Berkeley is essentially my dream school (Computer Science specifically).
I’m going into Junior year, with a very solid Freshman year but a somewhat flawed Sophomore year.
Freshman Year:
Japanese 1, Algebra 2 / Trig, Biology, Literature 1, Gym, Band, Principles of Business
All As, both semesters.
Sophomore Year:
Japanese 2, AP Calculus BC (Skipped Precalc), World Literature, World History, Gym, Law, Physics Honors
3 Bs, both semesters of Japanese and the second semester of Physics Honors. Rest are As.
Took AP Calculus BC, AP Physics Honors, and AP World History tests; all are probably 5s
Next year I’m taking
AP Physics C, Honors American Literature, Japanese 3, and US History, as well as Calc C, Calc D, Linear Algebra, and Differential equations at my local college and CS Courses there as well.
I’m the Director of Electrical Engineering for our FRC team and put in about a thousand hours a year on that, as well as the VP of Training for our MUN club with certain Presidency year after next. I plan on teaching robotics to local children through Think FIRST next year as well.
Have I ruined my chances of going to a school like Berkeley with the 3 Bs? How can I fix this if not?
Are you a CA resident?
ACT/SAT scores?
Please determine your UC GPA http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Yes, I’m a CA resident. Don’t have ACT/SAT scores yet, but practice looks like I’ll be getting 2300+
UC GPA is 4.03, since I took Precalc over the summer before Sophomore year.
“Have I ruined my chances of going to a school like Berkeley with the 3 Bs? How can I fix this if not?”
No. Take the SAT and aim for 2100+ to be considered competitive for Berkeley. Your UC GPA is below the average of what the school accepts but with great EC’s, a unique personal statement and letter of recommendations, along with a competitive SAT, you have a great chance at an acceptance. Just curious though, which CS are we talking about? Is it the one is the Engineering Department?
You spend a thousand hours a year on your FRC team? That’s almost twenty hours a week straight through the summer.
Yup. 3 hours a day weekdays, 5 weekends, and then work outside of meetings, a few breaks but these are counterbalanced by our 3-5 days competitions where it’s like 12 hours a day. Might come down to anywhere from 850-1000, depending.
I believe so for the Engineering department; also, it turns out I put in my grades wrong, my UC GPA is actually 4.07, tough I doubt this makes much of a difference. And what would you classify as great Extracurriculars?
If you are going for CS in the Engineering department, your chances are very low of getting admitted merely due to the competition. Also, great extracurricular are classified as (in my personal opinion) a mix of leadership and activities you love to do that preferably also relates to your intended major. Quality>Quantity.
It is impossible for you to have a UC GPA of 4.03 considering you have not completed your junior yet. UC’s look only at your junior and senior years and not your freshman year. Work hard this year, recalculate, and come back again next year!
Don’t they consider Sophomore years?
Yes, but how is that relevant if you don’t have your junior GPA yet?
Well, if I got all C’s it’d be pretty hard to counterbalance in Junior year for any college. I’m just wondering if 3 B’s Sophomore year and likely all A’s (Lighter schedule) in the next two years would bring me too low to qualify.
UCB only uses 10-11th grades for GPA calculation: http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
All UC’s want to see you take a rigorous course schedule so if you are cutting back on course rigor for the sake of keeping your GPA, this may also hurt you in the long run. Junior year is probably the most important year in UC’s admissions, so you want to present your application in the best light possible. Ideally a rigorous course schedule with good grades. 3 B’s will not make or break your application. Essays, EC’s and test scores are all part of the package. Keep working hard and I am sure you will have some great choices in the end.
How do they count Middle College classes towards GPA and classes overall?
What is a middle college class?