<p>If you have any questions or need some advice, just leave them here and I'll try to answer them.</p>
<p>Do you know anybody who got accepted to Berkeley with <2000 SAT scores? I have a 1590 SAT and a 24 ACT and I’m unable to retake the tests and I’m worried that my low test scores will disqualify me from acceptance. I have a pretty good GPA and decent EC’s though. I hope my essays are good enough. lol :)</p>
<p>Yea I am in a similar kind of case. But instead I have a low GPA. My GPA is a 3.2 unweighted. But I am in very tough classes like AP and stuff. My sat score is along the lines of 1840 right now but I think I can bring it up well above 2000. What do you think. I have awesome ECS. and guess that I can writes nice essays too</p>
<p>I have AP’s and honors too but my school is very limited. It has like 10 AP’s, and by the end of my senior year, I would have taken 7 total AP’s. :)</p>
<p>^ Your score is very good compared to mine! lol If I convert my ACT score, I would say that it’s similar to getting a 1700 on the SAT. I hope the adcoms take that into account. ;)</p>
<p>By end of senior year I would have taken 5/6 AP’s. I am trying to increase my score.
I guess the thing that will help me is that firstly I I moved here from India last year and I live in Connecticut. They want state diversity</p>
<p>In answer to all of the above, the hard truth is that people who got into Berkeley with both or one of the following: ok GPA/ok test scores usually got in because of something extra. This something extra is usually sports, music, or some kind of problem or obstacle in life that you went through. If it’s the third, people wrote a really convincing essay about it. Good luck! :)</p>
<p>I don’t know who would know this, but how does class rank affect admissions?</p>
<p>It seems that it might play a substantive role… because GPAs don’t matter as much without context (my friend had a horrible GPA, but she was from a great school and had amazing test scores).</p>
<p>@Isurus, class rank does not affect admissions. </p>
<p>For CA applicants, Berkeley uses THREE sets of context for each applicant: you compared to other students at your high school who applied to Berkeley, you compared to other students at your high school who applied to the UC System (any UC campus), you compared to the entire pool of applicants who applied to Berkeley during that application cycle.</p>
<p>For OOS and International applicants, Berkeley compares each applicant to the entire pool of applicants who applied to Berkeley during that application cycle.</p>
<p>Thanks Ms. Sun.</p>
<p>I have two more questions then (if you don’t mind),</p>
<p>What does being compared to students in your own high school mean? Comparing their test scores? Or GPA, or classes, or what?</p>
<p>And Berkeley does have access to everybody who applied to a UC, but each UC makes decisions individually, correct?</p>
<p>@anneflys: How tough is it to get into the Economics major, if you know anyone who’s trying to get into it or has been accepted into it? Is the academic atmosphere cutthroat competitive or more cooperative?</p>
<p>The reason I ask is because I’m applying declared in English, but I want to double-major in Economics and English. Of course, you can’t just drop into the Economics major at UCB. And I’m not a math person; my As are hard-earned with a lot of effort on my part. So if there are many students who are naturally skilled at math trying to get into Econ as well, I’m not sure if I would make the cut…</p>
<p>Berkeley is my top choice, tied with UCLA, and if I happen to get into both, I won’t know which to choose. Economics is easier to declare at UCLA, but a Berkeley Economics degree has more prestige (in terms of the job resume).</p>
<p>@Isurus: Berkeley compares students with other applicants from their high school based on all those factors. They use a holistic review. So GPA, classes, extra-curriculars, etc.</p>
<p>@alwaysawriter: The economics major is not extremely cutthroat competitive. It is competitive in that everyone is trying to their best but students are going to sabotage each other to get there. Therefore, I want to say that students are both cooperative in terms of study groups, etc. and competitive in that it won’t be extremely easy.</p>
<p>In terms of the math classes you need to take as an Econ major…you can take the 16A/B track which is very similar to the AP Calculus AB/BC classes you may have taken in high school. By going with this track, you can go for a less math intensive econ major. To “make the cut”, you can take the easier math courses and focus on getting a high GPA by doing well in the Econ prereq classes. </p>
<p>Because you want to major in English, I would suggest going to Cal because the English department here is number one in the nation. 
Also, even if you’re not a math person, you can still study hard and still get a high GPA…especially if you already took AP Calculus AB and BC.</p>
<p>@anneflys: “Sabotage”?? Yikes, that sounds disturbing.</p>
<p>I didn’t know that Cal’s English dept was of such high repute. Interesting! I’ll have to research that…</p>
<p>I’m in AP Calculus AB right now, and assuming I can get a 4 in May (it would be too cocky of me to assume that a 5 is within my range, unfortunately), I should be able to pass out of the first prerequisite math course.</p>
<p>Do you happen to know what the acceptance rate is for undergrads who apply to the Econ major? Or is this info listed anywhere? Grades and GPA are the ONLY factors considered, right?</p>
<p>@alwaysawriter: Sorry…I meant “not sabotage”. lol. That probably freaked you out. </p>
<p><a href=“https://econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/prospective[/url]”>Applying to the Economics Major | Department of Economics; …I’m not quite sure what the acceptance rate is but as long as you fulfill the GPA and course prerequisites, you will be accepted to the Economics major.</p>
<p>not really a question about advice, but does anyone know how we are getting notified about admissions? email or the website?</p>
<p>@reddit10: both.</p>
<p>@Isurus, anneflys is correct, Berkeley looks at the context of everything.</p>
<p>I didn’t get a lot of details on how Berkeley receives the information on other UC applicants, but based on what I know (controversy over UCSC last year … don’t worry about it if you don’t know what I’m talking about), it seems UCOP has access and is able to provide admission information (application scoring, applicant statistics, etc.) to campuses that request them. But each campus makes its own admission decision since each campus would accept a different pool of students based on its own admission criteria.</p>
<p>I am a middle-class white male from out of state and to me to be the worse possible combination of traits for acceptance. My SAT’s and GPA (1900 SAT and 3.8 GPA U/W) were very much average and I’m concerned I won’t stand out. </p>
<p>I think I have parts that will make be stand out, but I’m worried and would like a second opinion. These are some of the things I emphasized on the essay:</p>
<p>-3 state debate titles
-Top 40 policy debate at National Forensic League Nationals
-National Forensic League All-American
-50+ hours logged for Big Brothers, Big Sisters
-40+ hours speech and debate service
-State qualifier in swimming
-Saxophone section leader in Band my Junior year
-Essays focused on the positive and negative aspects of being a competitive person and growing up as a middle-class individual in a poverty-stricken small town in Kansas with a great amount of ethnic diversity.</p>
<p>With this in mind, how likely am I to be accepted?</p>
<p>@Nokumura: not sure. SAT is on the low side but national ranking for policy will give you a boost. No affirmative action at Berkeley though so they won’t accept you or reject you based on socioeconomic or ethnic background.</p>
<p>Race/ethnicity is not considered nor disclosed to application evaluators (it is against the law in California to use race/ethnicity for admission consideration at public colleges). If you write “I’m a middle-class white male” in your UC personal statement, the application evaluators are instructed to disregard that … although why you would write that could potentially be used against you (sheer stupidity is not a trait sought by UCs).</p>
<p>HI </p>
<p>This is my first post on CC, and I just wanted to ask does anyone know up until around what day UC Berkeley and UCLA STOP e-mailing out for supplementary information? I’m in Canada and haven’t received any yet and I’m FREAKING out because I’ve read a few people on here have already gotten their e-mails asking for additional details (whether disability or borderline). Any helpful information will be appreciated, thanks! </p>
<p>*Also is anyone else from Canada applying?</p>