DANIEL WONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Reseda High School
senior Salar Hazany puts the final touches on his
UC application Friday. UCLA is his first choice for a college.
By Helen Seliverstov
Daily Bruin Contributor Salar Hazany’s future depends on what
admissions officers think of what’s inside the envelope he
sent to the UC Regents on Friday. The senior at Reseda High School
applied to several UC schools and dreams of calling himself a Bruin
on April 1 when he hears back from the UC admissions offices.
Hazany is just one of about 40,000 applicants wondering whether his
accomplishments are enough for admissions officers to accept him to
UCLA; wondering if his almost-perfect GPA and his 1350 SAT score
are high enough; if he did enough extra-curricular activities and
spent enough time on his personal statement.
 DANIEL WONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Reseda High School
senior Salar Hazany and Jonathan
Alon from Stoneridge Prep School discuss the colleges they
applied to at the post office. “In April, I probably
won’t care as much any more, but right now getting into UCLA
is a really big deal for me,” Hazany said.
Even with so much competition Hazany feels he stands a good
chance of getting in, based on his accomplishments. But gaining
admission into UCLA is getting harder, and admissions officers are
considering all sorts of factors when reviewing an application.
Those accepted at UCLA score high on the SAT test ““ typically
between 1170 and 1400 ““ according to the U.S. News and World
Report. Ninety-seven percent graduated in the top 10 percent of
their class. Under the new UC comprehensive review policy,
admissions officers will also take into consideration personal
achievement and life challenges. Hazany knows how hard it is to get
in, so over the past three and a half years he has tried to put a
check mark in every box of his college application. All he can do
now is wait. Besides UCLA, Hazany applied to UC Davis, Irvine, San
Diego and Berkeley ““ but he didn’t apply online. He did
not feel comfortable with applying online and said mailing in the
application gives him a greater sense of comfort. At the post
office, Hazany asked for a certificate of mailing, and he made
copies of his final application before sending it off. Hazany, who
had stubble growing because he couldn’t find time to shave
the last few days while completing his application, admitted he was
paranoid about the process, but this, he said, is “too
important to mess with.”
Bruin dreams UCLA has been Hazany’s dream school since he
was nine. His dad, a UCLA alumnus, has told Hazany over and over
again that UCLA is the best place. Hazany’s parents discussed
the application process with him and reassured him that any
decision he would make would be good. But despite their strong
opinion of UCLA, they did not pressure or tell Hazany what to do,
for which Hazany said he was grateful. The senior has visited UCLA
and Westwood many times. Among other things, he loves the arcade.
He has not really thought about attending schools other than UCLA,
but if he had to choose, he said he would want to go to UCSD
because it is “the next worthwhile place” on his list.
Hazany’s classmate Leeja Patel’s first choice is UC San
Diego. Patel would prefer to go there because she likes the campus
and biology program there more than ones at UCLA or Berkeley. Patel
also enjoys the idea that UCSD is further away from home. But
Hazany wants to stay close to home; he does not want to leave the
San Fernando Valley. “My parents just bought a house with a
big backyard, but now I gotta go to college,” he said.
Letters and numbers Hazany’s UC GPA is above 4.0. He
received As in AP European History, AP Biology and in Spanish 3
A/B, and Honors Biology. Looking at Hazany’s high school
transcript, As are almost the only grades in sight. But then a D
jumps out ““ the D Hazany received in 10th grade Honors
Algebra 2. Though it may hurt his admissions chances, Hazany would
rather have the D in his application then all As, because he
learned so much from the experience of receiving a poor grade. The
algebra class was the first one in high school where the grade was
comprised of two tests and a final, Hazany explained in his
personal statement. This, in part, led to his inadequate approach
to the class, he said. But still, he cannot help but wonder how
much this D will affect his chances of gaining admission. Like his
GPA, Hazany’s test scores are also high. His SAT I score was
1350, and his two SAT II scores were each above 700. But many
students applying to top universities have excellent test scores.
His classmate and competitor Patel, for example, scored 1390 on the
SAT I.
Outside the classroom Hazany’s response to the possibility
that test scores will weigh somewhat less in admissions this year
““ as personal achievement and life challenges will be taken
into consideration as well under comprehensive review ““ was
“Thank God.” Hazany’s application has more to
offer than just test scores and grades ““ his list of
extracurricular activities is seemingly endless. Outside of
academic classes, Hazany participates in the Academic Decathlon
team, yearbook, Key Club, Environmental Defense Group, California
Scholarship Federation and he is the on Reseda High School varsity
tennis team. Hazany is also involved outside of Reseda High. He
does martial arts, volunteers for Organization for Needs of
Elderly, decorates Rose Floats for the Rose Parade and is involved
with the Tree People organization, which plants trees in city
parks. Despite all these activities, Hazany feels uncertain whether
this is what the admission office wants. Bryan Furuwaka, another
senior at Reseda High, took a different approach. He has only done
three activities over the past four years ““ varsity
volleyball, Academic Decathlon and Science Bowl, all of which he
has done for at least two years. He wants the admissions office to
see he is “dedicated and very selective about his
options.” It is not always necessary to do an endless amount
of extracurricular activities, said Reseda High School college
counselor Marilyn Udoji. “(Students should) pick a few
activities and be persistent in doing that work,” she
said.
The personal touch and uncertainties On his personal statement,
Hazany spent two pages explaining to the admissions office why he
received the D and what he learned from it. “I got a
“˜D’ and I’m darn proud of it,”
Hazany’s essay begins. He said it was not hard to capture
himself in two pages. In fact, the personal statement was his
favorite part of the application process. “I liked my essay
so much, because it was very natural for me to write,” he
said. Udoji encourages students to write about life experiences and
people who have inspired them to pursue higher education, as well
as their strengths and weaknesses. The admissions office is
interested in who the applicant is beyond grades, scores and
activities, she said. Because Hazany’s other grades are
consistent, it was a mature and concerned decision on his part to
explain his one bad grade, she said. Hazany was tormented until the
last minute trying to decide whether to declare a major. He wants
to study neuroscience at UCLA, but he is afraid that major is too
popular and competitive. “Someone with a major like ancient
Latin may stand a better chance of getting in than me,” he
said. Udoji said someone who is uncertain what they’d wish to
major in should not declare a major, but that declaring one
otherwise won’t necessarily hurt their chances for admission.
“Universities are aware of students trying to get in through
the back door,” Udoji said. Hazany also fears he may have
made a mistake ““ any little mistake at all ““ that may
hinder his chances of getting into UCLA. Hazany filled out at least
six copies of the same application. “The application is so
meticulous,” he said. The waiting game After Hazany turned
his application in at 2:56 p.m. Friday, he did not take a break.
“Now I have to go study for SAT IIs,” he said Friday,
before Saturday’s test. For now, the application process on
Hazany’s part is over. He and thousands of other applicants
are left to wait for the UC to respond ““ with either a big or
a small envelope. The Daily Bruin will be following Hazany through
the rest of his admissions process, until he turns in a statement
of intent to register.