advice on admission to UC Berkely

<p>hey i am an out of state student. my gpa unweighted is 3.82 and my act score is 27. i take honors courses and so far one ap course. this upcoming year will be my senior year. i am taking summer school to get ahead and i will have a dual enrollment bio class, honors english, art 2, honors precal, AVID and virtual enterprise international(teacher in talks in that class to get college credit) i will be a SGA officer this year. i have been in avid three years and extracurriclar wise i did one year of football, soon to be four year of wrestling, and this year i am doin cross country. i want to get in UC berkely since i was young adn my mom took me there when we lived in SAN fran. i will also be attending a CLSC lead america confernence on global business and entrepreneurship in boston, as i fully intend to major in either Business adminstration, entrepreneur studies, and/or international business. i get c a college credit for attending the confernence. i am half panamanian,half salvadorean and will soon have single mother again. i also do community service. what are my chances of getting in?</p>

<p>Well, it's kinda hard to say since you're out-of-state. </p>

<p>But I'd say if you do excel in your senior grades and especially retake ACT/SAT (better scores since berkeley, I believe, is more score/gpa oriented), and do some good EC's and showing your passion, I think you might get in. You're also Hispanic, which (honestly) can only help. Try to write good essays too.</p>

<p>Um...it's just I can't say for sure since you're out of state, and as far as I know berkeley accepts more students in-state.</p>

<p>UC's do not implement the use of affirmative action so being Hispanic will NOT help. However if you are first-generation and are from a low-income family who went through much adversity, they will take that into consideration. The UCs do not calculate senior year GPA, only junior and sophomore- that doesn't mean you should fail your senior classes because you could still get rescinded for failing. your gpa is below the average for uc berkeley and i dont know act scale.</p>

<p>oh i recently did. the 27 i got on it was without studying. i studied this past time and took the writing portion. i will prob take again, along SAT subjuect tests. my AVID teacher helps me with my essays as well. i also have an aunt who works for the uc system to help me out, and i am looking for internships and job opportunities. thanks for the advice very much, and im completely open to suggestions</p>

<p>do they still look at the rigor of the senior year? and how about college credit gained senior year?</p>

<p>the answer to your questions, yes.</p>

<p>i was under the impression that the average unweighted gpa was 3.82 exactly? <a href="http://students.berkeley.edu/admissions/freshmen.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://students.berkeley.edu/admissions/freshmen.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
UC's do not implement the use of affirmative action so being Hispanic will NOT help.

[/quote]

Maybe not as much, but they do consider race. You don't have to believe me because honestly I wish I can find an article, but I read this in an education newspaper thing somewhere before at my friend's house, so I can't validate my claim...</p>

<p>Or, how about this? My guidance counselor is an UCLA admission officer, NOT berkeley (so I can't validate, again..=/) but he says that, "UCLA considers race, and this year I rejected some Asians/Whites with 2250 SAT's and 3.8 GPA's, I can't accept all of them out of 50000 applicants, and while it does consider GPA and test scores more, it also cares about diversity and EC's, passions, essays, personality, and other criteria." </p>

<p>While they may not practice affirmative action, that does not mean that they do not consider race - they claim no affirmative action, but they're going to have to let some hispanics/african-americans, etc etc in. Since not as many apply, but are increasingly applying, it can be beneficial to a certain degree.</p>

<p>Also, UCs don't superscore either the ACT or the SATI. They only take scores from one sitting. So if you took only the writing portion of the ACT that won't be factored in.</p>

<p>if they indeed are considering race during admissions, its completely illegal to do so because UCs are forbidden to use race in admissions.</p>

<p>i am new to the concept of superscoring....what does it mean?</p>

<p>
[quote]
if they indeed are considering race during admissions, its completely illegal to do so because UCs are forbidden to use race in admissions.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'm not exactly sure about the legality of using race, but honestly if they did not use race as a factor, then it would, I assume (sorry If I might sound a bit rude) be all Asians/Caucasians (mostly the former). I think it's just like when those really unknown colleges in rural areas or something where there's no asians get asian applicants it can be favorable to be an asian.</p>

<p>I don't know, I don't see how using race is illegal, common sense tells me that race is a consideration; if there was 1 african-american applicant to...like UCI, then he'd probably get in almost automatically. UC's probably don't do affirmative action as much as others, but i'm pretty sure race is a factor, if rather minor.</p>

<p>... Race is not considered. BUT, personal/family problems and consequences ARE. Usually, minority races have more obstacles to overcome, which raises their competitiveness despite lower gpas and test scores.</p>

<p>invoyable want proof that UCs are not allowed to use race?
California</a> Proposition 209 (1996) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>

<p>Instead of arguing about whether race is used for admission at UCs, why don't you look at some hard data?</p>

<p>University</a> of California: StatFinder</p>

<p>You'll see that URMs do have lower acceptance rates, etc.</p>

<p>i wasnt really arguing but yes. i am correct</p>

<p>uc's are public and arent allowed to use affirmative action. also, i thought it'd be interesting to point out that berkeley is 50% asian</p>

<p>
[quote]
also, i thought it'd be interesting to point out that berkeley is 50% asian

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Actually, it's 40%--check the common data set.</p>

<p>UCLA is closer to 50%, UCSD is about at 50%, UCI is over 50%, etc.</p>

<p>OP, To get into Berkeley as an out-of-state student is like getting into Harvard or Yale or Princeton: very, very tough even for the best students. If you do very well in your senior year, and raise your test scores (a must, for berkeley) you could be an interesting candidate. Write a very good essay, tell them about your background and your passion for Cal. Then keep your fingers crossed. Who knows if you get in or not -- but one thing is sure: you won't get in if you don't apply! And good luck. I went to Cal years ago, as did my husband. It's a fantastic school and a fantastic part of the country to live in. Go Bears.</p>