Google UCLA Letter

About two weeks ago I sent a letter to UCLA Admission Center and this is what they replied:

Hello,

Each year UCLA admits an extraordinary group of students. We have carefully designed our review process to ensure fairness and expand opportunity. To select students for our freshman class, we perform a holistic review of all applications to UCLA. As admission to UCLA is highly selective, it is crucial that freshman applicants present complete pictures of themselves, their educational histories, and their personal perspectives by thoroughly and carefully completing the application.

How UCLA Selects Its Freshman Class
UCLA selects its freshman class through a holistic approach in which all of your achievements, both academic and non-academic, are considered in the context of the opportunities you have had and how fully you have taken advantage of those opportunities. 
We consider the following academic elements:
* Academic grade point average (GPA), calculated using 10th and 11th grade UC-approved courses only.
* Performance on standardized tests: the ACT Assessment Plus Writing or the SAT Reasoning Test, and two optional SAT Subject Tests in two different subject areas [English, history and social studies, mathematics (Math Level 2 only), science, or language].

* The strength of your senior year program. 
* Quality, quantity, and level of course work taken throughout your entire high school program, especially course work completed beyond the minimum a-g courses required for eligibility to the University of California.
* The strength of the program taken within the context of the high school you attended.
* A progressively challenging academic program, including the number of and performance in college preparatory, honors, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and transferable college courses; mastery of academic subjects as demonstrated by high grades and exam results; and presence of summer session/inter-session courses that enhance academic progress. 
* Passing scores on AP or IB exams.
* Sustained participation in activities that develop academic and intellectual abilities.
* Honors and/or awards in recognition of academic, intellectual, or creative achievement.
We are also very interested in your personal development and background, and we use these elements from the application to increase our understanding of you as a whole person. Consequently, the personal statement forms an integral part of our review process. We consider the following:

* Your likely contribution to the intellectual and cultural vitality of the campus.
* Your personal background and experience.
* Extensive leadership and initiative in school and/or community organizations and activities.
* Exceptional achievements, such as recognition for special talents or extracurricular activities.
* Employment or personal responsibilities.
* Overcoming life challenges relating to personal or family situations, social or economic difficulties, lack of educational opportunities, or challenges particular to the urban or rural environment.
The personal statement portion of the application allows you to provide information that will give us more insight about you during the review process. The information the University seeks in the personal statement should add clarity, richness, and meaning to the information in the other parts of the application. Your personal statement should enable you to make the best possible case for admission. You should respond to both questions and share with us the accomplishments, perspectives, experiences, and talents that are important to you. The personal statement should reflect your perspectives and should complement, not repeat, the information included elsewhere in your application. Please see our information page on the personal statement for more information about writing yours.

Your academic and personal achievements are considered in the context of your educational circumstances, with an emphasis on the opportunities or challenges presented to you and your response to them. Because our admission process is comprehensive as well as holistic, no single attribute or characteristic guarantees the admission of any applicant to UCLA.

Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools review applicants to the College of Letters and Science. Freshman applicants to the College of Letters and Science are reviewed without regard for major. Therefore, no Letters and Science major (including Undeclared) is more or less selective than any other. Representatives from all other schools-the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science; the School of the Arts and Architecture; the School of Nursing; and the School of Theater, Film, and Television-review their respective applicants and admit students by major. The portfolio/audition is the primary consideration in the review of applicants to the School of the Arts and Architecture and the School of Theater, Film, and Television. Applicants to the School of Nursing must submit a supplemental application. 

Google Day 3

Today I'm going to investigate my third option for College in the united states. In this class I will search for facts about UCLA (University of California in Los Angeles). Here are my goals for today:

• Investigate about UCLA
• Email a Professor from UCLA
• Compare it to UM and UCSD

UCLA is located in Los Angeles, California. According to naviance.com This college accepts an average of 3.77 GPA for every year. This college has pretty much the same rules as UCSD, only that this one has .3 lower in GPA.This college is much harder to get accepted to than most of the colleges I've searched for. In my school (CNG), only 4 out of 13 people who have applied have been accepted. This college has a lot of expectations for students academics there. This college, like pretty much every other college in USA has dorm rooms involve, but they cost about $13,950 dollars to pay for a dorm room, which is quite more expensive than the other colleges. This college has financial aid, but you have to have a GPA of 4.0 and play at least two sports, which is kind of hard to keep up. This college also receives students with AP programs involved. You can also get an in-college job, although it takes a whole lot of your time to do homework and to study. According to ucla.edu, This college is 419 acres and has about 174 buildings, which meant you would need to get a car to get to your next class, which is time wasting and money consuming. This college is in Los Angeles, one of the prettiest and most influential cities in the US. Its very fun because you can get out of college and see the town, but I would recommend for students to stay in college, because if you have that of a huge campus you have a lot to do inside. Its close to the beach and has a beautiful campus. 

I emailed the admissions center asking these questions: What are the requirements to enter to UCLA? How can I make my application stand out? What services do you have for international students? Do you have any abroad or internship services? 

I entered naviance.com to compare the universities I chose and here is what appeared: 

I learned a lot of important information about UCLA that I need for my choosing of college. 

Google Day 2

Today I'm planning to investigate about another college in the united states.
In this class I'm going to research the UCSD (University of California in San Diego)
My goals for this class are:

• Finding out about UCSD
• Emailing two professors from UCSD
• Comparung UM (University of Miami) with UCSD

UCSD is a college located in La Jolla, California. This college accepts an average GPA of 3.82, which is much more of a challenge for me and other students. According to naviance.com and www.ucsd,com, this college has accepted an average of 3/4s of the people who have applied, which is very good, but the thing is that not many people from CNG apply to this college because its not that known. This college is not as known as University of Miami, but its as good as UM, or even better. This college also involves dorm rooms, which cost about $11,300 dollars in total. This college also has financial aid, but its much harder to get one than what would be in UM. UCSD counts the AP programs and the bump that I get in my pre APs. This college can get you an in-college job, in case you need the money or meet new people. This college is 4.9 km2 big in size, which is very big. I think that you might get a car so that you can get early to each class .UCSD is located in La Jolla, which is an advantage because you have the beach besides you and its very pretty. You can get out of college, go to the beach and surf which is pretty fun. 

I made a letter to some of the schools to find out some information about the college. I emailed to jgattas@ucsd.edu, kluciani@ucsd.edu and jadegriffin@ucsd.edu. Here is what I wrote:

Good Morning, 

I'm currently an 9th grade student in Colombia, and I find very interesting your program. I wanted to ask you for advice to enter to UCSD. What requirements do I need to enter to this career area? How can I make my application stand out from the others? What services do you have for international students? Do you have internship or abroad services? I'm sorry for the inconvenience. 

Thank you for your time,

Valentina S. 

I used naviance.com to compare the two colleges I've investigated. This is what appeared. 

As you can see here, ucsd has a much more challenging acceptance rate because of the GPA and SAT, but this one has accepted 3 out of 4 students that have applied. Unlike ucsd, UM has lower rates in GPA and SAT than ucsd, but has a much lower acceptance rate (only half of the students) than ucsd. I have to put all my effort on school to enter to this college. 

My goals for next class are:

• Investigate UCLA
• Email a professor from UCLA
• Compare UCLA, UCSD and UM

 

Google 20% Day 1

My three goals for today are:
- Investigate general information about one of my colleges, majors and minors.
-Sending email to professors about the college.
-How is daily life in college?

The college I chose to investigate today is University of Miami.
I searched through naviance.com some of the general information about this college and a lot of information appeared. This college is one of the many colleges in USA that has dorm rooms involved. Here dorm rooms cost about $11.500 dollars in total to stay in this college. The college is very big, and it accepts an average of 3.53 GPA so that you can enter. This college is located in Coral Gables, that unlike other colleges, this one is  in a very pretty neighborhood. Half of the CNG students who apply to this university get accepted, the other half get declined. This college has Financial Aid I emailed a couple of campus/specialized schools and this is what I wrote. (I got the emails from miami.edu)


Good morning,
I'm currently a 9th grade student in Colombia. I'm planning to study in this college and I had a couple of questions for you. What requirements would I need to enter in this career area? How can I make my application stand out from the others? I was also wondering, does this career have abroad programs or internships for students? Do you help us get internships?
Thank you for your time,
Valentina

I found a lot of information from current college students through talk.collegeconfidential.com talking about their daily lives in college. Many people have different opinions about college and careers but most of the people say that freshmen year in college is the best because you have more time with your friends and have numerous amount of parties. They say that their schedules vary with their friends, even if they are studying the same career. After a while in college, classes start getting much harder than before and you get to see your friends only on weekends. It seems like if life in college was much more boring than what I actually expected.

I learned a lot of new things about University of Miami. I learned that life in college is quite different that what we actually imagine. It puts me somewhat nervous about leaving school and my family and friends. It makes me feel like if i wasnt ready but at the same very excited. My goals for next class are:

-finding out about another college
-search deeper into University of Miami
-Find something in common between these two