secondary app: proudest accomplishment = gpa?

[tdod]

UCR secondary asks: What activity or accomplishment are you MOST proud of?

I want to talk about my GPA; I graduated from UCSB with a 3.98. Is this ok to do or will it, for some reason or other, be likely to offend the tastes of the adcom?

Thanks!

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[gyngyn]

Sad.

 

[Pusheen]

I would just think of something more interesting, it doesn't have to be academic. They've already seen your GPA

 

[starspells]

I feel like it could be impressive if neither of your parents graduated college so you worked hard to obtain as high of a GPA as possible (despite the odds?). People say to avoid examples involving academics for these types of secondary essays though.

 

[Mcat513]

.

 

[efle]

This surprises me. Being a student is your main big responsibility during these years. Doing it near-perfectly takes a lot of effort for a long time. If someone told me they were most proud of making PBK for example, I wouldn't think they were sad or lame for it. Nerdy maybe, but not sad or lacking successes elsewhere in life.

Makes sense to pick something else (club, athletics, research, volunteering) to avoid coming off as a total bookworm, but I grok you OP, deep down it means the most to me too. I guess true answers aren't always the right answers for these kinds of questions, put something that people would want to have a conversation about instead.

 

[HalpSendHalp]

That's awesome! I wish I had that GPA lol.
But OP, I challenge you to introspect before you resort to your gut answer:
Was there a moment when you felt like you made an impact on someone else?
You must have done extracurriculars - are there any anecdotes or stories you can pull from, regardless of how small or fleeting the moment was?
Try to go as deep as possible without making too long of a stretch, and remember that when you write, if anything is not genuine, it'll show. So balance your story unraveling with a hearty, healthy dose of honesty.
Show them you!

 

[gyngyn]

Makes sense to pick something else (club, athletics, research, volunteering) to avoid coming off as a total bookworm, but I grok you OP, deep down it means the most to me too. I guess true answers aren't always the right answers for these kinds of questions, put something that people would want to have a conversation about instead.

Gpa and MCAT are the baseline that brings your important qualities to our attention.
They're the gas in the car. Dull, but important for forward movement.

 

[Goro]

If this is the best you could do, I'd reject you on the spot.

UCR secondary asks: What activity or accomplishment are you MOST proud of?

I want to talk about my GPA; I graduated from UCSB with a 3.98. Is this ok to do or will it, for some reason or other, be likely to offend the tastes of the adcom?

Thanks!

 

[Donald Juan]

OP, it is fair that this is truly your proudest accomplishment, but the question is asking for something else to know about you since everybody has the same thing (except for a few). For example, when I was interviewing for residency last year, I was often asked my proudest achievement, or something along those lines. Truly, the answer for me is getting into medical school/finishing med school...but everybody else applying has the same thing, so I had to answer something else. Sometimes you just have to get creative with these types of things.

 

[Mansamusa]

At one interview everyone got asked their proudest accomplishment. The guy leading us warned us before our interview that we'd be straight up rejected for being boring af if we said our gpa or MCAT score.

 

[efle]

Gpa and MCAT are the baseline that bring your important qualities to our attention.
They're the gas in the car. Dull, but important for forward movement.

Maybe I'm idealizing, but can't near-perfect academic performance show some important qualities beyond academic competency? Being the kind of person to push yourself and enjoy a challenge, having a curious mind and love of learning, that sort of thing.

I guess I understand it being generic or boring or a weak choice for an app, just not sad for someone to be most proud of the thing that takes up the most of their time and effort.

Don't other activities like volunteering experiences, research project, sports, clubs, also get used ad nauseam?

 

[chibaddie]

Sounds like a waste of secondary app money... Especially if it was screened. Why would that intrigue me enough to invite you for an interview?

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

Unless you have some compelling story why it was difficult to maintain your GPA (like you were confined to bed for your entire junior year because of a serious medical condition and still maintained a near perfect GPA) I don't see it as a good secondary answer, especially for a proudest accomplishment.

 

[bunchesonothing]

This is your chance to show a deeper dimension of yourself. If you focus on GPA, I feel it would be a waste. Most of what you'd probably write about would probably be characteristics that they already assumed you had because of the high GPA already.

Plus, what you're most proud of also says what's important to you. If it's grades, the readers may see that as one dimensional.