Tips for Successfully Navigating the UC Application

Webinar Transcription

2026-7-28-Tips for Successfully Navigating the UC Application

Lonnie: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. Welcome to CollegeAdvisor’s Webinar, “How to Successfully Navigate the UC Application.” My name is Lonnie Webb, and I will serve as your moderator. I also wanna share that I am a proud alum of the University of California Irvine. So we have a really great presentation in store for you all.

Lonnie: Just to acquaint everyone with our webinar, you are able to download the handouts by visiting the Handouts tab, and the slides will be readily available for you. At any time if you have any technical concerns, please feel free to send me a message. And at any time, if you are ready to ask a question to our presenter, we kindly ask that you go visit the Q&A tab, and you can go ahead and place your questions there.

Lonnie: All right. With that said, let’s now first meet our presenter

Frinee: Hello, everyone. My name is Frinee [00:01:00] Berríos, and I currently am an admissions officer at CollegeAdvisor. A little bit about my background, I am also a director of admissions at UCLA. I specifically work for students who are aiming to get their MBA degrees.

Frinee: Prior to that, I did have also former admission office experience at my alma mater, which is Swarthmore International University. I’ve been working at CollegeAdvisor for two and a half years, and I love it. I get to work with many families from all types of backgrounds and really help what, help them, support them through this process.

Lonnie: Awesome. That is really great to hear. So we have an expert that is here to share with you all how to successfully navigate the UC applications. Okay, y’all, so before we actually jump into our presentation, we would love to get a sense of what grade you are in. So we just kindly ask that you, um, respond to our poll so we can just know who is with us live in the [00:02:00] audience, and I will read the responses out loud.

Lonnie: I’m gonna give everyone just about five more seconds because we have a lot of information that we wanna share. We don’t wanna delay our time. Okay. I have the responses. We have 61% of our audience are currently, or perhaps I would assume, maybe rising 12th grade students. Followed by that, we have 19% that are in the 11th grade.

Lonnie: We have about 18% are in the 10th grade, and then about 6% combined of ninth grade students and others. So we have representation from all of our grade levels for our live presentation. And with that, I will now turn it over for us to learn what is unique about UC admissions.

Frinee: Thank you. Thank you. Um, and I apologize, so I wanna apologize a- [00:03:00] ahead of time, I am going, getting over a sickness, so bear with me.

Frinee: Um, but again, thank you all for connecting with me. And what really is unique about the UC admissions process, right? First and foremost, the UCs don’t use Common App. Um, they have a single portal application where you submit an application through their portal. Um, all nine campuses use the same applications, deadlines, and required components.

Frinee: So just know that they use the same application, but the admissions process in terms of how they evaluate the applications is entirely up to each campus and since independently decisions and where they all make the decisions on by their own. Okay? No letter, letters of recommendation are considered. And when I say considered, it’s meaning not to not disregard in, in achieving or asking for a letter of recommendation.

Frinee: You should always ask for one just in case. Um, there might be some majors or some programs that may ask for letters of recommendation, but at the [00:04:00] initial time of when you are submitting your application, it will not be required. So just FYI on that. What admission officers are gonna be looking at is your coursework that you’ve taken throughout your high school career, the grades that you’ve earned, the activities that you’ve been involved in, and as well, the personal insight questions, which AKA the essays that you are submitting.

Frinee: That’s where they’re gonna be reviewing. The UCs recalculate their GPA using an A through G coursework, right? From 10th and 11th grade. So the A through G coursework is a preparatory coursework required for entering into the University of California system, right? If you are a California student, you are most likely re- meeting the requirements for this.

Frinee: But if you’re an out-of-state or maybe international students, you would have to work with your counselor or advisors in terms of making sure that you are meeting the requirements from the A through G coursework or the curriculum, okay? Applicants choose one major per campus, okay? And with switching majors later can [00:05:00] make more competitive and impacted campuses.

Frinee: So for example, let’s say if a student were to choose statistics and then wanna transition into computer science, a computer science is considered a c- impacted major, so we would suggest not to go through that route. Um, majors are unique to each campus, so some campuses will allow alternative majors, so that’s something you can always work on in your own with your advisors, um, in choosing which one is makes most sense.

Frinee: But it’s really when you are researching these different universities or these different campuses and the, the major that you’re selecting, that you are selecting the major that is based on what you ultimately want to study based on the courses that you’ve already taken, okay? Um, and just know UCLA does not allow alternative majors.

Frinee: That’s the only campus that does not allow alternative majors. Everyone else does, so that’s well, another caveat or another pointer to, to share with you all[00:06:00]

Frinee: Um, which high school courses help applicants stand out? So certainly taking the most rigorous coursework available at your school, meaning if you have taken classes in your AP, um, IB, or honors, especially if it’s related to your intended major, is a big plus. You’ll be submitting your AP course test scores, and along with submitting them to the UC when you’re submitting your application as well.

Frinee: Um, if you did any courses in IB, you’ll also be, um, submitting the, the diploma. Um, there is no in terms of, uh, number of APs or number of units you have to complete. Just what they wanna see is that you’re taking the more rigorous coursework available to your school, right? If you’re completing the full A through G pattern, you need to make sure that you are including at least two years of language other than English.

Frinee: Um, this should be, uh, actually three years is actually more competitive, not four. I just wanna… Uh, there’s a typo there. So [00:07:00] it’s, it’s three years, right? And the A through G is available online in terms of kind of figuring out what’s the curriculum that you’ve taken along with the A through G map pattern.

Frinee: And again, if you’re an out-of-state student, this is something you work with your counselors. And most high school counselors already have the, those requirements or those, that, that layout, and they will help you prepare. As well, a college advisor will help you in terms of making sure you are taking the requirements.

Frinee: Is depth in subject builds a stronger case than general knowledge across many? So meaning if you are a student that is in taking most of your AP courses, right, um, you’re in a high demanding schedule, um, that’s gonna show more the interest than taking a, a bunch of AP classes or, or easy AP classes.

Frinee: That’s gonna be more interesting or more in general. If, for example, another, um, if you’re a student that took like Honors Biology, AP biology, you took a class in research, that’s gonna demonstrate very high interest in your academics [00:08:00] rather in sciences than any other student, right? So making sure if you have the opportunity to challenge yourself, take that, take that opportunity What do UC’s look beyond than, what do UC’s look beyond than grades, right?

Frinee: First and foremost is answering the personal insight questions responses with a real voice, growth, and self-reflection. This is something very, very important, and when we are reading your essays, right, there’s eight prompts in which you select the best four of them. And what we really wanna see is your authentic voice.

Frinee: We wanna s- know what your story is and how you demonstrate it, either by your, your life experiences or challenges that you face, that you o- overall have growth, have, have shown growth, have, um, have, have overall taken some, some initiatives in leadership or involvement or w- w- brought any type of awareness.

Frinee: Meaningful extracurricular [00:09:00] involvement, depth, and leadership matters the most. So for example, if a student who served as a debate club president for two years, that’s more impactful for them than a student who has been involved in six other student clubs, right? Uh, we’ve seen that just the involvement of someone who’s been dedicated to a subject that matters to them, that shows leadership, that is meaningful to us.

Frinee: Special talents, family responsibilities, and personal context shared in the additional comments is a plus, right? Sometimes students they’ll, they’ll kinda overlook the admi- the additional comments section. I recommend to take that initiative and really listing out something that is maybe overlooked by you, or maybe a specific talent about yourself or skill.

Frinee: Um, take the opportunity to talk about in the additional comments maybe, like, something about, unique about your school, or maybe a characteristic like the, the curriculum is not available [00:10:00] around your region, or something about your academic history or s- a unique charac- characteristic about yourself. Take the advantage to talk about that in the additional comments section.

Frinee: Maybe you had, uh, a course in where you didn’t do so great, right? Take the opportunity to talk about that as well in the additional comments section. There’s actually two sections that you can write additional comments. Take advantage of those. I always say to use it, not underuse it, okay? Consistency between coursework activities and aca- academic interests, so that’s something that they’re gonna be highly, highly reviewing, um, making sure that everything aligns.

Frinee: And also, what does the student will be contributing to campus life outside the classroom? That is something that s- the office of admissions are gonna be consistently looking. How is it that the student is gonna be contributing to campus life? How they’re gonna be contributing to our community. What is it that their experiences and really can bring onto, um, university like [00:11:00] ours, okay?

Frinee: Go on to the next. Will the UCs look at my SAT or SAT- ACT scores if I submit it? And that’s a no, okay? UCs are test blind. The SAT scores are not considered for admissions nor for scholarships, even if they’re submitted. Um, I have seen students kind of talk about their SAT scores in the additional comment section.

Frinee: Don’t do that. They don’t want to know about your scores, okay? Because scores aren’t being reviewed, this prep time is better be spent on essays, activities, and maybe, like, your course rigor. The only exams that will be required for admissions, if you are an international student, you need to submit for English exams.

Frinee: Um, I know, like, the TOEFL, the, the IELTS. That’s only if, if you are an international student. So if you’re not, then don’t need to worry about submitting any test scores What type of extracurriculars impress AO’s? Definitely meaningful commitment. [00:12:00] Two years or more in an activity reads stronger than a long list of, of one time achieve- of one time events.

Frinee: Okay? Um, leadership and innovative, meaning you founded a club, you were running a project, you were mentoring individuals. That’s gonna be something that really stands out in terms of what the extracurriculars that you were a part of, right? The application itself is student-driven, so take the time to really showcase everything about yourself.

Frinee: And if, maybe it could be something outside of school, right? Maybe through, like, a community center or involvement, maybe part of a church. Definitely take the initiative to talk about that. Um, in your, um, extracurriculars or in the applications, there’s opportunities for you to write out descriptions about your involvement, and we love to see that you use the…

Frinee: definitely use the I, the me and my, my statements, as they are very powerful for you to [00:13:00] be using that throughout your descriptions. Um, use numbers for the awards and activities list to kinda under- help understand the reader of, like, what the scope of the, your involvement is, and really, really showcase in terms of what you contributed.

Frinee: Um, and for example, like, if a student maybe, like… I’m just starting to kind of talk about, was a student that she, you know, took the initiative to start her own psychology club. She saw that there was a need for a psychology club, as this is something that she was highly, she’s highly interested in studying.

Frinee: So she took the initiative to build her own club. She brought awareness, she got an advisor, and then at the end of it, her two years of, of growing this club, she, she got about three students to join that, right? That shows initiative. That shows leadership. Really showcasing real specific impact rather than just the title and role.

Frinee: Okay? Activities or hobbies connecting to intended major or genuine, um, [00:14:00] personal passion. So again, if there are activities you’re currently involved in that you really wanna k- showcase and have relevant, um, similarities to the intended major that you wanna pursue, that’s gonna be a huge plus, right? You wanna fill up as much as you want in terms of, like, writing out your, your extracurriculars, but overall, like, it’s gonna show that impact, so that meaningful commit- And if you have, in terms of done that through, like, jobs or taking care of your family, that also indicates to the UCs that you have real world responsibility, okay?

Frinee: In the extracurriculars, you can list up to 20 activities. Uh, don’t think about, “Oh, okay, I have to write out different 20 activities that I’ve never done in my life.” Don’t do that. You want to list, you know, meaningful, commitment things that you’ve done, and sometimes students don’t realize how much they’ve been involved until they actually write it out.

Frinee: So I always recommend students to kinda, when you start, you’re kinda being involved in volunteering and, and being [00:15:00] part of this, um, in- involvement in different activities, write, write out your, your, um, your involvement. Journal, talk about the experiences. What did you learn? What skills did you gain? What did you…

Frinee: What was your takeaway, right? That’s gonna be just very helpful for you in terms of, like, listing out these extracurriculars. What makes a UC admissions essays memorable? Okay. So when you’re directly answering the personal insight questions, think about it. They’re kinda like interview questions, right?

Frinee: They wanna know all parts of you, right, not just one facet. They wanna know all types of variation of the student coming in. So think about when you are looking at the four, or the eight prompts, read through the eight prompts and see which ones kinda, um- I’m gonna speak to you or they kinda are more easier for you in terms of responding, right?

Frinee: Um, there’s no specific PIQ that admission officers are preferring over another. It’s really [00:16:00] up to the students as to what they wanna share. You wanna be sharing specific stories and then as well including concrete details rather than generic statements. Again, this is a student-driven application, so you want to make sure you’re sharing different variations of yourself and not just one story, okay?

Frinee: An authentic voice that sounds like a real student and not a robot. You know how many times I’ve read essays that I am reading through the essays and I’m like, “This is too perfect.” I look at their desc- their descriptions and how they’ve written out the descriptions, and it does not match, right? The grammar is all over the place, and that would stand out, right?

Frinee: So when you are writing your essays, and this is something CollegeAdvisors help supports you, it’s really making sure that it’s your authentic voice is coming through. You’re showing reflection, you’re showing growth, and that you are overall making an impact in, in your type of involvement. Genuine reflection on what the experience taught the student and how they grew, just as I mentioned.

Frinee: Each of the four required [00:17:00] responses is gonna show a different side of the student, and that’s what we wanna learn, right? Sometimes I’ve had students say, “Hey, I’ve not necessarily never been faced with a challenge,” and they try to create a challenge that they’ve never even dealt out with. Maybe that’s not the type of question you should be dealing– you should be writing about.

Frinee: But if you have internally faced a challenge, maybe you, um, you know, were dealing with a death or maybe you were dealing with some type of disability or anything, like, meaningful to you that you would like to share, please take that time to talk about it, ’cause we wanna kinda learn about it. We wanna learn about you as much as possible Mm.

Frinee: How many s- UC schools should a student apply to? So, as you know, the UCs, they, they kinda range from competitive, less competitive, more favorable. We always recommend students to apply to between five to eight UC campuses, right? You wanna have a balance of a mix of the more [00:18:00] selective, which is a UC in Berkeley, and less than the more selective, the Merced and Riverside, right?

Frinee: And not to say, like, Riverside and Merced are not competitive schools. They still are very competitive campuses to get into, but you wanna make sure that it’s whichever campus you’re applying to, like, you initially wanna apply and you wanna attend that school, right? There, each campuses that you’re applying to is gonna cost $80 as well, so just know that.

Frinee: Um, you don’t need to repurpose, like, four different PIQs for each campus. Everyone’s using the same PIQs. All I just would r- require from you is just paying more. So if you can pay for more, you, you can do that. If not, then just stick to the ones that you really, really wanna attend, right? Um, and it’s important for you also to kind of beforehand, like, figure out the type of major, what’s the school environment like, what is the location that these schools, this is the campus that you’re gonna be attending.

Frinee: So doing that research beforehand is gonna be very helpful. [00:19:00] One application and one set of essay covers every campus, so like I said, adding campuses just takes a little extra work, okay? That’s, that’s my point of view. And then at the end of the day, picking one that aligns with who you are, the type of college education, and experience, right?

Frinee: So I always takes, tell students to research different nines campuses and really reflecting as to what’s the type of experience. Do I wanna be in a large university setting? Do I wanna be more into, in, um, smaller college, more, um, selective, more, um, unique, ba- um, more emphasis on research? Really do your research on that.

Frinee: And they do have, I mean, UCs have so many resources online available that I’m sure in finding that you will consider w- the best option for you. Does each school read applications differently? Yes, they definitely do. Each campuses has its own committee and holistic review process, okay? So there’s different factors in which [00:20:00] they look for admissions that they’re all kind of working separately, right?

Frinee: None of the admissions teams talk to each other. None of them know when decisions for each come out. No, none of them know that. But so that’s why they’re doing it independently. Um, what they’re gonna wanna know is that you are meeting the requirements. And for minimum, for the GPA for California students is that you have a minimum of a 3.0, and if you are a out-of-state student or maybe an international student, that you have a minimum of 3.4 for entry into their, into their schools, right?

Frinee: Some campuses, like Berkeley and UC LA, are weight major specific rigor, and they’re more heavy. Meaning that if you are choosing, like, engineering or computer science, I would re- recommend being that’s gonna be your first choice, right? That you aim for more engineering STEM majors for these selective schools.

Frinee: Now, for the UC San Diego, they have a ranking system where they [00:21:00] actually have, you’re gonna be admitted to a different college. They have eight different colleges in which they all have their reputation, and how they kinda select their students is based on the ranking of the college and what is it that you wanna choose.

Frinee: Now, I think, I believe you can choose up to four, but they’re all different colleges known for, like, their, like, their work in humanities, or their work in, in social sciences, or their work in, in, um, STEM. So you kinda wanna research as to, like, which college you wanna attend, and the UC San Diegos will, um, base, or house you based on your selection.

Frinee: And then UC Merced and Santa Cruz, y- it’s also, they don’t, um, submit, they don’t select by major. They select by your interest into the university. So let’s per se if you’re an art major You’re a art history major, you’re also gonna be competing against art majors, right? You’re gonna be admitting into the university and not by the major, okay?

Frinee: So [00:22:00] this is just like little nuggets I wanna share with you. All campuses consider the same 13 comp- comprehensive review factors. Definitely GPA, the rigor of the coursework, and the context. And when we’re saying context, it’s meaning they wanna know that all the resources that were available to your high school, um, whether you took it both outside or inside, you took advantage of that.

Frinee: So online we do… they do have a list of all the 13 comprehensive review factors if you kinda wanna see them all, but these are kind of the s- kind of the three main ones, right? I also wanna add and make su- sure I’m, I’m being transparent with this, that- California’s, they are serving the state of California, right?

Frinee: About 80% of their in-state students are California residents, right? So if you are a Californ- student and you are considering to apply to a UC campus, you may have an advantage there. But not to say they’re not considering out-of-state students or international students. No, not at all. They, they look at [00:23:00] everyone.

Frinee: But just know that they are, their main, um, student body is for in-state students is California residents. Um, a student can be admitted to a more selective UC and denied at a less selective one due to differing review criteria and major im- impaction, right? So again, they all have their own selective and holistic review process, so there’s have had students that they get admitted to a more less prestigious or a more selective UC, and then get denied at, like, m- like a Merced, and they all…

Frinee: It’s all based on the major, right? Based on what they’re looking for and based on the number of seats they have available for academic year. Okay. So just always research on this. What are the big mistakes that UC’s ap- applicants make? Definitely one of the biggest mistakes that UC applicants make is waiting until the last week of November to start their personal insight questions.

Frinee: Okay. This [00:24:00] is something that you really wanna take time to write out your, your essays, take the time to kinda reflect, um, go back in between drafts, and this is the service that CollegeAdvisor does provide for students in terms of utilizing the admission officer to kind of really figure out what’s that voice, what’s that story that’s gonna make me stand out.

Frinee: What i- what is the different facet that I wanted to share with the admission offices. So take the time to beforehand review your personal questions and your responses, and do that before, um, th- I’d say before November, if anything. Okay? Um, don’t wait until the last minute, ’cause it will show. Choosing impacted major to get i- to get in easier without genuine interest.

Frinee: Again, let’s say if you’re aiming for a computer science, engineering, maybe biology, and we look at your extracurricular involvement and it’s in dance, it’s in, um, history, it’s in different, different [00:25:00] subject, um, matters that don’t even match up, that’s gonna show Office of Admissions that you’re a student that doesn’t know what they’re doing, that you don’t know where in terms of, like, your interests is, right?

Frinee: So you wanna make sure that your overall application just showcases, like, your interest in that intended major and your experiences or your involvement matches, right? As much as possible. So choosing an impacted major can is, to get in is- You need to be, um, have done your research on that. And it can backfire on students if you don’t do, um, the work on that.

Frinee: Reusing Common App essays without tailoring to using prompts as well. Please make sure that you are looking at the prompts and you are answering them accurately and to your best ability. You have the services of CollegeAdvisor to help you in terms of evaluate all of the, the, um, the, the PAQs, and you have team members and advisors that can guide you, who’ve [00:26:00] read countless of essays, who can help you prepare some terms on that.

Frinee: Listing activities without describing specific impact. So again, if you are listing your activities and they’re not, um, relevant to your, your major or they’re not re- relevant to, to your story, it’s gonna show. It’s gonna show that it… Or you’re inventing a, a, some type of activity, it’s gonna showcase on, or it’s gonna sh- reflect on your application.

Frinee: So making sure that w- whatever you are sharing with the College of Admissions, that it is you, it is the actual work that you’ve done, and overall, it’s gonna be, you know, show heavy on that. Not check, um, not checking self-reported grades and coursework for accuracy. Oh, this is a big one. Um, sometimes students will, you know, submit the applications without reviewing the A through G pattern, or they will confuse some of the coursework that they’ve taken, um, or input like maybe [00:27:00] classes that they’ve taken outside with, with a community college.

Frinee: So you need to make sure that the self-reported grades that you are s- are inputting are correct, right? And you can always check with your high school counselor, just, just making sure that the, the courses that you’ve taken are meeting the A through G pattern, right? As well for the, the, you know, reaching out to a college advisor as well.

Frinee: But making sure that the r- the grades that you are reporting are the ones that you took. Um, you won’t need to be submitting your official transcript at the time of admissions, but if you are were to be admitted, they are gonna be asking for that official transcript at the end of it, right? And they wanna make sure that the application that you submitted with all the grades that you inputted do match that official transcript.

Frinee: I have seen some cases that students will report a grade, the transcript is something different, and that’s an indication that you were, um- Falsifying information which can lead to rescinding your admission office or admission [00:28:00] offer, right? So that’s the case we, that we don’t want. So whatever it is that you completed and you earned, you are submitting the most accurate information and inputting that into the application.

Frinee: So please work with your advisors. Please work with your counselors on that, ’cause we don’t want anyone to be, and their admission decisions be rescinded because of a error or a mistake. Okay? And lastly, the final advice. Final advice for… Wait Final advice for students, and I know for a lot of seniors here, right now you are in, in a good stage of kind of gathering all the information you need in terms of preparing for your applications.

Frinee: The applications is opening now in August 1st, right? So starting on terms of writing or starting your application, right, just even just o- opening up an application, just starting in, in putting the, the application. Maybe even putting, like, your demographics, and then [00:29:00] start working on your PIQs, right? Start working on your essays, getting those drafts reviewed, going back and forth with your col- college advisors or with your counselors, making sure it’s meeting the word count, that the grammar is, you know, up to par.

Frinee: And the deadline is Dec- December 1st. You don’t wanna wait until December 1st to submit your applications. I always recommend students to submit, like, early November, mid to November, like, the latest. Mid-November being, like, November 15 being the latest. Um, you wanna give yourself ample time to gather all your activities, um, gather your, your transcripts if you are, you know, have taken some classes outside of the, the, outside of your, um, high school.

Frinee: Gathering all those documents and getting them submitted on time, right? So you wanna make sure that you’re focusing your energy on what the UCs are actually controlling or reviewing, which is courses, GPA, [00:30:00] activities, and essays, right? That’s what you really wanna make sure that you are submitting your most authentic work around that.

Frinee: Um, when I say being authentic, voice matters more than impressive language. Again, watch your grammar. Please do not use AI to write for your essays. It will showcase that you are not being someone that’s, um, submitting au- original work, and it’s gonna reflect on that and when you are, um, submitting your, your documents or submitting your application.

Frinee: Building a balanced list across multiple UC campuses, so making sure that you are, um, you know, overall submitting… Ooh Submitting a, a list of… Sorry, this is not, this is not building. This is balancing a, a list of all the multiple UC campuses, right? So you kinda want to do your research beforehand as to, like, what each of the UC campuses offer, right?

Frinee: Is it the location that, that is [00:31:00] attractive to you? Is it the majors? Is it the college experience? Is it the, the type of, um, environment? Like stuff like, something that’s important to you, right? Why is it that it’s, um, something that you’re interested in applying or joining, right? So creating a list and looking in terms of if there are specific majors that may require additional, um, additional review or additional materials that you are also looking at each campus differently to seeing what is it that require.

Frinee: I know for, like, if you are an Amy, like maybe if you’re like a dance major, or if you’re like a, a film major, there’s portfolios that you may need to submit. So you wanna make sure that is, like, you are researching that beforehand. And then this is why you need to ask for help early, because the application of the UC is, is very, very, it’s very long.

Frinee: It’s very, very long, and we don’t wanna miss any opportunity for you to really showcase who you are as a [00:32:00] student. So making sure you are reading the UC resources available, the admission websites that are available as well online. Um, I always encourage students to also look on through social media.

Frinee: There are opportunities for students who connect with the Office of Admissions through, like TikTok or through Instagram and kinda figure out what are the requirements for each of the different campuses, um, and seeing, you know, if that’s something you would wanna participate. You can pro- probably join like an information session, just like you joined this one, or even just connect with their office admissions that’s got some capacity.

Frinee: Also, um, forgot to mention, is joining, uh, or attending campus tours, right? If you’ve never been or stepped on a, a, a campus, on a campus, and you kinda wanna get familiar with what the environment is like, feel free to look on them. There’s, um, I know, like there are some campuses that do offer them virtual tours.

Frinee: So maybe you’re like, “Hey, I can’t travel right now due to XYZ [00:33:00] reasons.” You can try to see if they have them available through virtual sessions, and you can con- you know, see what the campus is like for each one. Just, just wanna share that as well. Okay? Um, and I believe yes. Yes. I believe yes. Okay.

Lonnie: Yes.

Lonnie: Thank you so much. So now we are going to move into our questions and answers. So Frinee’s gonna answer your questions, all that has to do with the UC application, just like the last point she just mentioned, said ask for help. So this is an opportunity for you to do so. How it’s gonna work is I will read your question out loud that you placed in the Q&A tab, and then I’ll read it out loud for Frinee to be able to answer.

Lonnie: If you notice that the Q&A tab perhaps isn’t working, maybe try logging out again. Um, logging out and then logging back in through the custom [00:34:00] link that we sent in your email. Okay, so we’re gonna go ahead and jump into our first question, and it reads: Would approximately 10 to 12 activities plus honors be a sufficient number of activities, or should I include some less impressive activities to fill up the free space?

Frinee: Um, 10 to 12 if they are something that you’ve generally done and have m- minimal commitment to, um, yes. Yes, I’d, I’d say listing as at least 10. At least 10, yeah.

Lonnie: Okay. Great. Great. Let’s see. What if I have a low GPA as a rising senior? Does the UC application have a way for me to explain my GPA similarly to the Common App additional section?

Frinee: Yes, so there also is the additional comment section as part of the academic history, and when [00:35:00] you can discuss that, any dips in your academics. Um, per se, like, you know, maybe it was in your freshman year, maybe it was in your ju- I don’t know, in your junior year. You can talk about in terms of what went- what happened, um, and how did you improve it, right?

Frinee: How did you take the opportunity to improve that grade or to, um, maybe you took the course, like, again or, you know, just really taking the time to use- utilize the ad- the additional comment sections. I always say, I always say take advantage of those two sections to really highlight important things about your academic history, or in general you maybe wanna add something on top of your, um, PIQ that you can include in there as well

Lonnie: Perfect.

Lonnie: Okay, next question. Uh, okay, so do honor classes, do honor class GPAs count as weighted or not? For [00:36:00] example, is an A… Um, I think you understand the question, right? Yeah.

Frinee: The, the, the what then? The- Basically, do you

Lonnie: get an extra, is it considered weighted for your honors classes?

Frinee: Yes, you get a point for honors, right?

Frinee: There’s a whole formula where for honors you get one point. Um, for AP you get one point. Um, and specifically it’s just for 10th and 11th grade. They’re not gonna be counting for freshman or senior, it’s for 10th and 11th, so yes, there is. I, I don’t know. To do that calculation, don’t ask me. I tried to do it myself once and I was like, “This is so confusing.”

Frinee: But I know there’s advisors that do that, so yes.

Lonnie: Absolutely, yeah. Like, a, a resource I like to use is the GPA calculator that’s actually on the CSU Apply website. Mm-hmm. So it’s the exact same formula that you could use to calculate your weighted UC GPA.

Frinee: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Lonnie: Um, okay, so our next question is, for an out-of-state [00:37:00] student, how does financial aid work, or any insight about scholarships?

Frinee: So for out-of-state and, um, students, right, they’re gonna be looking first and foremost at that you’re meeting the requirements for admissions, first and foremost, they’re gonna be looking at that. And then they’re gonna be looking at your, that you submitted your FAFSA application, um, and along with, like, the required documents.

Frinee: And how they assess it, that’s entirely up to each campus, right? ‘Cause each campus has a different amount of, of number of seats that they can admit, uh, how they disperse their scholarships as well, or their fellowships, it’s all independently by each campus. Uh, but they will offer it, right? Especially if you are a very competitive top student coming from a well, like, known school from your region, or you’re coming in with really high GPA, like you could [00:38:00] potentially be considered for a scholarship.

Frinee: And not to say, you know, that’s just, like, financial aid offered by the school, there’s other external resources that you should be considering when you’re applying. Like applying through, like, a foundation or, like, seeking other external scholarships, so that way, um, you’re not just solely depending on financial aid.

Frinee: Like, there is money for you to be considering when you are applying.

Lonnie: Great. Okay, our next question, can the student take a gap year after, after they are accepted by a, a UC, or do, or do you not apply before taking the gap year?

Frinee: Can they take a gap year after they’re accepted?

Lonnie: Yes.

Frinee: Um, I don’t, I think you could do deferral by one year.

Frinee: I believe so. I don’t know for the undergrads, to be quite honest with you. Um, no, I, I’m not too sure about the gap [00:39:00] year. I have heard of students do gap years in general after they, uh, finish high school, right? But they don’t apply, right? They will wait until they come back so that way they take the time to write their, you know, most relevant experiences, and then kinda talk about it in their applications.

Frinee: So I would say if you were to do a gap year, I’d say maybe wait, and then kinda come back after to kinda submit your application with the most relevant experience. Uh, ’cause maybe you had an amazing, like, you know, experience in doing a project overseas or something like that. Um, so I’d say wait, and then…

Frinee: But I can look into that, honestly. I, I don’t know about the admissions for that one.

Lonnie: Mm-hmm. Um, okay. Uh, next question is, how important is it to have major related activities?[00:40:00]

Frinee: It’s, it’s definitely important, right? ‘Cause they’re gonna be looking in terms of your involvement and also the intended major that they match, where there’s a, some type of consistency throughout your interests. Like, if you are interested in, in computer science, right, that you’ve taken some programming courses, that you’ve taken the minimum requirements for, um, computer science, that you have, have had some type of exposure that’s connected to that.

Frinee: So it is important, to be honest. This is saying, like, you know, you should not list, like, if you are interested in other activities, maybe you’re interested in the arts or in, in music or, um, have other types of hobbies, you should list them as all, right? So you wanna include as much as you can on your application about who you are and what your story is

Lonnie: Nice.

Lonnie: Thank you so much. So we are gonna take a short pause. So even speaking [00:41:00] of stories, we would love to share more about the work that we do here within CollegeAdvisor, but we would like to highlight some of our students’ success stories. So we’re gonna have two stories that we’re gonna highlight today, and our first student is Francesca.

Lonnie: And as the only child of immigrants, Francesca felt very nervous about the college application process. After meeting with CollegeAdvisor as a high school fresh- freshman, Francesca and her family decided it was a great fit. She was paired with an advisor who had over 20 years of experience in the UC system, and soon felt much more confident.

Lonnie: Her advisor helped her explore her interests, build a focused college list, and write all of her essays. She was accepted to eight colleges, including UC San Diego, as well as UC Santa Barbara, and ended up enrolling at [00:42:00] UC San Diego as a business economic major. And Frinee, you had the chance to actually work with this student.

Lonnie: Is there… Would you like to just share the insight working with a student as an admission officer with CollegeAdvisor?

Frinee: Yeah. Yeah, no, certainly. Um, I remember working with Francesca last year, and she was fantastic student. She really was very proactive, she was engaging, she asked all the questions, and she was along with the support of Fritzi, who was her also main advisor.

Frinee: We really, really got to work with her and, and create that, um, there, her, re- reading through her essays, cr- making sure that her college list was to what she would want or, you know, was intending in applying to. So she, she was a fantastic student, um, and I’m really happy that she got to join the school that she really wanted to join, and I believe she also got a sc- uh, scholarship for UC, UC San Diego

Lonnie: Lovely.

Lonnie: I love hearing that. So thank you so much for [00:43:00] sharing just the experience of working with our students as an admission officer. So we have one more student that we wanted to highlight, and this is Imani. Imani, um, you know, when she joined CollegeAdvisor, she was struggling with her organization and staying on ch- on track with all of her competing priorities.

Lonnie: Her advisor provided her with a timeline for building a college list and refining her essays that actually lowered Imani’s anxieties and allowed her to focus more on getting her applications done. She was thrilled to be accepted to six colleges, including both of her top choices, and ended up committing to UC Berkeley’s pre-law pathway.

Lonnie: That is so amazing. I love that. Um, so now I just wanted to just let you all know, those are just two examples of many, many, many [00:44:00] examples of the s- the students who have worked with us within CollegeAdvisor. So our team has guided over 10,000 students through the college admission process. Our team of over 300 former admission officers and admission experts is ready to help you and your family navigate the college admission process in one-on-one advising sessions and essay editing.

Lonnie: To learn more about how you can get started with CollegeAdvisor Please scan the QR code to sign up for a free 60-minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team. During this meeting, you’ll receive a preliminary assessment of your academic profile, along with some initial recommendations on what you can do to stand out.

Lonnie: At the end, you’ll also learn more about the premium packages we offer that pair you with an expert who can support you in building your [00:45:00] college list, editing your essays, and ensuring that you are successfully navigating and applying to the UC applications and the other applications of your choice.

Lonnie: We’re here for the whole process. Okay, so I am going to leave this QR code, QR code on the screen as we continue with our questions and answers. So Frinee, are you ready for me to move to the next question?

Frinee: Yeah, sure.

Lonnie: Awesome. Okay. So if you don’t count freshman and senior year classes, does that really mean you can fail all those years?

Frinee: No. No, you cannot fail. That’s definitely gonna impact your GPA, and that’s to say like, you know, they’re not looking at freshman or senior year, they’re gonna look at everything. They’re like, your whole, um, high school career, right? So if you [00:46:00] have any Fs or Ds, that’s not good. So don’t aim for that. You wanna be aiming for good grades.

Frinee: Um, especially you wanna be considered f- as a top-tier candidate, right?

Lonnie: Yes. Um, so yes, you have to definitely keep your grades high- Yes … for all four years, even after you apply. Because-

Frinee: Yes …

Lonnie: like Frinee said, they’re still going to be reviewing what classes you’re taking, and then you have to submit your high school transcripts at the end of the year.

Lonnie: Um, so next question is: “Is there a certain date by which you should have your PIQs drafted by?”

Frinee: I’d say November f- um, s- so I’d say right now, there’s, like, I would say there’s, like, advisors do it differently. During the summer they’ll kind of do their Common App first, and then they’ll, they’ll focus on the later half of the summer for their PIQs.

Frinee: So honestly, if you have not [00:47:00] started your PIQs, I suggest you do that to, like, starting August 1st, as the applications open up on August 1st, and making sure, like, throughout August and, and September that you are having those draft reviews consistently, like maybe two to three drafts per, per PIQ. Um, and again, it has to be your authentic voice.

Frinee: It has to be you, your genuine voice. It cannot be an AI tool submitting that. It has, it, it will show us that you, you’re not a student that’s taking care of what needs to be submitted. So yeah, have them ready by August. At the end of September if anything.

Lonnie: Great, great. Mm-hmm. Um, very, very helpful insight.

Frinee: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And then I wanna add, too, because, let’s say, the beginning of senior year if you were to get involved in an activity, right? Maybe, like, you’re, uh, part of a committee, or maybe you’re starting a project. So you still have some buffer time between when you completed your PIQs and you’re like, “Hey, I wanna, wanna talk about this project [00:48:00] actually.

Frinee: This is something very important for me, it has been impactful.” So I- you wanna have buffer time to kinda edit those essays if you need to, right? Not wait until the last minute and you’re, like, trying to figure out what to write about, so that would be my recommendation.

Lonnie: Great, great. Okay, next question: uh, “Does the UC application have an early decision or early action choice that might benefit my chance of admission to a certain campus?”

Frinee: No, they do not. They all have the same decis- the same deadline, which is December 1st. Unless there is a program, specific program, like if you’re aiming for, like, a program in dance or in the arts or film, so they’ll have specific deadlines, and you wanna read- make sure you’re reading that on the admission pages for each.

Frinee: But the main application is due December 1st for all nine campuses

Lonnie: Nice. Okay, let’s go into our [00:49:00] next question. How is undecided majors assessed in the context of a high GPA with AP honors, dual enrollment, and leadership and community service, several years of music and sports? However, the student is applying undecided.

Frinee: Undecided, but your, your major, like, your background’s in music and sports?

Lonnie: Yes.

Frinee: Okay, okay. Um, so this is advantage of, for that. This is an advantage. It’s, um… It, it correlates, right? ‘Cause you may not be aiming for an impacted major like computer science or biology, so it’s not gonna hurt you. Um, so an undeclared major does make sense given that specific background.

Frinee: But not to say that, you know, you should also look at an alternative major. There are some campuses that allow you to choose alternative majors, so look at that too, right? There’s so many majors for each campus, so [00:50:00] you really wanna, like, kind of research as to, if I were to, um, come in as undeclared, what would be an alternative major that I would be wanting to apply to, right?

Frinee: Uh, what makes sense for me to be, um, considering to apply for that? So, mm-hmm.

Lonnie: Okay. Thank you. Any, um… We’re gonna move to the next question, and are the awards and activities sections the same? Are the same 20 spots used for both?

Frinee: So the awards and activities are broken out. So you can list up to 20 activities, and then the awards are separate.

Frinee: I think you can include up to, like, 10 awards. Uh, but they’re all on the same, like, tab, if anything, so they will all be on the same, like, kind of tab. I believe so. And then you just write them all, all within. Mm-hmm.

Lonnie: Okay, so this question came up a couple of times, and it was asking about are test scores [00:51:00] important for financial aid and scholarships?

Frinee: They’re not important for s- uh, scholarships or, or, uh, financial aid, no.

Lonnie: Great. And then next question.

Frinee: Unless, unless they, it explicitly says on the scholarship that they are required. So you wanna make sure that the scholarship that you’re applying to, if it does require, then you submit it, but that will probably be a separate application or, or it’s independent application separate from the university.

Frinee: The FAFSA will not ask for, like, any test scores. They, they, they don’t ask for that. It’s if you’re, like, applying for, like, maybe through a foundation or through, like, a company, they may ask for test scores, but the UCs don’t ask for test scores.

Lonnie: Great. Um, this question is, because the UCs get so many applications, is there something that they can do, they can…

Lonnie: Is there something that they can see quickly that makes a student not a good [00:52:00] fit versus a good fit?

Frinee: So there’s many, there’s, uh, I believe 13 components or 13, um, review s- factors or th-

Frinee: 13 factors that they consider in terms of the application. So and not to say, like, oh, because a student doesn’t have 20 activities, they’re not a, a good student. There might be a different factor for them in terms when they are, when we are reviewing their essays that make them one, they may stand out. Um, so it’s a comprehensive review, it’s a holistic review, so whatever as a student is sharing with us is, you know, w- their, their work, their s- their story.

Frinee: So w- who’s to say it’s right or wrong, um, or not good enough, right? So you wanna make sure when you are submitting your application, it’s, like, everything. You’re submitting everything about you that you wanna share.

Lonnie: Great. Um, someone asked, “Are AI tools being used to funnel out students?”

Frinee: [00:53:00] AI tools used, yes.

Frinee: Yes. So we do use, in CollegeAdvisor, we definitely use a tool to review your essays, so just know that. Um, and I’m sure for the admissions office, they probably are. And, and not to say, like, you know, they’re putting your essays through, like, a AI tool and they’re seeing how much plagiarism. I, I don’t believe they’re doing that, but they will know ’cause they read so many essays, right?

Frinee: So these admission r- readers or admission officers read essays all the time, so they’re gonna know what’s authentic and what’s not authentic. So I, I, I can tell when a student is original work and is not, so.

Lonnie: Yeah. And then what’s about, what’s the approximate time that a admission officer uses to read the entire application?

Frinee: I believe there’s a stat for that. I, I don’t remember off the top of my head. But it’s, it’s, it takes time to, to read through your applications, right? And [00:54:00] it’s not of just reading through your essays, but reading through your descriptions of your involvement, reading through, um, your application, the demographics, what you completed in the beginning of your applications, what’s your interest.

Frinee: All of that takes time to, to review, right? And as I mentioned, all the different nine campuses, they do their own admissions process. There’s not, there’s no communicating like, “Hey, we want this student. Let’s get him here.” Like, no, there’s none of that. It’s everyone does their own review independently. So it takes time, so the applications are due on December 1st, and decisions are not released until March, right?

Frinee: So from December 1st all the way through March, they’re reviewing, they’re reviewing, they’re reviewing, and if they are requiring more documents from a student, then they will reach out and be like, “Hey, I need more, more information from you.” Um, but yeah, it takes time. It takes time.

Lonnie: Great, great. Okay, let’s see.

Lonnie: I think we have time for [00:55:00] couple of more questions. And then does, do there, do the PIQs need to be about your major?

Frinee: They, there is one that, uh, like what’s an important, um, academic subject that can be related to your major, but it doesn’t, we don’t need all four PIQs to talk about your major, right? Like, it’s gonna, you’re gonna be beating a dead horse.

Frinee: Um, you can talk about, like, maybe what sparked that interest in your major. Maybe in another essay you can highlight, like, I am, but taking this course that’s related to my major, or you could talk about in the other essay, like, I know this campus is the most, um, prestigious program, has the most prestigious program for this major.

Frinee: Like highlighting those different aspect, but not saying, “I love biology. I love biology. I love biology.” Like, no. Don’t say that.

Lonnie: Agree, agree. Um, next question is, where do you place your [00:56:00] community college courses on the application?

Frinee: So that one, I believe there’s a section to write out all of your courses, your self-reported courses, so you can list them there.

Frinee: Um, the top of my… I don’t know if, like, you may know specifically which section I know that, yeah, there’s a section that you can just write out, like, all the, all your courses pretty much. Okay. You’re gonna write out, uh, and then if you’ve taken them through, like a community college in, in California, it will already populate, like, the c- the campus that you’ve attended and how many years, the courses.

Frinee: So there’s a section in the application that you can write that. Mm-hmm.

Lonnie: Okay. Great. And then next question is, do I need proof for every area I volunteered at or can I document them myself? For example, I volunteered for six hours and documented myself, but I also volunteered for eight hours and I have real proof for that.

Lonnie: Would the UC still believe/accept my hours even though some of the [00:57:00] shorter amounts are self-documented with no confirmation?

Frinee: So they, they go by the honor code pretty much, right? So you wanna be, if the volunteering experience is under one umbrella, let’s say like through like volunteering at a animal shelter, then you can just combine the hours, right?

Frinee: Um, if it’s like specific to like different disciplinaries, maybe you did animal service, maybe you did volunteering at a, at a hospital, right? Then those would be two separate ones, right? But if it’s all relevant to one experience, then just total them together, right? And again, it has, it’s, you’re submitting your work, right?

Frinee: So there’s no way for admission officers to be like, “Oh, well let’s check if she did volunteer eight hours at this specific clinic.” Like, no. They, no one has time for that, so please submit your auth- like, original work.

Lonnie: Great. Awesome. Uh, so with that said, that now is actually gonna bring [00:58:00] us to the end of our webinar.

Lonnie: Thank you, Frinee, for this amazing- Thank you so much. Yes, yes … presentation about the UC application. I think I heard her share that the application opens on August 1st, so you’ll be able to, you know, create your logins and get a preview of that application. And also let you all know, we do have more webinars that are coming up as you all are gearing up for the college application process, and this webinar was recorded and it’ll be available on our website.

Lonnie: So with that, everyone, thank you so much for your attendance. Thank you, Frinee, again.

Frinee: Thank you so much. Yes. Yeah. That’s great Appreciate it. Take care, everyone. Awesome. Have a good one.

Lonnie: Bye.

Frinee: Bye.