A few major choice questions before I submit!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>here are my stats:</p>

<p>Rank 2 or 3, a-g GPA 4.6, in state</p>

<p>SAT Reasoning:
1st time CR 620 M 800 W 690- 2110
2nd time CR 680 M 710 (i know...) W 740 - 2130</p>

<p>SAT Subjects: Chemistry 800, Math 2 800, Spanish 800, US History 770, Chinese 800</p>

<p>AP Tests: got all 5s on Human Geography, World History, Microeconomics, Chinese, Chemistry, Calc BC, English Lang, Spanish Lang, Biology, Physics C Mech, US History</p>

<p>Currently taking AP stats, AP english lit, AP spanish lit, and AP art history and two college classes, poli sci and italian. </p>

<p>EC's: volunteered at the public library since freshman year (270 hrs), later given a paid job junior year there (i work 10 hours a week), also volunteered for 140 hours at the hospital. </p>

<p>Science Olympiad for 4 years, treasurer</p>

<p>Organized a test prep book donation/recycling program at my school, collected 82 used ap prep books during junior year and checked them out for free to this year's incoming students. </p>

<p>co host of a podcast, biweekly episodes </p>

<p>Got a partial scholarship from the local Rotary Club to do a summer exchange in Spain </p>

<p>Currently working with the public library to offer free chinese classes there for the local community. </p>

<p>Heres my whole list of dilemmas:</p>

<p>I have less than average SAT scores for cal, and had a huge drop in my math score (800 to 710) the 2nd time i took it. Does this affect my chances?</p>

<p>I'm planning to apply to the College of Chemistry (Chemical Engineering/Chemistry) or the College of Engineering (EECS). However, I have also heard that these are the most competitive majors and that these colleges admit by the major you choose. What are my chances for each of these schools/majors, and will I be at a disadvantage if I apply as undeclared?</p>

<p>Finally, although all my tentative majors are science related my personal statement has NOTHING to do with science. Same thing with my strange ECs. Will this negatively affect me in any way? </p>

<p>Thank you so much for all your help!</p>

2

<p>could someone gave me some advice on this please?</p>

3

<p>You are right that your SAT is a bit on the low end, especially for EECS and maybe for College of Chem. Don’t worry about your math score dropping a lot the second time, as long as your overall score is decent, you’re fine. I think you’d have a better shot at CoC then EECS/CoE. I don’t know if you can apply undeclared to CoC, but I know applying undeclared to CoE doesn’t really help you since it’s almost as competitive as EECS. I also don’t think that it matters if you are applying for a science-related major but you don’t have science ECs/personal statement. People change what they want to do in college all the time, so they don’t expect you to know what you want to do. </p>

<p>On another note, whichever major you choose to apply to is the college you will be admitted to if you get in. Switching between CoC and CoE may be a bit challenging, but there are some course overlaps so it’s not as bad as going from L&S to CoE or something. Think about which one you prefer to go into - EECS/engineering or chem and apply to that one.</p>

4

<p>hmm ok thanks so much! so let’s just say i apply to L&S, will this greatly improve my chances, and how hard is it to transfer to an engineering major? also, im planning to take the ACT in december. What score do i need to get to vastly improve my chances?</p>

5

<p>It’s not that difficult to get into the College of Chem, even as a Chem E (you can’t enter CoC undeclared) because they weed you out once you get there. Basically, people drop like flies in the first two years and tend to defect to MCB. But it’s not terribly difficult to switch into CoC either - I have heard of people being admitted to Berkeley to majors in L&S, CNR, even CED, and switching to CoC during CalSO when the advisors come round asking people whether they’d like to switch college.</p>

<p>Once the school year starts, CoC advisors discourage L&S students from switching into CoC right away. They prefer that you take the CoC classes alongside regular CoC kids for a semester or a year to see if you can handle the classes before deciding to switch in. Once you’re past freshman year, provided you are on track with the CoC kids, you can switch in to CoC from L&S with no questions asked. The advisors assume that if you have been taking the general chem/engineering weeder classes and have been doing sufficiently well in them to still want to switch in, that you will be able to handle the rest of the classes in the major sequences.</p>

<p>Sorry that I can’t comment on EECS or CoE, but on the basis of your stats alone, you seem a strong enough applicant to be admitted to any college at Cal. Of course, we don’t know what your personal statement is like, and that could well be the deciding factor to swing you one way or the other.</p>

6

<p>ahh thank you everyone! i think i’ll just apply to L&S just to be safe that i’ll get into cal</p>

7

<p>woah dude. how did you take that many ap’s =O. amazing, you’ll do well dont stress too much :)</p>

8

<p>just submitted =D would anyone else like to give me suggestions please?</p>