How this student got into UCLA

What more can you want from UCLA? It’s acclaimed for being the #1 public university (in our hearts), having the #1 dining hall, and having the #1 student body with the advent of one of KSJC’s most robust seniors: Skylar Lee. Reigning from a family of Taiwanese and Vietnamese immigrants, Skylar has incredible intellect, grit, and heart. In an effort to capture her impressive college application journey, we interviewed her.

What college are you committed to?

UCLA 

What’s your major and your interests/ future career aspirations?

Skylar majors in biochemistry, but is considering transferring into human biology and society or public health. Long term, she hopes to be a doctor.

How did you form your college list?

She spent a lot of time researching colleges. For public colleges, she chose ones in-state. For private,  she determined schools through how great their financial aid, premed counseling, medical school acceptance rate, and research opportunities are.

Do you have any advice on forming a college list?

Skylar emphasized knowing priorities and choosing colleges that fit that.

What other colleges did you get accepted at?

• UC Berkeley

• The University of Southern California

• Baylor University

• Tulane University

• Southern Methodist University

What do you look for in a college? 

Skylar looks for a supportive environment and a place that can assist her in her college journey throughout.

Supportive environment/ a place that can assist her in her journey throughout

What made UCLA stand out from the rest?

Skylar emphasizes its great research and extracurricular opportunities for premed students, given that its medical school and hospital is near campus. She also valued the robustness of the UC system as well as UCLA’s weather and dining hall.

What extracurriculars do you plan to do at UCLA?

Skylar plans to participate in a mobile health clinic and give back to the community. She also plans to have research experience under her belt, and volunteer at a hospital. Off-campus, she wants to be an active member in the LA community.

What was your weighted, unweighted, and UC GPA?

Weighted: 4.33

Unweighted: 4.0

UC GPA: 4.33

How many AP Classes did you take, and what were your scores?

AP World History (4), AP Computer Science Principles (5), AP Calculus AB (5), AP chemistry (4), AP United States History (4), and AP English Language (4).

Any advice on AP Classes?

Skylar emphasized getting to know your teachers; “they’re there to help you.” She also said to not hesitate asking a question or going to office hours. For studying, she recommended teaching a challenging concept or topic with a friend.

Did you take any dual enrollment classes at KSJC or at a community college?

Skylar took dual enrollment at Evergreen Community College, where she took Vietnamese Culture and Experience (A), Art appreciation (A), Oceanography (A), and Human Biology (A).

What were your ACT and/or SAT scores, and how much time did you spend on studying?

Skylar spent a lot of time studying, taking 3 full-length practice tests in the span of a week for her ACT.

SAT: 1510 (760 Reading, 750 Math)

ACT: 35 (36 Math, 34 Science, 36 English, 34 Reading)

Any study tips for the ACT/ SAT?

For both tests, she advises taking a practice test to see the type of questions the tests ask and check out prep books in the library (they’re free!). For the SAT specifically, there is a question bank built-in college board that allows you to practice a lot of problems.

What were your main extracurriculars?

Throughout high school, Skylar had high involvement in all of her extracurriculars:

The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) - Public affairs officer & instructor:

Among the many things she did at CAP, Skylar managed a large instagram account; became a leadership instructor, teaching students how to become future leaders; and led a state-wide leadership conference.

EMT - Volunteer

Being passionate about Medicine, Skylar attended an 8-week summer EMT course. She attended ~30 hours of ambulance ride-alongs, where she saw 37 patients and learned a lot about medicine and health

Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Club - President

At the end of her freshman year, Skylar found herself as the sole president of the GSA club. Through her leadership, she made the club more active and involved, bringing back KSJC’s pride fest.

KSJC Cheer - Captain

As captain, Skylar choreographed a lot of great performances. She loved the collaboration, growth, and community she found within the team.

How have those extracurriculars influenced your future aspirations?

Skylar’s extracurriculars have taught her a lot about her values. Each of her extracurriculars focused on her interaction with others, contributing to her desire to pursue medicine.

How did you rank your extracurriculars?

1. CAP

2. GSA

3. EMT

4. Cheer Captain

*She had more not listed here.

Do you have any advice on your extracurriculars?

Skylar recommended finding an activity you really enjoy and take a strong, active role in it. She also recommended actively participating in clubs.

What did you write your essays about and why?

For her common app essay, Skylar chose to write about the prompt 5 (personal achievement). Skylar dedicated this essay to her experience with GSA, homophobia, and shifting club leadership. Overall, it reflected her resilience, connection with others, and transition into strong leadership.

“Now, running our club fair booth as a senior, the table is overflowing with the same joy, excitement, and color as always.”

For her PIQ’s she chose to write about prompts 1 (Leadership), 3 (Talent), 4 (Educational Opportunity), and 7 (Community). 

For PIQ 1, she wrote about growing as a leader in CAP: 

“[I began] working with [students] ready to transition into leadership roles…Many of them now teach using the materials and methods I developed, which remains one of the most rewarding parts of my work in CAP.”

For PIQ 3, she wrote about her time as cheer captain:

“The skill I'm most proud of isn't just the strength it takes to base a stunt. It's the ability to communicate and work with my team under pressure, where timing and trust matter and a single mistake can lead to someone getting hurt.”

For PIQ 4, she wrote about her experience as an EMT volunteer:

“Interacting with real patients grounded my dedication to medicine because it showed me that patience, empathy, and real human connections are just as important as clinical skill.”

For PIQ 7, she wrote about reused her GSA common app essay, but shorter:

“Leading didn't come naturally to me, but I kept going because I knew the impact a strong club could have on our younger members”

How much time did you spend on your essays?

Skylar spent her summer till the deadline writing.

Do you have any advice for writing your essays?

Skylar recommended finding people that you are comfortable with asking feedback from. 

Who were your letter of recommenders and why?

Skylar asked Mr. A:

She grew so much in AP Chemistry, and the way he teaches inspires her.

She also asked Mr. Winters:

Mr. Winters taught her useful writing skills. She was also his teacher's assistant.

Do you have any advice for choosing your letter of recommenders?

Skylar recommended choosing teachers you talked to. In general, she said, “you should talk to all of your teachers.”

What awards did you put down in your application.

She primarily put down a lot of state-level awards from CAP. In addition, she put down that she achieved the National Merit Scholarship Award as well as school spirit and honor roll awards.

What do you think was your strongest part of your application?

Skylar suggested that her essays were the strongest aspect. It showed who she was, what her values are, and her determination.

What was a barrier you faced during the application process, and how did you address it?

The biggest barrier Skylar faced would be her own procrastination during the writing process. The entire college application process is such an important 6-months snippet of your life that made procrastination easy to cling to. However, she was able to finish her essays by making an imperfect rough draft, and asking for feedback and making edits later.

If you were to restart your high school career, what would you change?

She wouldn't change anything major that happened.

Any advice to people in the college admissions process?

Don’t be afraid to reach out for seniors who went through the same process; “we’re here for you.”

Any final thoughts?

Skylar emphasized that the college list should be personalized; choose schools that you would go to if admitted. Even though Skylar went into KSJC knowing it was a smaller school, her prevailing mindset of “High school is what you make of it” allowed her to have some of the best memories and experiences she had.