Which applications do I need?
Most used college applications are the Common App, the UC application, and the CSU application.
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JUNIOR COLLEGE PREP. SUMMER ASSIGNMENT 2025:
Please Click on this link for A Guide for Juniors: Preparing For College: College Junior Plan
How to select your colleges on the Common App:
After creating your account, click on the tab "College Search" and type in the name of the school you wish to apply to.
You can always remove schools from your list of Colleges so you free to select as many as you want.
After you've added the colleges of your choice, you can view their applications under "My Colleges" where you will fill out their general questions of basic information such as your intended major, family information, submit writing supplementary, sign the FERPA Waiver, and check on the status of your recommendations.
How to select your colleges on the Common App:
After creating your account, click on the tab "College Search" and type in the name of the school you wish to apply to.
You can always remove schools from your list of Colleges so you free to select as many as you want.
After you've added the colleges of your choice, you can view their applications under "My Colleges" where you will fill out their general questions of basic information such as your intended major, family information, submit writing supplementals, sign the FERPA Waiver, and check on the status of your recommendations.
Writing Requirements:
Personal Statement is required by most colleges on the Common App. Prompts for the 2022-2023 cycle have not been released yet but the prompts for 2021-2022 cycle can be found here. The prompts don't change much after one cycle.
Supplemental essays are not talked about and often catch students off guard. On top of a personal statement, applicants to certain schools are expected to complete a series of shorter supplemental essays that range from 25-400 words. Supplemental essays are unique to each school but the prompts are often the same for different schools. The supplemental questions for different schools can be found here.
All writing requirements are due by the final deadline set by the university. No writing requirements such as personal statements or any supplemental questions will be allowed to submitted after the deadline. Your essays must be done by the time the rest of your application is ready, the writing requirements and the rest of the Common App (except letters of recommendation) are one application and cannot be submitted separately.
FERPA Release Waiver
A section in the Common App that you must complete and can be found under "My Colleges".
1. How does FERPA relate to your college application?
FERPA regulates the privacy of student education records, which could include your application to the college where you enroll. FERPA also gives you the right to review confidential letters of recommendation provided as part of that application after you enroll.
2. In the application you'll be asked if you want to waive the right to review confidential letters of recommendation. What you should you know about this waiver?
Waiving your right lets colleges know that you do not intend to read your recommendations, which helps reassure colleges that the letters are candid and truthful.
Some recommenders may decline to write a letter for you if you do not waive your rights. Check with your counselor or teachers to see if any of them follow such a policy.
3. Still unsure how to respond?
That’s OK. Many students are. Before you move on, take a moment to discuss your decision with your counselor, another school official, or your parent/legal guardian.
Reminders for students who start the Common App before August:
The start term and deadline dates that you see in your account are for the current application year (2021-22). When the new application launches at the beginning of August, you will see the correct terms and deadlines for your applications.
When you log into your account at the beginning of August you will rollover your current account. Most of your answers from the Common App tab will rollover at that time but we may ask some new questions.
Any answers that you have in the My Colleges tab (college-specific questions) and any recommender invitations will not carry over in August. You should wait to complete those sections until after you rollover your account.
Any other questions can be made here. Or you can always go to Ms. Almanza for college questions!
The UC Application
The UC application is the application that is used for the 9 public California universities a part of the Universities of California (UC) system. The nine campuses are:
UC Davis
UC Berkeley
UC Merced
UC Santa Cruz
UC Santa Barbara
UCLA
UC Riverside
UC Irvine
UC San Diego
All campuses except UC Berkley and UC Merced are on the quarter system.
The UC application is available as early as August 1. You can begin to submit the application starting October 1 up to December 2. To make your account or login to your UC application, click here.
PIQs:
The main requirement of the UC application are the Personal Insight Questions (PIQs).
You are required to do 4 PIQs for your UC application but you can choose from the 8 prompts available. Each PIQ has a word limit of 350 words. All 4 of the PIQs are sent to all the UCs you apply to; so do not tailor your response to a specific campus if you're applying to multiple UC campuses. The PIQs for the Fall of 2022 can be found here in English and here in Spanish. And for more tips for your PIQs that come directly from UC, click here.
The UC Requirements include:
1. Complete 15 A-G courses (11 of them by end of junior year)
You need to complete a minimum of 15 college-preparatory courses (A-G courses) with a letter grade of C or better. For courses completed during Winter 2020 through summer 2021, UC will also accept a grade of CR (credit) and P (pass). You must complete at least 11 of these courses prior to the beginning of your last year of high school.
The 15 courses are:
a. History - 2 years
b. English - 4 years
c. Mathematics - 3 years
d. Science - 2 years
e. Language other than English - 2 years*
f. Visual and performing arts - 1 year
g. College-preparatory elective - 1 year
*or equivalent to the 2nd level of high school instruction
To check if the courses you are taking are UC approved and fulfill the requirement, check the UC A-G Course List.
2. Earn a GPA of 3.0 or better (3.4 if you're not a California resident) in these courses with no grade lower than a C.
Your regular GPA is not always the same as your UC GPA! Your UC GPA could actually be higher than your regular GPA since your UC GPA only counts certain classes. Learn how to calculate the UC freshman GPA.
3. SAT/ACT Scores
Am I required to submit SAT/ACT test scores?
No. UC will not consider ACT or SAT test scores for admissions decisions or the awarding of scholarships for any applicants. If you choose to submit test scores as part of your application, they may be used for course placement after you enroll. For more info click here.
The CSU Application
The CSU Application is used to apply to all 23 of California State Universities. The application window opens from October 1st and closes on December 2.
application website: https://www2.calstate.edu/apply
CSU CAMPUS MAP
CSU CAMPUS MAP
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