Essays, activity lists, and academic histories, oh my! It’s that time senior scotties, open up your Chromebooks and start, or maybe continue, application submissions. If college is a goal of yours, not to worry, you still have ample time to fill out your information and create your essay and other required writing responses for the common application portal. Deadlines for applications vary, whether for UC, CSU, community colleges, or out-of-state schools. In this article, I will discuss the different steps, tricks, and things to look out for when filling out your applications.

UC’s: Deadline Passed

Your UC application is one application that you can submit to any of the nine campuses within the University of California system that accept undergraduates. The UC portal requires the same information as any other college application. The first section, “About You” requires you to share personal information regarding your identity, family income, and residency. It is helpful to sit down with your parent or guardian(s) and fill out this portion together, ensuring all information is accurate. Once completed, a check mark will appear to the right of each category, prompting you to the next section.

​The following section is the “Campuses and Majors” portion. This is when you will decide which campuses and corresponding majors you would potentially like to participate in. This can certainly be subject to change, but it is included to give the college an idea of your academic interests and helps in planning the following school year.

​After this is “Academic History” and “Test Scores,” prompting you to fill out courses and test grades from your 9th through 12th grade classes. In some cases, you may have classes and tests that qualify for inclusion from 7th and 8th grade in this section. It is imperative that you get a copy of your transcript and fill out Helix as a semester school. If this is not completed, your application will not be processed.

​Take care when filling out your grades, a useful resource to see if a class is considered an A-G credit is the A-G course list website. Here, you can search within the classes offered at Helix to see not only if, but which credit is associated with a class. Unlike other application portals, you do not have to manually type in your class; simply find the exact course as it appears on your transcript and input your grades. If you’ve participated in dual enrollment classes in high school, you will also have to include those in the following section.

To attain your unofficial transcript if your courses were through Helix, visit Grossmont.edu. From there, go to self-service, sign into your account, and go to the graduation cap tab to see and download your transcript.

​The next section is the “Activities and Awards” portion, where you are encouraged to describe your awards and extracurricular activities. These could include academic awards (NHS member/ leader, honor roll, etc.), competitive academic awards, and much more. The activities portion gives you 20 available slots to depict commitments you are a part of outside of school. For UC’s, it is not required to list your activities in order of importance, but make sure that you are not using excessive “fillers”. Focus on quality, not how many activities you have listed. For the extracurriculars you choose to include, remember that you have limited response characters. Focus on depicting your activities in a listing format rather than complete sentences. In addition, make sure to highlight any leadership roles or positions you have.

​The final section is “Personal Insight,” these prompts are unique to the UC application but can also be used to brainstorm and recycle in writing prompts for other applications. There are 8 of these questions, but you will only have to select 4 to complete in 350 words or fewer. You should choose the questions that best reflect yourself and the experiences that shaped you and your character.

​Without financial assistance, the submission fee for one campus is $80.

​CSU: Deadline Passed

The CSU application is much like the UC one, the main difference being that there is no writing section. The CSU system focuses more on grades and the difficulty of high school classes taken. In comparison, UC tends to be more selective in their admissions process and not only looks at grades and rigour, but gets a better idea of you as a person as well as a student.

​This portal is split into 4 sections, the first asking for the same background information as the ‘About You’ section in the UC application. The following section, ‘Academic History’, has the same questions as the corresponding portion for UC, except for one section. Once you have completed filling out your academic history, you will encounter the A-G matching. This is where you will assign each of your classes with an A-G requirement that goes along with that course. For example, the English 120 course at Helix would fall under the “B” requirement. Prioritise the accurateness of your matching; if you do not have sufficient credits in certain academic areas, your application will be denied.

​The final portion of this application is the same as ‘Campuses and Majors’ for UC. Select your programs (colleges) you would like to apply to, and the corresponding major you would like to apply under.

​Without financial assistance, the submission fee for one campus is $70.

Common Application: Deadline Varies

The common application is home to most private, public, and many out-of-state and international colleges. Your personal, academic, and activity information will still be included. However, in the main section of this application, you will have to complete an essay. This is put in place to get an idea of the applicant on a more personal level outside of grades and test scores. Your essay should follow the prompt that you decide to follow, and be true to your person.

​Another difference compared to the UC and CSU portals is that there is one generic, ‘common application’ that you are first required to complete. Following this, each college you select to apply to will have an additional, smaller application. This will include more questions regarding residency, agreements for that schools’ conduct, and may ask for an additional writing response. Many schools will also mandate a letter of recommendation. It is ideal that this teacher be for a core class in your junior year, but this is not required unless specifically prompted.

​Application fees vary, but span from $30 – $90.

​Submission to the college center to get your application reviewed has closed, but assistance is still typically provided during the school day. For financial assistance regarding college (and as a graduation requirement), make sure to complete your FAFSA application as well.

​The biggest tip that senior Azra has to share with fellow peers is to “start early, get help from your counselors, and knock out your PIQs if you’re doing the UC application.”