Any chance: UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD or others with Low SAT scores?

<p>hi everyone, I am studying in an independent school in England and I am thinking to apply to America.</p>

<p>SAT I 1720 (530 700 490), 1680 (440 670 570)
GCSE 4A* 5A 2B
AS grade(GCE) 2A 2B 1C</p>

<p>SAT II will be taken next Saturday.
Toefl will be taken this Saturday.</p>

<p>If I am retaking SAT in December, will UC look at it?</p>

<p>EC
International society leader
Young Enterprise Financial manager
School Humanities Magazine Financial director
Deputy Head of House and Music Captain
School librarian for 6 years
Royal Academy of Dance Grade 4 pass
Speech and drama Lamda Exam Grade 5 pass
Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award
UKMT Maths challenge Silver Award
Badminton team member
Volleyball club member
Saxophone Grade 4
Piano Grade 3</p>

<p>Work experience
summer job- frozen yogurt shop- trainee
summer intern- accounting firm- audit intern</p>

<p>Do I have any chance to get in UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD or other universities like USC?</p>

<p>Personal info:
my parents are paying $40500 school fee per year so I think I can afford to study in private universities as well.
I come from Hong Kong and have studied in England for 4 years.</p>

<p>Thanks, any advice is welcome.</p>

<p>anyone? Please i really need some advice?</p>

<p>Berkeley - reach</p>

<p>UCLA - low reach</p>

<p>UCSD - high match</p>

<p>UCSB, Irvine, Santa Cruz - match</p>

<p>Merced - In</p>

<p>so with low SAT scores, i still hv chance for ucla?</p>

<p>UCLA does not have a high SAT. Your background might help but I doubt it. UCs are all concrete scores, they are not hollistic, so don’t get your hopes up. Good luck!</p>

<p>^^^ Both UC Berkeley and UCLA have holistic admissions. The other UCs are getting there too.</p>

<p>so what can i do now in order to increase chance?</p>

<p>If i retake the SAT in dec, will UC look at it or do you think is waste of time n money?</p>

<p>Berkeley will be tough to get into. UCLA as well. I don’t like your chances, sorry</p>

<p>Hi everyone </p>

<p>I am a Singaporean and I am taking A levels this year.
Hoping to go for UC Berkeley if possible:))</p>

<p>My co - curricular activities:
Student Councillor
Involved in House Activities/ House and School Spirit
Organised National Day Celebrations
Orientation and also our school’s funfair this year</p>

<p>Choir member
Participated in both national and international competitions
Won Gold Diploma in Olomouc Festival of Songs,Czech Republic, June 2012</p>

<p>Class representative for 11th grade/JC year 1
Planned and organised Teachers, Day Celebrations</p>

<p>Community work : around 50-60 hours</p>

<p>Results:
SAT : first try in october this yr
Reading 620
Math : 710
Writing : 550</p>

<p>Planning to take Dec test</p>

<p>School results according to A Levels
H2
Biology B
Math C
Chemistry C
Economics C</p>

<p>H1
GP D
Chinese A
Project work A</p>

<p>For O Levels
Chemistry
Pure Geography
E Math
All A1</p>

<p>A Math
Elective History
Biology
Higher Chinese
English
All A2</p>

<p>Hoping that my personal statement will stand out:)</p>

<p>Will this be good enough for UC Berkeley?
I intend to go for the Environmental Sciences Major- really very interested and passionate about the environment!!</p>

<p>i want to major in Statistics and i thought is not a competitive subject–> chances bigger?</p>

<p>my first choice is ucla.</p>

<p>Iwnagoustostudy: Sorry; but your chances at Berkeley are extremely small. Berkeley is quite tough for international students. only 1 of every 10 or so is accepted.</p>

<p>canalbee: Why won’t you apply to UCSB? I think you have a better shot there than at Berkeley. You can transfer after a year with great grades at UCSB. But you should still apply at Cal. Just submit a great personal statement/essay. That’s the only thing you can do for Cal, because Cal doesn’t superscore SATs.</p>

<p>wt is superscore?
and is the chance for transfer bigger?</p>

<p>for ps, do u need to write abt poor background, miserable childhood experience,and then u want to help others in the same situation?</p>

<p>as I’m the first generation to get into uni…</p>

<p>

I think this in itself is an asset to get into a UC, hehe…</p>

<p>wt is superscore?
Your first results are the ones that Berkeley will use. I’m not sure if this has changed in the recent years, but unlike most top privates, your highest SAT scores are the ones taken and recorded, then later, reported to US News to boost their ranking spot. </p>

<p>and is the chance for transfer bigger?
Based on stats alone, the answer is, yes. I know many people from other UCs transfer to other campuses. That said, they were outnumbered by those who transferred from a Community College. But UCSB is a great school. I wouldn’t mind graduating from there.</p>

<p>but ucsb is not high up in the league table?</p>

<p>hk ppl only care abt the prestigious unis or well known uni or ranking…
i like california is juz the pressure around me -o-</p>

<p>tbh, do americans care abt the ranking ?</p>

<p>^^^ UCSB is an elite school. It is ranked well within the top 50 by US News. UCSB is a more desirable school than most universities in the UK.</p>

<p>for uk I’m planning to apply to these…
Birmingham
Manchester
KCL
Loughborough
Sheffield
Exeter
York
Edinburgh</p>

<p>so in comparison, is ucsb better? in terms of graduate prospects, reputation, school life…
i like campus uni, ucsb has a very pretty campus and i love the location…
jux to add one more thing, the major reason for me to apply in US is-- the weather!! i love warm and sunny weather, which England -o-</p>

<p>but my parents said if the ranking is similar, why bother paying triple school fee…</p>

<p>^^^ UCSB is a more desirable and more prestigious school than all those UK unis you listed. This is coming from someone who graduated from Cambridge. :)</p>

<p>omg, u graduated from Cambridge?</p>

<p>i never thought that i would did badly in the exams, and the fact is i cant apply wt i know in the paper under exam condition -o-</p>

<p>em, do big companies go to uni to recruit students and if so, which uni is better ?</p>

<p>^^^ They do at most top universities. In the UK, Cambridge grads don’t run out of offers, though some of them would opt to venture into start-ups, travel abroad or pursue further studies right after earning undergrad. Manchester grads get a lot of offers too, and so are those who come from LSE, Imperial, Warwick and UCL. I would surmise Bristol and Durham grads are generally well-accepted too, at most large organizations and top companies.</p>

<p>In the USA, UCSB doesn’t have a NATIONAL name, or the kind of brand recognition that Berkeley has. However, UCSB is quite respected in the West Coast, and many UCSB grads get into places where Berkeley grads go/have gone. If you’ll do well at UCSB, you’ll go anywhere you want after your degree. And, UCSB has a fantastic campus scene. It stood on a rolling terrain bordered by a long stretch of beaches overlooking the Pacific Ocean. UCSB students are smart and welcoming…, and there’s always anything to do on campus. So if your stats couldn’t get you into a top school like Berkeley, UCSB could be a great alternative to it.</p>

<p>apart from ucsb, wt other unis i may apply to? </p>

<p>wt can i do to enhance my profile?</p>

<p>wt things should include in the ps?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot RML.
my school did not have any experience in sending students to US,-o-</p>