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3 years ago
Admissions Advice

Will universities not accept me because I've had ECs at a local university?
Answered

Hey everyone! So this question has been on my mind for a while. Let me elaborate:

Right now, I have an internship as well as another EC at my local university, UCSD (University of California San Diego). When I apply to university, I plan on having these listed as extracurriculars as well as possibly writing about them in my essays.

UCSD is my "safety" school (according to Collegevine, but I would consider it more of an target). My worry is that universities will see that I have a connection to UCSD (I plan on applying to other UCs as well as other T20 schools), think that I will get into UCSD, and then not accept me so they can protect their yield (I've heard of universities doing that).

Honestly I think I'm worrying too much about this and looking too deeply into it, so I would appreciate any input!

Note: All UC schools use the same application, so I cannot change what I say on the application for each school

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@labelle3 years ago

I have a similar concern too about doing a summer programs at a certain accredited university. I'm worried writing about it as an EC on my common app will make any other school assume "oh they're definitely just going to go to the school they attended the program for and not our school" and then reject for yield reasons. Would appreciate advice as well ^^

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Accepted Answer
3 years ago

Hi, thank you for asking your question! I will say that you are taking all the right steps by accomplishing such great extracurriculars so early on in high school. Having an internship at a local top-tier institution is not common for most high school students and will impress admissions officers at all schools. Just because you have an internship at a local university doesn't impact your chances of admissions to other schools. What matters more in the case of your internship is the focus of the internship (is it in your area of interest?), your commitment to this internship (hrs/wk, wk/yr), and the uniqueness of the activity (how rare is this activity amongst most high school students?). These factors are what admissions officers care most about.

I wouldn't stress so much! Best of luck in your applications. Hope this helps!

2
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Your chancing factors
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
1.0
4.0
SAT: 720 math
200
800
| 800 verbal
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800

Extracurriculars

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