Here’s what I know…

Better grades, better test scores, more extracurricular activities, and a better personal statement will help you to get into a UC.

Of course, you probably already knew that, so let me tell you what I think…

You are doing very well so far. You have joined extracurricular activities and your GPA is decent. You’ve taken AP and honors courses. You are thinking ahead and planning. Good job.

Now, is the club you are in related to music? If not, I suggest that you join a music-based club, group, activity, etc., or else find some way to do music at the extracurricular activities that you are doing. The reason for this is that you don’t want your talents to go unnoticed. If nothing else, I suggest that you mention your music in the personal statement. Of course, I am assuming that music is a big part of who you are. If it isn’t, then maybe you can disregard this.

Have you taken the PSAT? If you have, then that gives you an idea of what to work on. If you haven’t, then either take it, or just go ahead and take the SAT as soon as possible. You need to have something to work with. That will influence the way you need to ‘study’ for it. I always say that it is easiest to improve the writing and math portions. You may see why as you take the test. Two things that you can do before taking it for the first time are to practice timed writing (a 4-5 paragraph essay in 25 minutes) and familiarize yourself with the format of the test.

Let’s see… it’s easy for me to say, but improve your GPA if you can. But don’t take easy classes just to raise your GPA (an exception could be if one teacher is more difficult than another, and you have an option). UCs would rather see that you challenge yourself than that you take the easy way out, even if you do get a 4.0.

I think the UCs value the number of extracurricular activities you do as well as the quality you put into them. I mean, they can’t tell how hard you are working in them, but they can see how many hours you put in, and they can guess whether you enjoy them by how long you participate (in terms of years). If you enjoy an activity, I think it’s a good idea to stick with it for as long as you can. But don’t be afraid to try new things and expand your skills and experiences.

The personal statement is the last thing I’ll discuss here. It is pretty important. It is the part of your UC application that makes you seem like a human being. A robot can get a 4.0 GPA and a 2400 SAT score and participate in the computer club, but robots don’t get into UCs, only people. Last I checked, anyway. So take care to make your personal statement as good as possible. The secrets of writing a great one are these: 1. Start early. 2. Write about what is most important to you, what makes you unique, even if you think it sounds corny. 3. Get advice from many people about how to improve it, consider their advice, and make appropriate changes- not just in the grammar and spelling, but in the actual content of the essays. If you have overcome hardship to achieve what you have, that may be a viable topic, but only if it’s true.

Whew. Well, I think I’ve typed about all I can for this. Apply undeclared, apply to lots of colleges, do your best, and don’t worry about things you can’t control.

May God bless you.