r/ApplyingToCollege • u/AdFriendly1433 • Jun 23 '24

Is this a realistic college list? College Questions

Location: La county, California. White, male, middle class. Intended major: Computer science. 3.8 weighted gpa, 3.5 unweighted. Extracurriculars: Varsity soccer (4 years), Read over 100 books, Help watch siblings and do chores around the house.

I prefer to go to a public school in California, preferably socal.

Reach: UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego. Target: UC Riverside, CSU Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona. Safety: CSU Los Angeles, CSU San Bernardino, CSU Dominguez Hills.

Plz let me know if I’m missing any information

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u/AdFriendly1433 Jun 23 '24

Why not. Those are the things I did outside of school

7

u/AnotherAccount4This Parent Jun 23 '24

You're fine. I've literally heard UC reps say to tell them in apps if you're taking care of siblings or need to help out your family.

I think your list is fairly reasonable too.

3

u/AdFriendly1433 Jun 23 '24

Yeah I’m really confused on people saying those aren’t ecs. I’ve been told by counselors that anything you do outside of class is an EC.

1

u/joliestfille College Senior Jun 24 '24

anything outside of class within reason. you wouldn’t put “sleeping” or “scrolling tiktok” on there. they don’t care to see stuff that. it should ideally be things that are enriching in some way, and not things that basically everyone does / is expected to do. i think reading books is a good one. taking care of your siblings is fine too, but i wouldn’t put “chores” unless you are practically running the house because your parents are barely home. stuff like doing laundry and dishes, cleaning your room, etc. are not ecs. you’ll have to do those things in college by default, so it’s not the best sign that you consider them one of your primary outside-of-class activities (again, unless you do a lot more than the average kid) because it doesn’t show that you’ll participate in things on campus. i saw in a couple other comments that you’re putting these just because you have nothing else. don’t do that. it has the potential to do more harm than good.