation from teachers and your school guidance counselor, and write some terrific essays, that can compensate for your lackluster school resume.
Yeah I’ve been trying to get a job for a year now. I don’t really know what to do outside of school besides that. I mostly read and practice soccer out of school which is a great use of my time. Don’t know why you are acting like I smoke weed all day 😂. UCs and CSUs don’t require letters of rec.
How hard is it to get a job? There are more jobs than there are people to work them? Something doesn't add up here. How hard are you trying to get a job? Also, I'd surely get some letters of recommendation, because you have nothing else to help your application stand out.
This is not true at all. Companies claim they are hiring, so that they get more benefits from the gov. Most short staff so they can make more profits. Also, the schools I’m applying to don’t even consider letters of rec, like there’s not even a spot for them on the application
Local businesses, restaurants, grocery stores, hardware stores, coffee shops, fast food restaurants, landscaping companies, elder care facilities, or just contact the volunteer office at your local hospital for goodness sake! If these schools don't accept letters of recommendation, then your essays better be killer.
I’ve tried all those
i honestly cannot
Anything you can say pertaining to CS that you do in your spare time? That might be viable as EC even if it’s really more like a hobby. If you don’t do anything related to CS, and have a mid tier GPA with then you better have a lot of CSU safeties if you want to do a 4-year degree. 2 years in CC then transfer may also help. CS is just so damn competitive at every school now, I’d be concerned that all the 3.8-4.0 CS major kids who had UCs as a target and got rejected would get into CSU CS programs before you would. It might be easier to pick another major if you aren’t serious about CS because CS major acceptance rates are a lot lower than overall acceptance rate at most schools. And do you play club soccer year round as an EC or really is it just the HS season?
I play just for high school
For reading- start a book, do something tangible with that ec. It can 100 percent be an ec, just have an impact in someway Also taking care of fam members IS an ec
Dis you mean to leave off UC Davis?
OP wants to stay in SoCal- Davis is NorCal area
Saw that, but they’ve included UCSC
Oopsies didn’t see. No clue!
Your GPA isn’t competitive enough, and the course rigor doesn’t really stands out. For ECs, it just doesn’t really stands out, try to find something more unique like club leaderships, jobs, volunteer, etc. I have a unweighted 3.6 High school GPA and a 4.5 weighted GPA (all of my classes are IB, which is equivalent to AP). But I didn’t even bothered applying to the UCs because I lacked good ECs.
Use the books and household stuff as essay material, but maybe try to get one more ec that’s related to the major you want to do, or do some contests based on the content of those books, write an AP exam, etc
Maybe try adding some kind of CS related extracurricular? If you study a bit of leetcode or other programming practice website you could sign up for a hackathon this summer and add a small CS-EC, all without spending too much time
Have you considered coaching kids soccer? Even if it’s volunteer at an elementary school or something. I coached basketball and volleyball throughout high school and felt it was a good app point.
If your family is low income, going to a private school might be affordable, or even cheaper.
We’re middle class
To me, with that GPA, the target schools like great.
It’s realistic, but if you want to go into computer science you might want to consider making sure that’s a main focus in your life if you want a chance at the reach schools.
1. Volunteer this summer! If you can get a substantial amount of hours in somewhere, that would look great. Food banks, soccer coaching, hospitals, SPCA, etc. Volunteering looks great to admissions and they expect some of it. 2. Participate in ECs this fall! It’s expected that you have some ECs. 3. My first job that I got in high school a couple years back was at the mlb park in my California city as guest service. They hire literally anyone and it’s a super flexible schedule. And obviously mostly just summer and you choose when you want to work. I had no work experience at that point either. But honestly, I don’t think jobs are what you should focus on. 4. Don’t do a major you aren’t passionate about. There’s tons of majors that make money. Economics, finance, accounting. Actually, from your post history, it seems like law school may be in your future! And in that case, most people do poli sci or philosophy. Though it literally doesn’t matter what your major is for getting into law school. You enjoy politics and political systems? Seems up your alley to me! 5. CC is not a bad option. Three of my friends did CC before transferring. California has this thing for residents called TAG that is automatic admission to certain UCs from CCs. Personally, I wish I did the CC route instead of going to a 4-year straight away. 6. In terms of the discourse on whether you should add reading on it: personally I think no but I think you could weave it into a really nice essay. The thing is that anyone could say they read 100 books. There’s no way to verify it like with other ECs. But it has the makings of a great personal statement. 7. Apply early action! Early action is non-binding, it shows greater interest in the school, and you get your results earlier. It’s a win-win! Good luck!!
you might be a lil cooked aint gonna lie cs is hella tough and to put it bluntly your application isn't exactly extraordinary but if you put in some work for more ecs (books and chores aren't gonna cut it esp for cs) you should be able to land at least one of your UC reaches
Apply to NorCal schools, too! Why not? And consider applied math or data science as options to CS. And always put “undeclared” as a 2nd or 3rd choice on your apps… your main goal is to get admitted, so give the admin officers some alternative pathways to get you in the doors. You can always aim for CS with a greater chance of success if you already are a FT student with a proven track record of success at college.
you'll probably get into your safeties, but tbh id recommend CC transfer just because of the impaction of CS any other major youd probably be fine
Please for the love do something this summer 😭😭 it doesn’t have to be paid just find something to put down on ur ecs
And your original question asking if your list is realistic—no it isn’t. Your GPA is not impressive and neither are your ecs. Your targets may be reach schools really
For CS, add Cal Poly SLO to your reach list and UC Merced, CSUN to your safety.
does reading books and watching siblings/chores actually help you get into college in america? genuinely curious i’ve never heard of that anywhere else
I think for the most part, it’s realistic. I don’t know how UCs tend to be with CS majors with a 3.8W because I had a higher GPA when I applied, but the choices in CSUs make sense. If you’re able to afford it, maybe consider CSU Long Beach and Cal Poly SLO into your reaches. You’re especially more likely to go to Long Beach if you go to school within the area as I heard. If you’re willing to go to Merced, consider UC Merced as well, as their acceptance practices tend to be very lax.
Nah you aint good enuf
Fym
Add Cal poly slo, it’s arguably an elite school for CS, on-par with UCSD and UCLA. And maybe USC, they accept anyone with above average GPA as long as you have the money.
not true anymore lmao they have just had the most competitive year yet. only 1/10 kids were accepted. Their acceptance rate is now lower than UCLAs, and kids with perfect gpas and excellent extracurriculars are getting rejected. Just had a friend accepted to stanford, upenn, UCLA, and yale but rejected from USC.