When you imagine a well-rounded student, you're probably picturing a Disney-channel style "popular kid" who's student body president, has A's in every subject, and is in every activity from archery to the school paper. The good news is that you don't have to be well-rounded to get into a good school, including the UC system. The bad news is that you have to do something else to be the kind of student top universities are looking for. Image Courtesy of BBC Glasgow What makes a

Image Courtesy of Highland Park High School The UC activities list is particularly generous, with a 350 character description for each activity, and 6 categories with up to 20 total activities. Today, we'll learn how to maximize this space on your application to give you the best shot at your dream UC. Categories The UC extracurricular and activities list includes several drop-down options to specify what kind of activity you did. These include: coursework other than A-G , ed

If you're applying to college using the Common App, chances are you've come across your "preferred major" section that lets you rank a few majors you're interested in. Most schools consider this, but it's not a deciding factor for admission. However, the UC Application is different, with more weight placed on your major and alternate major selections. This article breaks down how the major selection system works and how you can maximize your chances with it. System Overview O

The UCs are rather transparent about the type of students they look for, laid out in the system website. However, some of these criteria are somewhat vague or seem subjective. Today, we'll find out what they criteria really mean and how you can meet them in your application. Here's the full list of the criteria: Academic grade point average in all completed A-G courses, including additional points for completed UC-certified honors courses. Number of, content of and performanc

Image Courtesy of UCLA The University of California system has some interesting supplemental essays: with only 350 words to express who you are in one area of life, you answer four self-selected questions from a set assortment of 8. This year's questions are in alignment with the general trend of personal and education related questions. Let's take a look at each and how you can stand out in your answers! From the UC Admissions Website, here are the questions and directions f