Hoover senior Juliana Aviles was recently accepted into UCLA. 

Along with UCLA, Aviles applied to seven other universities, including UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, Harvard, Stanford, and Cal State Northridge. She was accepted into four of these institutions. 

When asked about what school she will be attending in the upcoming school year, Aviles answered, “My top choice from the beginning was definitely UCLA.”

She also explained the thought process that went into deciding which schools to apply to, “Harvard and Stanford were my ‘reach’ schools and Cal State Northridge was my safety school. What I was told to do was to have schools that I knew I could get into, schools that could go either way, and schools that were ‘reach reach’ schools.”

When asked about the most difficult part of the application process, Aviles claimed, “I think everyone can agree on this part. Having to write about all of the experiences that you’ve had in so few words, really concise and consolidate all of your hard work that you’ve done for four plus years.” 

She says that it took a few months to cut everything down. 

Within her application, Aviles expresses how she highlighted the fact that she was a girl scout for over 12 years and took part in a medical internship to aid her in her career pathway to becoming a doctor. 

Furthermore, she mentioned how the Early College Academy stood out for public universities, however if one is planning on attending a private institution, AP and honor courses would be a better option. 

She assumed that the consistency of being in the ECA program for so long and having experience with the workload and college-like environment was an adequate addition to her application. 

Aviles shared some advice to upcoming graduates and applicants. “I would definitely say start earlier (…) I would say, start in August of your senior year and have a list of all the activities that you’ve ever participated in. It doesn’t have to be anything big. It can be ‘I submitted an artwork for my school’s gallery’ or ‘I volunteered for 25 hours my freshman year.’ Something like that, just have a list of all the things that you want to talk about, and start narrowing it down as you get closer and closer to the deadline.

“Get drafts done early, so that you can have people read it. Have three to five people read it. Just as many people as you can have with different opinions.”

As Aviles departs from Hoover, she said she looks forward to being in an environment surrounded by people with similar work habits and who are more driven.