University of California Application Important information and 9 common mistakes 2021

Hello, this is Shellee Howard with College Ready. Thank you so much for joining us. We are really looking forward to sharing with you some important things you should know about the University of California application season for fall of 2020. And if you stay till the end, we will also be sharing 9 things to avoid when writing PIQs this application season. So let's go ahead and jump right in. My name is Shellee Howard and I am the founder and owner of College Ready, and we help students get into college and graduate debt-free. We focus on several things: the academic fit, social fit, and financial fit. And today we're talking about the financial fit and the social fit and the academic fit for our UC California universities. If you stay to the end, I will be sharing how you can get my best-selling book and parent guide, What Are the A-G Requirements. This is about your student's future. Please carve out some time, put away any distractions, because there's a lot of information, and I encourage you to take notes. So this is a picture at my son's Harvard graduation, and I share this image because I think a lot of students and families can resonate. I am a, a fifth generation from California, and we all thought that we would all attend UC schools. Since I was the first to go to college, I attended SDSU, and then I went back to school and got my master's from UC San Diego. My son attended Harvard, which was not expected, but a welcome surprise. And now he's finishing up his medical school at UC San Diego. My daughter, she has had a wonderful experience and will be graduating CBU this year, and she'll have her nursing degree. So we have traveled the world. We come back time and time again because California is our home. And today I'd like to share some great things about the University of California and some important things you should know about the application process. So why choose a UC? It's not for everybody, but there are some good reasons to attend there. They're one of the best public university systems in the United States. They're highly ranked across the nation, and there's one application where you can apply to all UC schools, and it better prepares your student for graduate school, especially if they want to attend a UC. Let's talk a little bit about what makes the UCs unique. Now, there is something called a subject requirement, or A through G. And what this is, is you need to meet a minimum admission requirement. You must complete 15 year-long high school courses with a letter grade of C or better, at least 11 of them prior to your last year of high school. Keep in mind that taking approved high school A through G courses isn't the only way to satisfy these requirements. You also may meet them by completing college courses or earning certain scores on your SAT, Advanced Placement, or IB exams. Colleges want to know that you have taken the kinds of classes that will prepare you to do well when you arrive at their school. Which courses they count and which they don't might vary from one UC to another. So it's— the best way to be sure is to take all your A through G requirements. These are known as the UC system requirements. If you satisfy them, you will have the courses you need to meet the basic eligibility requirements for almost any university. If you're interested in entering the University of California as a freshman, you'll have to satisfy several requirements. And if you would like this list, please send me an email at shellee@collegereadyplan.com or go to our website www.collegereadyplan.com, and we will be happy to send you a free list of these courses. Don't want to spend too much time on those today, but they are critical for this process. Let's talk a little bit about the campuses. They're very unique in that they have different locations, different sizes, and different majors. Explore all the campuses and find the right fit for you. Only one set of PIQs for all the UCs, um, and so it's very simple to apply. There are top tiers of the UC schools, and I think it's important for students to understand what this means. The top tier are the Ivy-ish schools, so they would be UC Berkeley, um, UC San Diego, and UCLA. Somehow that didn't get on here, I apologize. The second tier would be UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and UC Davis. And Tier 3 would be UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, and UC Merced. So as you think about which of these fit your academic needs and requirements, keep in mind as you apply, there may be some Tier 2s that have particular majors that are way overcrowded, which means it's going to be more competitive to get into. I can help you to navigate what those look like, but please know they are not all the same. They're not all created equal. So there is one application for the UC system. There are no interviews, and, and by invitation only you can send in letters of recommendation, auditions, or portfolios. The cost is expensive, um, but at the same time not as bad as some other applications. If you need a fee waiver, we highly recommend going to your high school counselor and giving them the necessary information where you can get 4 UC applications for free. All right, remember The applications are open now and close November 30th. So let's talk about the UC application. At every campus, they receive the same copy of your application. They will review your application individually, and they place different values on each section of the application. Um, they won't review external or unsolicited materials, such as if you send them a resume or a letter of recommendation that they didn't ask for. They get thousands upon thousands of applications and they just can't do it for every student. Campuses do not collaborate on admissions decisions. They are individual. Please keep in mind, do not write to one school. In other words, do not put my dream school is UC Berkeley and send it to all of them. That will not help you. So let's take a comprehensive review of what this looks like. All right, so we start with your academic A through G coursework like I, I explained at the beginning, then exam scores. Now this year, unique year, they are saying that they will not be taking into account the ACT or the SAT, but But there are many reasons why you would like to submit these exams, and I'm happy to tell you why, um, if you want to give me a call. Uh, then the next thing is the number, content, and performance in the academic courses beyond the A through G. Then the number of UC-approved honors and AP or IB courses. Top 9% identification in your high school. Quality of a student's senior year course load—no slackers allowed—academic performance relative to educational opportunities, location of high school and residency, outstanding performance in one or more academic subject areas, outstanding work in one or more special projects in any academic field, recent marked improvement in academic performance, special talents, achievements, and awards in a particular field, completion of special projects, and academic accomplishments in light of life experience. So with all of that, let's go ahead and dig in and talk about navigating the application. So first thing that they're going to ask is about you. You want to make sure that you give them important, real information. It will all be verified, so don't try to beat the system. Number 2, campuses and majors that you're interested in. 3, academic history. 4, test scores. 5, activities and awards. 6, scholarships and programs. 7, personal insights. And 8, review and submission. The About You section. So when they ask you about personal insight or personal information, they want to know your first language. They want to know if you had any military service. They want to know about your parent and guardian information and any employment and educational levels. They're trying to get a good profile of who you are and how you were brought up. Then the family size, how many people in your family, um, based on the amount of income, and any UC application fee waiver. Now to the activities and awards section. This selection for admissions includes activities outside of the classroom. UCs do not have a preference between extracurriculars and activities. You can enter 20 of them, so please, if you have 20, list 20. You're only cheating yourself if you don't list them all, because somebody will. Activities and Awards Continued. Enter your activities from 9th through 12th grade. Don't forget spring semester of your senior year. After 12th is meant for students who completed a gap year. Leave blank if you are a high school senior. Average the hours for your activities if they vary during the year. Get as close to possible, and please don't forget to add in time for sleeping. You have 500 characters to describe each activity. Make your words count. You definitely want to use positive— explain what you did and use every word to your benefit. We do not need full sentences in your description box. Fill it up with important words within the organization. What was your role, your responsibility? They want to learn about you, not the activity, not the award. What did I learn about the applicant? Okay, that they want to know Who are you? And what's important about you? What questions do I have after learning about this activity? Does the applicant tell me somewhere else in the application what I need to know? Remember, they don't look up anything online. They want everything right in front of them. Do not use acronyms. Do not get them guessing. They don't have time for guessing. We want them to know. So here we go. With over 200,000 applicants, UC has created the Personal Insight Questions that be— go beyond your scores. They account for 30% of the application decisions. This is an opportunity to show your individuality and achievements. The ranking system takes into, um, qualitative aspects of your life. Your essay matters. Do not, do not rush this. Do not turn it in without somebody having a second set of eyes on this. This is not a high school essay. This is important that you answer the PIQ, and you're clear and succinct with your words. So let's go into the Personal Insight Questions. There are 8 questions and you must respond to 4. You cannot respond to more than 4. There are 350 words per response and all questions have equal value. There is no advantage to answering one question over another. View as your personal interview on paper. Truly, if you were going to sit across from me and we were going to conduct an interview, that is how you would like to complete your Personal Insight Questions. Be very clear, rich perspective of your life, express your accomplishments. Do not be humble. That does not get you into college. Sharing details on your home, your school, your community— tell them who you are and what's important about you. Provide depth details into your application. Academics, extracurricular activities are so critical. Here are the personal insight questions, and we will get into them deeper and what they're really getting into and how to answer them. Okay, so here are the questions. Take a look, take a screenshot, whatever you need to do, but this is the questions they'll be asking. These can be found on the UC website. Try to avoid these things. Okay, here's the 9 things I promised. Do not do this. Number 1, do not be repetitive. Do not say the same thing in just a different way. If it's in your application, you do not need to put it in several times. You want to make sure that the reader finds value in everything they're reading. Do not use flowery language. Keep it specific and use your vocabulary. You don't have to look up everything in this thesaurus to wow them. They want to know who you are. You do not need to be a storyteller or set the scene. This is not the Common App. This is a very different application. Do not put it in terms of being a story about something that you did. Keep it very specific. Number 4, keep it professional. No slangs, no abbreviations. And to be honest, I had one student text their application. They thought it would be unique and funny. No, no, no, no. You don't want to text it. You want to use proper grammar. Do not use jokes or sarcasm. You do not know who's reading it, and they may not get your humor. Number 6, acronyms. They won't look it up. So you need to spell it out. Do not assume they know that NHS is the National Honor Society. It may be a different acronym for them. Number 7, quotations or dialogue. They want to know your thoughts and words, not somebody else's. Number 8, philosophy. Don't ask questions, just tell us what you mean. Again, they just want to know you. And 9, creative writing. No poems, no clichés. This is just your chance to answer the questions. So then how do you pick the topic? Well, do not write what you think UCs want to hear. Just tell them about yourself. I think a lot of students are trying to outsmart the reader. That is not a good idea. Just be yourself. Keep it focused on you, not your grandparent, not your friend, nothing like that, just you. Each campus receives the same copy. Again, don't be campus-specific. Do not stretch the truth. Just be honest, be yourself. What did they not ask about you? What information do you need to share with admissions? This is your chance to shine. Be yourself. All right, include in the prompts. You can reuse your personal statement or, or supplemental essays to answer one or more of the following prompts. In other words, if you've already written about it, in your personal statement for a Common App? Can you reuse it? Can you recycle it? And can you make it great for the UCs? Number 2, repetitiveness versus coherency. Articulate a separate goal for each answer. Do not blend them all together. Number 3, most importantly, which questions speak to you? I know with my students, we like to go through an exercise to figure out which prompt matches them best. And I'm happy to do that with you if you want to reach out to me. This is an important piece. Do not try to fit the wrong information into the wrong prompt. Figure out which questions contain your buzzword. Use this space to tell us something else you want us to know about you, academic or non-academic. Do not continue one of your PIQ responses. An example: My high school only taught 2 AP classes this year, limiting enrollment due to staffing. I did not take the class I planned to, AP US History. No soccer in senior year, funding canceled program. So these are the types of comments you can share. Let them know so they can understand in context. All right, so let's break them down because I think this is really helpful and insightful, and this can actually help you to get this done. So let's go into personal insight question number 1, leadership. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others. That's the first question. Help resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. Did you notice there's actually two questions in there? These are some things you might want to consider. A leadership role can be more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking the lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about what you accomplished and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities? Did you lead a team? How did your experience change your perspective on leading others? Did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church, or in your community or organization? And your leadership role doesn't necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of somebody in your family. This is all part of leadership. Think a little bit outside the box. Number 2, creativity. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side. Again, things to consider. What does creativity mean to you? Do you have a creative skill that is important to you? What have you been able to do with that skill? If you use creativity to solve a problem, what was your solution? What are the steps you took to solve the problem? How does your creative Creativity influence your decisions inside and outside the classroom? Does your creativity relate to the major or future career? These are what they want to know. Number 3, talent. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? Question 1, have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? Again, question number 2, things to consider. If there's a talent or skill that you're proud of, this is the time to share it. You don't necessarily have to be recognized or had received awards for your talent. Why is this talent or skill meaningful to you? Does this talent or skill come naturally Or was it developed with hard work over time? Does it allow opportunities in or outside the classroom? If so, what and how do they fit into your schedule? Just some things to think about. Number 4, describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or work to ever overcome an educational barrier you have faced. Again, really listen to what they're asking. Things to consider: an educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. For example, participation in an honors or academic enrichment program, or enrollment in an academy that's geared towards an occupation or major. Or taking advanced courses that interest you, just to name a few. If you choose to write about educational barriers you faced, how did you overcome or strive to overcome them? What personal characteristics or skills did you use to overcome this challenge? How did overcoming it shape you to who you are today? Very insightful. Number 5: Adversity. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement? Hmm, things to consider: a challenge could be personal or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you faced and what you've learned from this experience. Did you have support from somebody else or did you handle it alone? Remember, they don't want to know about the person who supported you, but they do want to know if you were supported. If you, if you're currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now? And does that affect the different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, how has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends, or with my family? These are all things to consider. Number 6, academic passion, my favorite. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Question 1, describe how you have furthered this interest outside or inside the classroom. Question 2, here we go, things to consider. Many students have a passion for one specific academic subject area, something that they just can't get enough of. If that applies to you, what have you done to further that interest? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had inside or outside the classroom, such as volunteer work, internships, employment, summer programs, participation in student governments or clubs, and what you have gained from that involvement. Did you hear the last part? What you have gained from that involvement. You know, our college-ready students, we focus a lot on this because this is how they figure out what major, what career. So be insightful. Has your interest in the subject influenced you in choosing a major or future career? Have you been able to pursue coursework at a higher level in the subject? Honors, AP, IB, college or university work? Are you inspired to pursue this subject further at University of California? And how might you do that? All right, almost there. Question number 7: What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? This ties in beautifully with our passion project at College Ready. Things to consider: think of a community as a term that encompasses a group, team, or a place like your high school, hometown, or home. You can define community as you see fit. Just make sure you talk about your role in that community? What, was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community? What did you do? Why were you inspired to act? What did you learn from your effort? How did your actions benefit others, the wider community, or both? Did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community. Add insight, add leadership, add about who you are. All right, number 8: Everything else. Besides what was already— has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California? Things to consider: Is there anything you want us to know about you but don't— but didn't find a question or place in the application to tell us? Now is your chance. What have you not shared with us that will highlight a skill, talent, challenge, or opportunity that you think will help us better know you? From your point of view, what do you feel makes you an excellent choice for UC? Don't be afraid to brag. Brag, brag, brag, brag. That's what I tell my students all the time. Do not be humble. It's time to brag. Number 9, if you're a transfer student, please describe how you have prepared for your intended major, including your readiness to succeed in your upper division courses once you enroll at the university. Things to consider. How did your interest in your major develop? It's in— it's time to be insightful and share why you're transferring. All right, let's go into some frequently asked questions. I think these are important because I get these a lot, and so I just took some of the most often asked, and I'm going to share. How should I think about the activity section? Can I copy and paste my Common App activities? Well, take a look at your Common App activity section for general help with tackling extracurriculars. You'll notice that the UC application lets students go longer, listing up to 30 activities, whereas the Common App won't let you write down more than 10 activities. The UC application also divides things into categories, including coursework other than A through G, educational prep programs, volunteer and community service, work experience, awards and honors, and extracurricular activities. Because the UC application allows for more entries and a longer character count, 500 as opposed to 150. The Common App, we suggest writing the UC list first, then figuring out what your top 10 most important or meaningful activities are and cutting those down for the Common App. So it's actually working the other direction. All right, question: should I apply to all the UCs? How should I choose? If I'm not applying to all of them? So the University of California makes it easy to apply to all its campuses. All you have to do is click the boxes next to the school's names. But remember, each one charges you a separate application fee, so don't be surprised. We advise you to apply to all the schools you've, you've even remotely been interested in if you have the financial resources to pay each application fee. To choose which schools to apply to, research, um, the campuses and provide information or write down what's important to you. Not all UCs have the same major. Not all UCs have the same rankings. And so you'll want to pick the ones either based on geography, based on your major, based on your interests, based on You know, what is it that's going to drive you to that school? That's how you pick. I don't recommend just clicking a bunch of buttons because what if you don't really want to go there? Is it a social fit? Something to think about. Question: I'm an out-of-state student, do I stand a chance of getting in? Ah, I get this one a lot. You do, but it's harder. Each campus has different demographics. At UC Berkeley, about 60% of freshmen in the fall of 2017 were in-state students. 2018 was even higher, um, whereas at UC of Riverside, 88% were. Out-of-state applicants must have a 3.4 GPA or above and never earn less than a C grade. You can find more information about the differences between applying in-state versus out-of-state on the UC website. I'm also happy to go into detail. We have a lot of out-of-state students since we're a global company, so we're happy to help inside or outside the state. All right, international students. Should I apply to the UC system? Wow, there's a lot of interest, always has been. Who would not want to live in California, right? Did I mention I'm 5 generations? You can't get us out of here. Um, yes, international students, you can apply, but you do want to be very careful of reading the specific requirements. Again, I'm happy to help you with that. Please reach out for details. Question: I attended a competitive high school in California. Does this ruin my shot of getting into the highest ranked UCs like Berkeley, Berkeley and UCLA? Well, I get this one all the time. There are longstanding questions among California residents about how the UCs make their decisions. There have been reports, for instance, about capping out-of-state admits to keep things from being too competitive for in-state students. We've also heard the UC students— UC schools prefer to admit international students because they pay full tuition. One thing I am for sure, and I think everybody can agree on, even the lower-tiered UCs make for a very competitive school. In general, college admissions are getting more competitive because more people are applying to more colleges. This is the case for in and out-of-state applicants. But it does seem that the UCs have responded to public criticism a few years ago by holding out-of-state applicants to higher standards and trying to give spots to more Californians. Overall though, students who attend better schools with more resources are expected to achieve higher academically and extracurricularly than their counterparts at schools with fewer AP classes and extracurriculars. In other words, if you're given the chance for APs and you don't take them, that can be counted against you. Just do the best you can. Work your own program, work your own application, and you're going to end up at the best fit school available. Question: Does my declared major matter for getting into one UC or another? Admissions committees don't expect your major to stay stable between what you put on your application and what you end up studying. So in many cases, you aren't applying for admission to a particular department. The expectations are engineering— or sorry, the exceptions are engineering, which requires a separate application at UC Berkeley, and applying as an undergrad under undeclared major as an engineer is very competitive. Arts and Architecture, Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nursing, Theater, Film and Television at UCLA, and Dance, Music, Engineering and Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara. But if you feel strongly about one course or study or another, you might consider making that a topic or mention in one of your essay responses. The admissions committee is looking for a clear story across 4 essays. So if you're interested in biology and medicine but write 2 essays about high school English, you might also want to balance that with an answer that explains your interest in medicine. Remember, you want to have a strategy. This is not just a shot in the dark. Also, this is about you and your child. This is about their situation. As promised, I will be sharing how you can get a copy of my bestselling book. And when we send this out to you, please know we appreciate you very much and we are so grateful for your support. Parental support is important, but you can't do everything on your own. So if you are college ready, congratulations. If you are not college ready, please reach out. I would be more than happy to speak with you and your child and help you feel confident in your future decisions. Thank you so much.