3 answers
kaylyn
Student
Anaheim, California
1
Question
Updated
560 views
Do I have a good chance of getting accepted to UCLA, Berkeley, UCSD, UCI, or UCSB for finance/actuary , if my classes are medical CTE?
I have been taking a CTE pathway in medicine (3 years), only to realize that I want to apply to college in a more math/finance related side. (specifically actuary, as of now). I am planning on applying to UCs, I volunteer at a local hospital, but I don't do much finance related "things", do I have a good chance of getting accepted. I did an internship (for non profit) and am VP of our school's business club.
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3 answers
Reema Patel
sales associate
86
Answers
Greenwood, South Carolina
Updated
Reema’s Answer
Even though your background in the medical CTE pathway and volunteering at a local hospital may not directly connect with finance or actuarial science, you can still boost your application for universities like UCLA, Berkeley, UCSD, UCI, and UCSB. Here are some key areas to focus on:
Academic Performance
Grades and Test Scores: A high GPA and strong test scores, especially in math-related subjects, are essential. UCs heavily consider your grades and standardized test scores (if they apply).
Relevant Classes: Point out any math or finance classes you've taken. If you haven't taken many, think about signing up for related classes in your senior year, like calculus, statistics, or economics.
Extracurricular Activities
Business Club Role: Your position as VP of the school's business club is important. Highlight any finance or math-related projects or activities you've been involved in through the club.
Internship Experience: Talk about your internship at the nonprofit, focusing on tasks or projects that included financial management, budgeting, or analysis.
Volunteer Work: Even though your hospital volunteering is more related to medicine, it still shows dedication and service. Point out any skills you've gained that can be applied elsewhere, like teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving.
Personal Statement
Love for Finance/Actuary: Use your personal statement to talk about your change in interest from medicine to finance/actuarial science. Discuss what sparked the change and how your experiences have shaped your goals.
Transferable Skills: Highlight skills you've gained from your medical CTE pathway that are relevant to finance, like analytical thinking, attention to detail, and data management.
Additional Steps
Finance-Related Activities: Think about participating in finance-related extracurricular activities or classes, like online courses in finance or actuarial science, joining finance clubs or competitions, or looking for internships related to finance.
Letters of Recommendation: Get strong letters of recommendation from teachers or mentors who can vouch for your abilities in math, leadership, and your potential for success in finance.
Conclusion
Even though your current background is more related to medicine, you can still submit a strong application to UCs for finance or actuarial science by emphasizing relevant skills and experiences, showing high academic performance in math, and clearly expressing your love for the field. Customizing your application to highlight your strengths and the reasons for your change in focus will help you stand out.
Academic Performance
Grades and Test Scores: A high GPA and strong test scores, especially in math-related subjects, are essential. UCs heavily consider your grades and standardized test scores (if they apply).
Relevant Classes: Point out any math or finance classes you've taken. If you haven't taken many, think about signing up for related classes in your senior year, like calculus, statistics, or economics.
Extracurricular Activities
Business Club Role: Your position as VP of the school's business club is important. Highlight any finance or math-related projects or activities you've been involved in through the club.
Internship Experience: Talk about your internship at the nonprofit, focusing on tasks or projects that included financial management, budgeting, or analysis.
Volunteer Work: Even though your hospital volunteering is more related to medicine, it still shows dedication and service. Point out any skills you've gained that can be applied elsewhere, like teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving.
Personal Statement
Love for Finance/Actuary: Use your personal statement to talk about your change in interest from medicine to finance/actuarial science. Discuss what sparked the change and how your experiences have shaped your goals.
Transferable Skills: Highlight skills you've gained from your medical CTE pathway that are relevant to finance, like analytical thinking, attention to detail, and data management.
Additional Steps
Finance-Related Activities: Think about participating in finance-related extracurricular activities or classes, like online courses in finance or actuarial science, joining finance clubs or competitions, or looking for internships related to finance.
Letters of Recommendation: Get strong letters of recommendation from teachers or mentors who can vouch for your abilities in math, leadership, and your potential for success in finance.
Conclusion
Even though your current background is more related to medicine, you can still submit a strong application to UCs for finance or actuarial science by emphasizing relevant skills and experiences, showing high academic performance in math, and clearly expressing your love for the field. Customizing your application to highlight your strengths and the reasons for your change in focus will help you stand out.
Lin Weng
Consultant
3
Answers
New York, New York
Updated
Lin’s Answer
I think that's awesome that you have completed many courses in medical but decided to pursue in finance / actuary. That was an area that I was interested in potentially pursuing back when I was in high school. Personally I think that makes you stand out amongst pool of candidates who have completed courses in finance/math and in the future you may be able to leverage your medical knowledge in finance / actuary (that those others may be lacking).
Definitely apply for these schools that you mentioned. I strongly encourage you to apply to more schools, if you can.
Best of luck!
Definitely apply for these schools that you mentioned. I strongly encourage you to apply to more schools, if you can.
Best of luck!
Michelle M.
Entertainment Industry
1879
Answers
Updated
Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Kaylyn !
Wow, it is great to know of your wonderful accomplishments and I would be happy to share some advice about what you asked. You seem to be doing wonderfully with the Career and Technical Education classes and keep in mind that the CTE program does set very high academic standards.
Basically everything you are doing is a very good background to bring to any college.
I wouldn't be too worried about your high school performance being a factor in the acceptance to UCs. You've done a fine job so far. The question is: which UCs have the best acceptance rate. Let's explore that. The acceptance rate of a college is the percentage of applications that are accepted out of many thousands of applications. First, UCLA, although their acceptance rate nearly doubled this year, it is very unusual. The projected rate for following years will be 8%.
UC Berkeley's acceptance rate is around 11%. UC San Diego is about 24%. UC Irvine is about 40% and UC Santa Barbara is 29%. My advice is to apply to all of them because you never know which one will have an opening for you.
Your volunteer work as well as your internship is very impressive regardless of what you will major in during college. It shows that you have initiative, can work independently as well as in a group, have developed communication skills and that you value participating in activities that add greatly to people's lives. As for finance, you can focus on it while in college so enjoy your high school days for now and you will learn all you need to know at college for finance. You can always take a finance class online if you want to get a class to add to your college applications. Maybe consider taking a class online that offers a certification. I left a link below for you for a list of them.
It will be very important that you keep your schedule the way it is and try not to overload it. You have all the reason to relax about your high school activities in connection with UC college applications. Although college acceptance is a wait and see thing, I think that your application will be strong. You never know - one of the low acceptance rate UCs just may accept your application, so apply to all of them !
Best wishes in all you do !
FINANCE CERTIFICATIONS ONLINE https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/finance-certifications
Wow, it is great to know of your wonderful accomplishments and I would be happy to share some advice about what you asked. You seem to be doing wonderfully with the Career and Technical Education classes and keep in mind that the CTE program does set very high academic standards.
Basically everything you are doing is a very good background to bring to any college.
I wouldn't be too worried about your high school performance being a factor in the acceptance to UCs. You've done a fine job so far. The question is: which UCs have the best acceptance rate. Let's explore that. The acceptance rate of a college is the percentage of applications that are accepted out of many thousands of applications. First, UCLA, although their acceptance rate nearly doubled this year, it is very unusual. The projected rate for following years will be 8%.
UC Berkeley's acceptance rate is around 11%. UC San Diego is about 24%. UC Irvine is about 40% and UC Santa Barbara is 29%. My advice is to apply to all of them because you never know which one will have an opening for you.
Your volunteer work as well as your internship is very impressive regardless of what you will major in during college. It shows that you have initiative, can work independently as well as in a group, have developed communication skills and that you value participating in activities that add greatly to people's lives. As for finance, you can focus on it while in college so enjoy your high school days for now and you will learn all you need to know at college for finance. You can always take a finance class online if you want to get a class to add to your college applications. Maybe consider taking a class online that offers a certification. I left a link below for you for a list of them.
It will be very important that you keep your schedule the way it is and try not to overload it. You have all the reason to relax about your high school activities in connection with UC college applications. Although college acceptance is a wait and see thing, I think that your application will be strong. You never know - one of the low acceptance rate UCs just may accept your application, so apply to all of them !
Best wishes in all you do !
Michelle recommends the following next steps: