• Unofficial transcripts (both high school and college transcripts, if applicable): You'll be asked to enter all the courses you've completed that fulfill A-G requirements; those that are currently in progress; and those that you plan to take.

• Award and honors

• Non-classroom activities

• Volunteer/employment timelines, including hours and job duties

• Research campuses and majors

  • Some majors require a supplemental application.

  • Some majors may not be open every term.

• The navigation bar is located on the right side of the screen. Yous should fill out the application in the order that they are stacked.

  • Information in the "About You" section will trigger recommendations for the fee waivers which will showcase how many campuses you can (should) apply to in the campus and major section.

  • The campus that you apply to will trigger scholarship questions in the "Scholarships & Programs" section.

• Tool tips help provide context or define a word/phrase/terminology to help you navigate through the application with ease to avoid having to pause to look something up before you answer with confidence.

• In order to save all information input on the page, you MUST click on SAVE & continue.

• Personal Information

• Contact Information

• Citizenship & Residency

  • Citizenship:

    • Applicants must select a country of citizenship from the country drop-down menu.

    • Those who choose a country other than the United States will have follow-up questions on permanent residency and/or visa status.

  • Undocumented Students:

    • For country of citizenship, select “No Selection” and follow the directions for the SSN below

  • Social Security Number (SSN)

    • All applicants who have a social security number (SSN) are required to enter it.

    • Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) participants and Undocumented students:

      • Enter a valid SSN, SSN for work purposes, or ITIN if available. Otherwise, leave it blank.

    • If an applicant does not have an SSN, he/she may skip that item.

    • The universities use the SSN to accurately and reliably merge test scores, if submitted, and the federal financial aid application with the admission application.

    • SSN, SSN for work purposes, and ITIN numbers are encrypted and kept secure.

• Demographics

  • Demographic information concerning race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation in the UC Application are NOT used or considered for admission-related purposes.

  • The page is optional.

• Your Background

  • Answers to questions on this page provide more contextual information about applicants and determine if they could be considered independent or dependent students.

  • This information gives us a better understanding of their home environments, and helps us determine if they’re eligible for certain programs, scholarships or the application fee waiver.

• Your household

  • Information about your parent(s) education, income, and family size is used to determine eligibility for the application fee waiver.

    • The application fee waiver calculation will appear on the Choose campuses page in the “Campuses & majors” section.

  • Dependent applicants: Will be asked to provide information about the parents they live with at their permanent address.

  • Independent applicants: Will be asked if they live by themselves or with family members.

  • **Adding income information will not penalize or assist you in the review process. This information is not used to determine residency status or eligibility for financial aid.

• Parent Information

  • There are two different Parent information pages, depending on how applicants answered questions on the Your background page.

    • Dependent applicants: Have the option to add information for two parents (parents, step parents, legal guardians). Which parents applicants choose to provide is up to them and their unique situations. If applicants choose to provide information about a parent or legal guardian, they’ll be asked about the parent’s current job, education level and contact information.

    • Independent applicants: Only have the option to provide their parents’ highest level of education.

You should apply to multiple campuses to increase their chances of admission.

NEW! Applicants who’ve entered their family size and income in the “About you” section will see if they’ve qualified for an application fee waiver on this page. Your fee waiver is good for 4 UC colleges.

Even though you complete one application for all UC's, UC campuses will NOT share or collaborate on the decision process. Each campus will make final decisions independently from one another.

• Selecting a Major

  • Majors may have different names at each campus. To view a list of majors, click HERE.

  • You may select different majors at different campuses.

  • You will be able to view majors under the College or Category.

  • There is an Undeclared option for each UC campus.

  • All UC campuses, except UCB, will have a Major and Alternate Major available. This does NOT mean that every campus will actually consider the alternate major; this will vary by campus.

    • The alternative major should be something you are interested in and some and, in some cases, should be in a different area of study than the primary major.

  • Closed majors: Some majors are not open for every applicant level, for every term. To see closed majors, you can click the “show closed majors” checkbox on the major selection page. Note: If most of the majors are closed, you should check to see if you selected an incorrect applicant level or if it is past the application submission deadline.

  • Students applying to UC San Diego will have to rank the colleges in the order of their preference to have the best chance of assignment to the college of their choice. The order of ranking of colleges does NOT affect the chances for admission.

    • These colleges are residential neighborhoods on campus with specific areas of focus and general education requirements.

    • College assignments are not based on major — you will be able to access the full range of available majors regardless of college assignment.

• Supplemental Applications

  • Each UC may have majors requiring a supplemental application. Link with additional information will show under major selected.

  • You will receive a "next steps" email on how to complete the supplemental application. Supplemental applications are generally not due until after November 30th. Some programs require applications to be completed in early December. Be aware of deadlines; start early rather than later.

    • If the supplemental application is not completed by the deadline date, campuses are not required to continue reviewing the application for admission.

  • All communication will be done through the email associated with the UC Application. **I suggest you add notifications to your cellphone.

• Reviewing Major

  • You should review your choices for each UC campus before submitting application. You can edit your choices as many times as you like before submitting.

  • Each major and alternate major (if applicable) will be visible for each UC you are applying for. **Note that some campuses may not consider alternate majors.

This section is VERY IMPORTANT as it is matching your a-g requirements for admission. You must make sure it is absolutely correct.

• Look at your unofficial transcripts that was sent home during September or open your Aeries account to look at your classes to fill out this section.

• Health, PE, Sports, Teacher's Aide, Office Practice, and Leadership are not considered a-g classes. You will not enter any of these classes.

• You must self-report all courses taken at every institution year by year. All grades (including D/F and repeated grades ) must be included. This includes ALL repeated courses.

• Students should NOT send official transcripts to any UC campus unless UC requests them from you directly via email.

• If you choose to attend a UC, your final transcript will be sent by July 1 through Naviance.

7th and 8th Grade

• High school-level Math and Language other than English courses completed in middle school can be used to meet A-G subject requirements.

• UC will accept Geometry course completed in middle school.

• Only enter these courses if you received a grade of C or better.

High School Course work

• You will enter you high schools you attended, dates of attendance (end date is June 3, 2021), grading system (A, B, C, D, F), and term system (Semester).

• Courses are selected or entered by grade level beginning with 9th grade.

• First select the Subject Area/Course Category of the course to be entered (e.g., English, Math, etc.)

• If you attended more than one high school in an academic year, you will need to enter courses separately for each school.

• Grades will be selected from a drop down menu.

• 12th grade course grades will default to "IP-In Progress" and "PL-Planned".

• For courses that are only one semester long, select “NO” for the term for which the course was not offered (e.g. Economics offered fall term, for spring term select “NO”).

• Include all original courses/grades and enter repeated courses/grades for courses in which an original grade of D or F was earned and subsequently repeated.

College Attended in High School

• If you took any college level courses in high school, including dual enrollment courses, you will need to report them.

• The process is very similar to entering the high school information.

• Report all college work.

• You must report dual enrollment college courses under the appropriate college name on the UC application for undergraduate admission. Dual enrollment courses cannot be reported on the application as high school coursework.

• If you are offered admission to a UC campus, you will be required to submit an official college transcript for all college courses completed, including courses completed through a dual enrollment program. This is in addition to the final official high school transcript.

• If courses were taken at a California Community College (CCC), a UC-transferable course list will appear.

  • Select the course(s) taken, grade earned (or enter IP for In Progress, PL for Planned courses), and the A-G subject area in which the course fits.

  • Non UC-transferable English and math courses can also be reported in this section of the application, but will need to be entered manually.

  • If there are other CCC courses that are not UC-transferable, report them in the “Other coursework” area later in the application under "Activities & Awards" section.

  • **Students must enter all UC-transferable, as well as non-transferable English and math, courses taken in A-G subject areas; missing/inaccurate information may be viewed as falsification and result in cancellation of the application.

  • If college/university courses were not taken at a CCC, applicants should enter each course and grade earned as it appears on the official academic record from the college/university attended.

Additional Information

• The last page in the section asks applicants to indicate if they:

  • Know their California State Student ID number (and provide it if they do)

  • Have any additional comments related to their academic history

• The Additional comments box can be used to provide detailed information or explanations about specific academic issues such as:

  • Declining grades

  • Course selection issues

  • Gaps in education

  • Repeated courses

  • Courses taken in special programs

The Test Scores section has multiple sections for the various exams students might present.

Official scores for any tests reported in the application are not required unless you are offered admission.

ACT & SAT

• Freshman applicants for fall 2021 and fall 2022 have the option to submit SAT/ACT scores with their application. If you don’t submit test scores, your application will still receive full consideration.

• The UCs cannot use your SAT/ACT scores for admission. They can only use them for class placement once you are admitted to the UC.

SAT Subject Tests

• These tests are not required but may be recommended for specific programs at some campuses as an additional piece of information to consider during the review process.

AP Exams, IB Exams, TOEFL, International Exams

• AP exams, IB exams, TOEFL or IELTS and International exams: You will be asked about each of these exams on separate pages in test score section. You’ll need to report your scores if you’ve already taken an exam or indicate if you’re planning on taking an exam in the future.

  • Official AP/IB scores are not required until after a student has accepted an offer of admission; students should not send scores at the time of application submission.

  • Official TOEFL scores can be submitted to ONE UC campus and the scores will be shared with all campuses to which the applicant applies. NOTE: IELTS scores must be sent to each campus. Official TOEFL/IELTS score report must be submitted no later than January.

This is your opportunity to tell them about what you're most proud of outside the classroom. They are looking for quality, not quantity ­– so make sure to focus on the activities and awards that are most important to you.

How to Maximize the Activities & Awards Section

• You’ll need classify each activity/award as one of six categories: Award or honor, Educational preparation programs (any programs that have enriched your academic experiences or helped you prepare for college), Extracurricular activity, Other coursework (courses other than those required for UC admission/courses that do not fit in UC’s A-G subject areas), Volunteering/Community service and Work Experience.

• All Activities Have Value

  • Examples: School Activities, Home Responsibilities, Community Commitments, Employment, Virtual Opportunities

  • In other words, they want to know is how you are utilizing your “free” time outside of school.

• You can enter up to 20 activities and/or awards ( do not feel pressured to fill all).

  • They do not value one activity over another, but they do value commitment, progression and leadership in this section.

  • You should not repeat the entries, even if they might fit into more than one category.

  • The order of activities does not matter, and you cannot rearrange the order once you’ve completed this section.

  • For each activity, you will be asked when you participated in the activity and the time in which you were involved (if you do not know, provide your best estimate or average).

  • You should also include any activities you have planned for the spring semester of your senior year.

  • You will have an opportunity to describe each activity in 350 characters. They want students to be concise with their descriptions and intentional with their words.

  • It should be a short description of the activity or award in which you focus on your role or responsibility within the activity -not necessarily a description of the activity itself.

  • You should focus on their involvement and how the activity was unique to them. They don’t need an actual description of volleyball or basketball, but rather, what was their role on the team? How did this activity affect you or help you progress?

  • If it’s an activity or organization specific to our high school or our community, you can describe the club’s mission or goal, but still focus on your specific experience.

  • In addition, this is where you can tell them if you were involved in an activity prior to ninth grade. For example, if you have been playing a sport for five years prior to high school that shows consistency and commitment

  • Lastly, because you only have 350 characters you may not be able to expand as much as you’d like. In this case, the Personal Insight Questions is a great way to tie and activity/award into your response and potentially reflect and demonstrate what you’ve learned or how you grew from a particular involvement.

• Note on Covid-19

  • They are aware that this year may look different than years prior. They are not penalizing students for lack of activities during this time. However, if you were able to continue an activity, how did the activity change for you or how did you adjust? You may have new responsibilities that you didn’t have before COVID-19, such as taking care of a sibling or helping your community -this can all be included in the Activities & Awards section.

  • If you had an activity planned but it was cancelled,they want to know about it and you should make a note of it in the Additional Comments section of the UC Application, instead of including it in the Activities & Awards section.

• Below you will find slides on some Tips and Best Practices for Students directly from the UCs

  • Diversify: It is important that you remember non-school activities are just as VALID to include in this section, such as babysitting, working to pay for necessities, or helping at home, as they want to see all parts of your lives.

  • Demonstrate Consistency: It is helpful when you can show longer involvement in one activity or have strength and consistency in that involvement versus having little experience in several different areas. Of course, they still want to hear if you are involved in multiple activities for a shorter period of time, but consistency and commitment are most valuable. You can also demonstrate growth and progression in your activity: Did the you start off as a member and later become the president, co-president, etc.?

  • Demonstrate Leadership: This could be leadership on a job, at your church, in your family. It could be as a member of a group rather than the positional leader. It is important for you to help them understand your role and responsibilities, not just your title.

  • Quantify and Measure:

    • It is helpful when you help your reader understand:

      • Total time: how many hours per day/week/month?

      • Scope: school, citywide, statewide, national, international

      • Impact: number of people helped, how much money was raised, etc.

• Included in the slides below are Examples of Activities & Awards

  • All examples are from previous applicants and show a good example of how to report activities and awards.

• Tops Mistakes Made by Students

  • Leaving This Section Blank : It is a huge missed opportunity to leave the section blank but it is very common and simply leaves them with the desire to know more. Between 9th-12th Grade there has to be something you can talk about and if there truly is nothing, you should address it in the Additional Comments Section.

  • Assuming the activity is known to all: Students commonly believe that they know activities that are unique to your high school or community. Unless it is a national program, you should spell out the name and add a quick description. No acronyms allowed!

  • No Clarity: Students don’t provide a clear definition of the their role and responsibilities. A little background on what the activity is can be helpful, but they still need to know what YOU did.

  • Unaware of the importance of the section: Students may not be clear about the role that this section plays in the admissions process. It’s important for you to know what the comprehensive review is and why this section is so important to the process.

  • Talk more about the activity than themselves: They learn nothing about you and your commitment when you talk only about the program. It turns into a list with no value if they can’t personally connect you to the activity described.

The UC application for admissions is also their application for scholarships.

You should fill out the FAFSA or California Dream Act Application (CADAA) to qualify for other forms of financial aid.

The Middle Class Scholarship requires a FAFSA/California Dream Act Application.

Scholarships

• Scholarships are based upon the campuses you selected.

• You can select as many scholarships that pertain to you. There are no limits. You should click through all of the categories (Academic major or interest, Affiliation with group, program or organization, Ancestry and descendants).

Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)

• EOP assists first-generation and disadvantaged students at many campuses.

• EOP provides mentorship, academic programs, financial assistance, advising and other campus support.

• If you are interested in the program, you will need to check the box and provide a brief statement about why you are interested in the program.

As with Activities & Awards, the PIQs are an essential part of the application that can provide additional context for a campus’s comprehensive review. For more information visit: Learn more about the personal insight questions

Use the additional comments field if there are issues you'd like to address that you didn't have the opportunity to discuss elsewhere on the application. This shouldn't be an essay, but rather a place to note unusual circumstances or anything that might be unclear in other parts of the application. You're welcome to use this section to note extraordinary circumstances related to COVID-19, if necessary.

Prompts:

• Word limit is 350 words.

• All prompts are given equal considerations, you are free to select any prompt.

• UC campuses do not interview students or accept letters of recommendation, hence, PIQs are perfect for you to share your story/experience with admissions representatives (challenges, achievements, values etc...). This is the your opportunity to maximize your voice.

• You can view the Prompts below.

Additional Comments:

• There are TWO places on the UC Application for Additional Comments.

  • After Academic History → 550 characters (character count includes spaces).

  • After PIQ → 550 words

• How to Use the Additional Comments after PIQ

  • You might discuss:

    • How COVID or social justice movement impacted your choice of major.

    • Changes to extracurriculars due to COVID (loss of opportunities or newly found ones).

    • How COVID or the social justice movement impacted your decision to apply to UC.

    • Organizations that interest you at UC.

    • How you plan to engage with the community if admitted to UC.

Additional Comments are NOT for:

• • It is not for responding to an additional PIQ or continuing a PIQ response.

  • It is not for copy and pasting links to student portfolios, resumes, youtube channels, etc.

  • It is also not a place for student’s to show their creativeness by posting a short story or poem.

Social Justice Movement:

• Involvement in protests, boycotts, social/political campaigns, or other kinds of activism.

• The effects of racism or unjust policing on your own life.

  • Personal life or school life.

  • Family/friends experience and how that has impacted your view points or major choice.

• The effects of immigration policies on your own life

  • DACA or International Student.

  • Personally or family experience-still mention how your experience has impacted student experience.

• Personal anecdotes only if you are comfortable sharing.

COVID-19:

• If you have been significantly, personally affected, you can write about your personal experience, not a description of the overall situation.

  • Self, close friend, or family member seriously ill with COVID that has impacted your academic experience

  • Financial hardships (job layoffs, housing, and food insecurity)

  • COVID-related impact other than switch to remote learning (job/income loss, lack of access to services/resources, etc.)

  • Additionally, if COVID has affected your career interest, you can talk about it in the Additional Comments. NOTE: students should try to reserve the PIQs to share information about themselves not related to COVID-19.

• If a you have been greatly affect academically:

  • Students that had a late start in remote learning, who didn’t have access to technology, i.e. computer or internet.

  • Students that had to drop courses due to remote learning or limited course selection due to remote learning.

Reminder to students:

• Do not summarize news stories

  • We are all living through the pandemic, no need to tell us what happened or the statistics.

• Tie experience to academics

  • If a family member is sick, how did that impact your mental health.

• Experiences have to be personal

  • How have their academics or involvements (i.e. access to clubs, internships, overall extracurriculars), been affected

**Students should write about either topic if their academic and/or personal life were significantly impacted.

Below you will find examples of student responses.

Final Tips:

• You SHOULD:

  • Talk about yourself.

  • Use "I" and "my" statements.

  • Select prompts that are most relevant to you.

  • Proofread and edit.

  • Seek feedback.

  • Experiences should be personal.

  • Tie experiences to academics, if applicable.

  • Use your own words, be honest and trustful.

• YOU SHOULD NOT:

  • Feel like you must use every word.

  • Feel like you must have a hardship or write about COVID-19 or the Social Justice Movement.

  • Use the "Additional Comments" section for another PIQ response.

  • Summarize news stories.

  • Talk about ONE campus.

After all sections have been completed, students can begin the review and submission process. They should make sure they’ve filled out everything correctly to avoid any issues and present the best story possible!

Review & Submit

• All sections MUST be checked off prior to clicking "Start Submission".

• This option is only available during the filling period of November 1-30 for the fall cycle.

• Note: because test scores are optional, the Test scores section will show complete if:

  • The student answers“no” to the question about whether or not they want to report ACT/SAT scores; OR,

  • The student answers “yes” and reports both the test date and scores received.

• The check marks next to each section indicate whether the section is complete. If applicants do not see a check mark, they can click on that section to reveal what is missing and navigate directly to the incomplete page from there.

Start Submission

• Once all of the sections are marked complete and the start submission button is enabled (during the November filing period), the applicant can proceed to submit the application.

• There are 4 parts of the submission path: academic review; state of legal residence; sign & release; and payment.

• Academic Review

  • Missing Information: Students will be able to see what is missing on the application after the warning screen. They can click back to the Academic History to fix an errors. If the application is correct, they’ll need to click the box confirming that they do not have the courses to meet each missing requirement.

  • Gap In Education:

    • This section designated for students who have skipped a grade level.

    • Opportunity for those students to provide an explanation for the gap.

    • If student did not skip a grade, then he/she can edit the high school info by clicking “Edit” button.

• Release authorization and State of Integrity

  • The application cannot be submitted without the applicant’s electronic signature and acknowledgement of the Statement of Integrity.

  • Everything is verified on the UC Application -grades, courses, involvements, etc. A certain percentage of applicants are verified by the UC; students are randomly selected to submit information verifying various pieces of information included in the application (such as completion of specific coursework, involvement/leadership and hours in a particular activity, etc.).

  • The Statement of Integrity is to affirm that all information in the application is accurate including extracurricular activities and personal insight responses. If information is withheld, such as poor grades, or falsification is detected, the application is subject to cancellation.

• Sign & Release

  • Review and check the release authorizations to share application information with scholarship agencies, parent/guardian, counselors and/or UC organizations and alumni groups. If students have not authorized release of information to their counselor, UC admissions officers cannot discuss the student’s case with their counselor.

  • Electronically sign and date the application to verify accuracy and acknowledge that the applicant is the author of their personal insight responses.

  • The electronic signature also authorizes the release of official examination score(s), if submitted, to all UC campuses to which the student applied.

  • Information in the application is subject to verification. If an applicant is selected for verification, non-compliance will result in cancellation of the application and the application fee will not be refunded.

• Payment

  • Required and non-refundable.

  • Paid by:

    • Credit Card in application

    • Mailing a check or fee waiver

  • Application Fees:

    • For U.S. citizens or permanent resident students, the application fee is $70 per campus.

    • For International and non-immigrant applicants the application fee is $80 for each campus selected.

    • If an international or non-immigrant student currently attends school in the U.S., however, they may be eligible to pay the lower application fee of $70 per campus.

    • The application tool will advise of the fee amount on this page.

  • Fee Waiver:

    • A fee waiver is automatically calculated for California and domestic residents who have reported their family information in About you. The fee waiver calculator is activated from answers about the applicant’s family size and income.

    • If a fee waiver if granted, the applicant must select “Yes” to accept the fee waiver.

    • If an applicant decides not to answer those questions, they may qualify for a fee waiver but would not receive one.

    • Fee Waiver Eligibility:

      • For U.S. citizens or permanent residents or students who have attended a CA high school for at least 3 years, if students meet the low-income criteria used to qualify for free and reduced lunch, they will qualify for a UC application fee waiver for up to 4 campus choices but will be responsible for payment for any additional campus(es) to which they choose to apply.

      • Students in California on a visa are not eligible for the UC application fee waiver.

      • UC also accepts the College Board, ACT or NACAC fee waiver. Only one waiver may be used for a total of 4 campuses.

• Students should keep their application ID in a secure place, as this will be used throughout the admission process, including decision release occurring in the spring.

• After submission, anytime an applicant logs back in they will land in “application status”. Here is where they can see a summary of the campuses applied to, pay any remaining fees due, view and print a pdf of their application, add a campus choice (before Nov. 30) and update a few pieces of information including their personal info and test scores.

• Note that students who choose to share test scores should self-report their scores no later than the end of December.

• Additionally, if the applicant clicks on View how your application is reviewed –they will see information about ELC or the Top 9% statewide index.

• If you have any questions:

  • Best way to contact the UC Application Center is via email or phone.

  • All of this information is on the Application Login page; contact information for the Application Center is also found on every Help page in the application.