A Dreamers Chance at UC Berkeley?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Alright guys. I am about to be a senior in highschool and I'm worried about my applications. I recieve the typical, "You can do it!" and, "Scores don't matter" buisness but I want the truth, be it cold and hard or uplifting. I basically joined this site for this single post and feel free to shoot me down if it must be done. I would appreciate honest answers from you college savvy individuals. So here goes.</p>

<p>Colleges I will be applying to: UPenn (EA), UC Berkeley, NYU, Boston U, UT Austin, and SMU as a safety.</p>

<p>Me: I am 17, Hispanic, and foreign born in Naples, Italy. I am currently working at a job I intend to keep until I graduate. My parents are currently unemployed with last years income at around 140k and this year it will be almost 0 at 35k unless my father finds a job. My mother just completed her masters at Southern Methodist University and she does not work. My dad is a former marine and my mother previously held a government job if that helps for scholarship or anything of the sort.</p>

<p>School work: I made the amazing mistake of taking regular classes my freshman year but we wont talk about that. My GPA from the end of my sophomore year is a 3.52, I do not currently know my GPA now although i know it will be bolsteredd by my previous Junior year. I have taken the hardest classes offered at my school since sophomore year and sadly we do not have an IB program at my school. My AP classes have been my highest scoring classes all recieving above a 90 except AP US History with an 86.</p>

<p>AP Classes: Taken and scored: World History (4)
Taken, not yet scored: US History, Human Geography, Microeconomics, and English Lang.
Plan to take/Enrolled in: Biology, Calc Ab, Macroeconomics, English Lit, and US Government.</p>

<p>Volunteer work: I volunteer with two local organizations that help special needs children and i will leave with around 100 hours in total. I am also flying to volunteer in Palestine for two weeks this July at a relief center to discuss how American youth view the conflict in Israel with Palestinian youth.</p>

<p>EC: SMU TAG program recieving four hours of college credit with a 4.0 GPA summer 2010, Cornell Univeristy summer college for 8 hours of college credit with a B average summer 2011, National Student Leadership Conference representative at American University summer 2011, Duke TIP program recognization for SAT scores in 7th grade summer 2007, John Ben Shepperd Leadership Conference hosted by SMU 2010 , Eduacation in Action Leadership Academy Summer 2008, National Honor Society 2011, Rotary Club Acedemic Excellence Award 2010 and 2011, Acedemic Decathalon team captain and gold medalist 2011, and Raytheon LASER award in math and sciences 2011. (some of these sound rediculous but I am putting everything I can think of down that could help me even a little.)</p>

<p>And now the juicy and scary part... Standardized test scores.
ACT: Sophomore year, 26. Junior year, 30. Senior year, ?.
SAT: January 2008, 1460. Dec 2008, 1560. May 2011, 1700. May2012, 1960 (v/m/w) (700/670/590 ouch) Senior year ?.
SAT Subject tests: Lit 730. US History 750.
I do plan on retaking the SAT and ACT again early senior year so they will be ready by the time applications are due.</p>

<p>I am number 67 out of 395 (from slacking), but when class ranks are recalculated I should move to around number 30 or 40 atleast, putting me almost at top 10% I believe.</p>

<p>Sorry it was so long guys, please, fire away!</p>

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<p>How will you afford UC Berkeley? Unlikely at UPenn and NYU, maybe at BU, but uncertain… You need some matches! And I thought there was some rule at UT-Austin about not being in the top 10% or something?</p>

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<p>UPenn is ED first of all. so it would be binding if you got in. ill post again, this is just a prelim thing that i noticed when i started reading</p>

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<p>he could easily get generous financial aid. my parents have been unemployed 1 year and my mom was going through chemo, my older brother got $40,000 in aid from Columbia because of that. so he could likely afford it.
also, in senior year. for the SAT either focus a lot on upping that writing score, or get an 800 math section (since it’s easier than the crit reading which is unpredictable). preferrably do both. just try to get your score over 2000, preferably over 2100.
also don’t send the ACT from sophomore year. and I’d take either Math1 or Math2 SATII if you think you can do well. Math2 is precalc/trig while Math1 is geometry/algebra, but Math2 has a much bigger curve.
if you did well on your APs this year that will also help. where do you live btw?
your ECs are good. tbh I won’t give you a prediction now because I don’t feel it will be accurate come application time.
not gonna lie, it’ll be difficult to get to a position where you’d have a good chance at getting into Berkeley or Penn. I actually think NYU is easier to get into than those unless you apply to Stern or Steinhardt. We had a kid get accepted with a 1000/2400 SAT this past year. Apply to maybe 2 or 3 more schools. 6 isn’t really a safe number based on your current stuff.
It’ll be difficult to get your stats to the level you want rn, but I think you can do it.</p>

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<p>Also if your school doesn’t offer IB then they can’t count it against you. and IB isn’t counted for any more than AP. the reason some people see it as better is because kids take APs in the subjects they want. A lot of schools that have IB have IB “programs” where you need to take nearly every class IB or no classes IB.</p>

<p>chance me back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1358671-chance-me-cs-schools-top-schools-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1358671-chance-me-cs-schools-top-schools-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thanks for the info guys. To clear some of your questions up: affording the school is not really my concern as all I have ever wanted was a good school and a PhD so.I would find a way no matter what it took. UT Austins rule has been changed this last year to auto accept anyone in the top 8% which I may not hit. The writing section has plagued me since 7th grade and my goal is atleast a 650. I also plan on studying mainly math for my upcoming SAT. I live in McKinney, Texas for those who were wondering. Thanks again for the input, anything else I could do would help amazingly. Thank you all so much!</p>

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<p>The auto-acceptance under the UT top 8/9/10% is only for in-state students. I don’t remember reading where you were from, but I assume it’s from out of state. If not, them you should hope it is top 8% to have a chance at UT (or raise your standardized test scores).</p>

<p>Sent from my Desire HD using CC</p>

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<p>I was accepted to NYU, Boston U and UC Berkeley (will be attending UC Berkeley)</p>

<p>I think you can get into Boston hands down. It was my safety. Your test scores are better than mine. However, I think we differ in GPA, Academics, and Class Rank. I still think BU is a solid accept. NYU I am not sure about because I applied to the Tisch School of the Arts where my portfolio essay was a big deciding factor.</p>

<p>I say don’t count yourself out for Berkeley. I never expected to get in, but I did and I ended up choosing it because they gave me an exceptional financial aid package. I got half tuition from NYU, literally no aid from BU and almost full tuition from Cal. If you have any specific questions about Cal and my application to there I would be happy to answer.</p>

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<p>So you’d be willing to take out thousands of dollars in loans (possibly over 100k) to go to UC Berkeley? It’s a state school and you don’t live in that state, so financial aid is highly unlikely. Affording the school should be your main concern. It’s unrealistic to think that you can just “find a way” at a public school like Berkeley. Private, need-blind institutions are a much better idea. I suggest you look at this list for some matches.</p>

<p>[Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission]Need-blind”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)</p>

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<p>When I say not to worry about the money I only meant that I wanted the factors leading to my possible acceptance looked at. Not so much the next step. My main worry is the acceptance and that’s why I made this thread to decide if I should keep my hopes up. Thanks for the link by the way SgtDonut. Also, yerawizardmolly, I would be interested to know how our acedemics and GPA differ so I know what I need to do to improve myself if you don’t mind. You guys really have been helpful to me, thanks tons!</p>

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<p>just to uplift you, writing is the easiest section of the SAT to raise up, so i say study hard and take the SAT once more for a solid chance at berkeley. good luck!</p>

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<p>Hi! First of all, good luck in your applications and don’t slack off like I did, haha.</p>

<p>From your colleges, I applied to three; I was accepted into NYU and Berkeley (where I’ll be attending) and waitlisted at UPenn (ultimately denied).</p>

<p>I come from a very small high school in Puerto Rico where I was 1 out of 19. Seeing as we aren’t as advanced as many state schools, I would think that me being Valedictorian in my class would be viewed as well as you having a rank of 30 among almost 400 kids. You’re probably doing good in terms of your school curriculum since you’re utilizing all of the resources available to you - it shouldn’t matter if you don’t have IB classes since you’re taking so many AP classes. My school only offered 4 AP classes and I only took one :P</p>

<p>Volunteer work: I think you’re good here! I logged in around 120+ hours of community service and you still have a whole year ahead of you at 100 :slight_smile: Plus, the Palestine Project will most likely reflect very well on you since you’re taking the extra steps to reach out of your own community and help others. NYU’s all about worldwide reach :)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: I’m not sure the ones about college credits and Academic Honors would count as “extracurricular;” they seem to me like they would fall under Honors/Recognitions received. The latter part of the list is good - shows good leadership qualities with the Honor Society and your American University Conference. If you haven’t already, I suggest you make a chart of all your activities, including the years active in it and any positions held, so that you don’t forget anything and it’ll make it easier for you to list everything once application time rolls around. And don’t worry, list everything! It’s good to show well-roundedness - just make sure that they all seem to reflect long-term commitments. You’re not impressing anyone if you suddenly joined 50 clubs in Senior Year only so that you can make your application look longer. </p>

<p>As for my EC’s, I listed Yearbook Editor-in-Chief, NHS Secretary, School Band member, Math Club member, Advanced Art member, Set Crew and Stage Design for Drama, Tutor, Class Committee Treasurer, etc. There were more, but I forget (which is why you should make that chart).</p>

<p>Test Scores: I never took the ACT.
SAT I: I took the test twice; got a 2090 the first time and a 2010 the second time.
(m/v/w)
(680/720/690) (didn’t bother to remember the second one)
SAT II: I got subpar scores on my Subject tests.
Math 1: 680
Math 2: 700
Bio-E: 690
Spanish: 710
(something like that; scores really don’t matter that much after you’ve applied so you tend to forget about them)</p>

<p>Your scores seem alright to me; might wanna work on bringing up your SAT I. As for the subject tests, they seem pretty solid. It’s your choice whether you want to take others or not, but check with the universities to see if they have specific requirements for them; some require a foreign language and some have more specific ones depending on your intended major. Most colleges will react well to a strong Math Subject Test score regardless of major (but especially if you’re in the Sciences), and most prefer the Math2 over the Math1.</p>

<p>I’m not an expert on college admissions; these are simply my opinions on the information you posted, as well as some of my information so you can compare and contrast. My case wasn’t anything special; I wasn’t one of those kids who were able to take AP Stats in sophomore year or anything :stuck_out_tongue: So, I would say that you have a fighting chance. Take the time to improve where you can, and give the essays a lot of thought when it’s time to write them. Choose subjects that reflect just how dedicated and hard-working you are - your Palestine experience would be a good one, for example. Don’t focus on petty high school subjects like a teacher you hated or the first time you failed a test - universities aren’t looking for people who think that overcoming academic problems in high school is their biggest feat. They’re looking for people with promise, people who have already broadened their horizons.</p>

<p>Again, good luck! If someone like me could get into Cal, I’m sure you can :P!</p>

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<p>YunYun94 thank you so very much! I have had such a hard time with the simple, “Could I even make it” question. I am happy that you got accepted into UC Berkeley and I thank you for your encouragement! You have given me sort of a goal to reach for and some stats that have proven to have worked once so I know around where to aim for. What you said about not getting caught up in the petty highschool drama was actually very insightful and helpful, and it has changed the way I am looking at my admission questions. Thank you once again for all of the help, you have all been so helpful!</p>

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<p>An update to this post for those who care or wish to help.
I wrote a ten on my ACT essay, a 5 on ap us history and human geography, a 4 on English Lang, and a 3 on microeconomics.</p>

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<p>Anyone else have any helpful tips? As an update my class rank is now 56 out of 395 and my weighted gpa went up to a 3.75. I recieved 200+ hours of volunteer hours from my Palestine service trip which has solidified my spot in NHS with the hour completion and I will recieve a green cord for graduation which is a total of over 100 hours of volunteer work in one year (for those who dont have the program at their school). I am still worried because my gpa is very low compared to the Berkeley average and I doubt I can bring it up that much in the first semseter of my senior year. I have decided to retake SAT and ACT again and I found out that my first two scores will not show up as they were therough the Duke TIP program and were not recorded or something like that. I feel like the essays cater to me very well and should be a great advantage. I will have them finished before school starts and reviewed by some family friends on the acceptance committees for Rice University and Souther Methodist University. Any other tips from you guys would be helpful as I mentioned before. I am applying to Berkeley as my number one even though UPenn will be binding if I get accepted (long shot). Sorry for the sloppyness of this post, off to work in a few minutes. Thanks for the help guys!</p>