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Students interested in attending college within the University of California (UC) system must complete the UC application – this is separate from the Common Application, and the formatting between both platforms varies significantly.
We’ve helped hundreds of students apply to all UC campuses, and the guide below shares the UC activity list structure and how to approach it.
The UC application has six activity categories:
Keep reading for a brief overview of each category and details about what Admissions Officers will expect applicants to share within each category.
Applicants are provided with 60 characters to write out the title of the award or honor.
For each award or honor, there is a checkbox for the level of recognition, going in order from smallest scope to largest:
Applicants are then asked to specify whether the award is academic or non-academic and which school year the award was earned. Note that, unlike the Common App, the UC system doesn’t consider the incoming grade level until the first day of class for the new school year. For example, this means that awards earned in the summer after 9th grade still be considered as happening in 9th grade.
There is an additional, 250-character box asking for the eligibility requirements of the award or honor. These eligibility requirements can include any scores or qualification rounds an applicant had to pass, or information about who the competition or event specifically caters to (such as a competition for applicants under 16 or for applicants specifically from a Southern California County).
After entering this, applicants have 350 characters to write a standard description explaining what they did to earn the award. Unlike the Common App, there is no place to put the time spent earning awards or honors, so we recommend indicating how much time the applicant spent preparing to earn the award.
The educational preparation program category is unique to the UC application.
The UC has specific, recognized programs that applicants are able to select from a dropdown list. Some of the most commonly accessible programs for California students are the Academic Talent Development Program (ATDP) and California State Summer School for Mathematics & Science (COSMOS). Many of the other programs in this dropdown list are regional or demographic-specific programs that are not accessible to all applicants. If an educational preparation program is not included in the predetermined list, select “other” and manually enter the program’s title.
Applicants are then asked to write a description of their experience in the program (within 350 characters), select the grade when they attended the program, and share the number of hours per week and weeks per year spent at the program.
This is the catch-all category that applicants will use to describe most of their activities. This section can include activities such as arts programs, music activities, school-based clubs, sports, and activities that don’t fit elsewhere in the activity list.
For each extracurricular activity, applicants are instructed to write a description of the activity in 350 characters or less. Next, they select the grade(s) they completed the activity and share the number of hours per week and weeks per year spent participating.
This section is for other coursework, often ungraded or non-UC A-G approved courses, to be reported.
In this portion of the application, applicants have 60 available characters to list the course’s title, 350 characters to share a description of the course, and space to select the grade that they attended the class as well as the number of hours per week and weeks per year spent in the class.
Applicants who have volunteered or completed unpaid, community-based experiences can share these involvements here.
Within this section, applicants have 60 characters to share the name of the organization or volunteer group. There is an additional 250-character box, that is not present in other sections, that asks for a brief description of what the organization or group does. The best way to approach this is to consider the organization or group’s mission, and give enough context to an admissions reader (who may not be familiar with the specific volunteer organization).
Like other sections, there is space to share a description of the applicant's roles and responsibilities, grade(s) spent volunteering, and number of hours per week as well as weeks per year spent volunteering.
The last available option is for paid work experience. Applicants who have worked full-time or part-time jobs during the summer or school year can share these experiences within this section.
Applicants have a 60-character box to write the company’s name and an additional 250-character box to share additional context about the company or organization. We suggest approaching this similar to the “Volunteer/Community Experience” section and giving context about the organization to the reader.
After introducing the company, applicants will share their individual job’s title in the next 60-character box, and there is a 350-character box asking about specific roles and responsibilities at the job.
Next, applicants are asked to specify when they worked at the job. Unlike the other sections, applicants must specify whether they worked during the school year or during the summer. They will also input the number of hours per week spent working.
Finally, the application asks if the applicant still works at the job listed. Applicants who are still working at the job listed should input their start month and year. Applicants who are not still working at the job listed should input both their start and end months and years.
For any amount of paid work experience, applicants are given an additional 250-character prompt at the end that asks how earnings can or will be spent. Since the prompt is hidden until a paid work section is completed, applicants often miss this. Applicants only need to fill out this box once, no matter how many paid work opportunities are listed.
If you are interested in learning more about how your University of California application might be reviewed, or how it can be strengthened, schedule a meeting with our team of College Advisors and Former UC Admissions Officers today.
Samuel Fung graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and has been working with students for over 15 years. Samuel has worked with hundreds of students one-on-one and has seen them accepted into competitive majors at the UCs, like Computer Science, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, and Business Administration. Furthermore he has helped students get into top programs at universities like Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to working with students, Samuel has also coached students in robotics, career development, and mental health. He is also a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
