The most applied to school in 2017 fall admissions with more than 100,000 applicants, UCLA has become one of the most popular universities for prospective freshmen. Settled in sunny and exciting Los Angeles and known for its amazing academic programs, location and research, UCLA definitely is an exciting place for anyone to spend their undergraduate years. Here are four tips on getting into UCLA:
1. GET A STELLAR GPA
With rather low acceptance rate of around 14%, and over a 100,000 applicants each year it is imperative to have a high GPA. To be a competitive applicant, it is recommended to aim for a GPA of 4.16 - 4.31, which is what the middle 25% - 75% of accepted freshmen had in the class of 2022. To have a high weighted GPA, you should aim to take AP and honors classes offered at your school and make sure you stay on track with your coursework throughout the year. Some resources that helped me maintain my GPA were Khan Academy, Kumon Math, and AP Crackbooks.
2. ACE THOSE STANDARDIZED EXAMS
Another aspect of your application that is equally as important to your GPA are your standardized testing scores: the SAT or the ACT. Accepted applicants had an ACT composite score of 31-35 and a SAT score of 1360 - 1540, which shows you the range of what score you should aim for. I personally struggled very much with getting a high SAT score because I just hate timed multiple choice exams and because I changed curriculums so frequently I found that I had missed a lot of important concepts. The one thing that really did help me was Khan Academy's SAT prep course, as there are not only numerous practice questions and tests for you to practice on, but there are also video explanations of the questions.
3. START YOUR ESSAYS EARLY
For the UCLA application, applicants have to pick 4 out of 8 essay questions to answer. Although the due dates for applications seem like ages away, it's important to begin writing the application questions as soon as they're released to have enough time to revise your essays. Writing good quality essays are essential to standing out in a pool of applicants with similar test scores, GPAs and other statistics and the only way to write great essays is to start writing them early
4. MAKE SURE TO BE YOUR UNIQUE SELF
The whole application process is a very impersonal process, which is why it is so important to showcase yourself as a unique individual throughout your application. I know it may be very tempting to read essay examples online, but that is one thing that you should definitely try to avoid as you should try to be as original as possible. This application process is really a good opportunity to think about who you are as an individual, what you want to do in the future, and about what matters to you. So try to showcase the answers to these questions in your application!
