Hello everyone, I’m hoping you can chance me for UC Berkeley, my #1 (for now at least).
- I am a junior at a college prep school, low income, female, not first generation or minority.
- I have taken the SAT once and earned a 700 in Math, 750 in Reading, and 730 in Writing. That was with minimal prep, so if I take it again, the math and writing will go up.
- My GPA is 3.9+ unweighted, about 4.5 weighted. My school doesn't calculate them, but this year I have maybe one A- and other than that an even split between A and A+. They've been on an upward trend, and I've never had a B grade.
- Last year I took two APs, Human Geo and World History, and earned a 5 and a 4 respectively. This year I'm taking English Lit, Calc AB, and US History, next year English Lang, Gov, French, Calc BC, and hopefully Physics.
- I have a very good relationship with all my teachers, especially one with whom I've taken three classes and an independent study (it's a small school), so my recommendations will be good. I'm also confident in my essay-writing skills.
- My extracurriculars include: Theater (11/12, major role this year), editor-in-chief of litmag (11/12, staff 9/10), student gov (11/12), honor council (11/12), model UN (9/10, stopped because of financial restraints), nat'l French honor society (9/10/11/12?), lots of writing, some community service, choir (9), cross country (9) and two team manager positions (lax & tennis, 10/11).
- This summer I am traveling to my town's sister city in Korea on a trip organized by my city. This might not matter much, but I was told it was pretty selective.
- I also won a local essay contest freshman year, and I am doing a research-based independent study this year that will result in an article-length paper. My GC told me this was less valuable than AP Chem, but I'm pretty proud of it...
- So far the plan is to major in English and either linguistics or a social science, but if it isn't chem, physics, or engineering, I'm probably interested in it.
I’m hoping that all of that is enough for me to have a good shot at Berkeley. Other options include Emory, Penn, Columbia, Vassar, Pomona, Oberlin, and Swarthmore. Also W&M (in-state) which, considering my school’s history with them, is almost a safety at this point.
Thank you! I really appreciate the help.
As a student just accepted to (and will be attending!) Berkeley this year, I think I have a good idea of the prospects of a student not putting down a STEM major on his/her application.
EC-wise, courseload-wise and GPA-wise, you are very solid. Based on your stated accomplishments you are a good writer, and this could very well push your application to the ‘Accepted’ pile if you are on the borderline.
Some points of concern: Your SAT score could stand to be raised by 50-100 points. I hate to be the one to say this but a lower income out of stater who cannot pay the ridiculous OOS tuition will not look very attractive to Cal admissions. Also, the whole process is getting more competitive by the year, and if Berkeley admits their standard freshman class of about 6-7,000 then their acceptance rate this year will be 10% or less (according to my letter of acceptance).
If I am in any position to give you advice, I would say this: Bump up that SAT score an inch or two, continue to do well in your classes, and work hard on your essays. I know the negative paragraph above that I wrote is a little scary but I truly believe you have an excellent shot at Berkeley. Good luck!
Regarding Berkeley: the best starting place is to look at the freshman profile for the recently admitted classes and compare yourself to those who were admitted.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/berkeley/freshman-profile/index.html
Those are all from last year’s class (Fall 2014). For the UC schools you should calculate your UC GPA. Look at the Univ. of California webpage for OOS applicants: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/out-of-state/index.html.
More importantly note that “very limited financial aid” that is “mostly loans” is available to help with the OOS tuition supplement of $24K per year at Berkeley, and the other UC’s. http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/paying-for-uc/whats-available/index.html#out-of-state. Don’t make the mistake made by many of thinking you can qualify for in state tuition after the first year. http://ucop.edu/residency/establishing-residency.html. As a low income student, you are much better off looking at private colleges with generous need based aid than trying to attend an OOS public. Even if you get in, you won’t be able to afford Berkeley.
Pomona’s admission rate for the recently admitted Class of 2019 was 9.76%. “Ninety-three percent are in the top decile and 32 percent are valedictorians, with another 10 percent salutatorians. Median SAT scores are 740 critical reading, 740 math and 740 writing. The median ACT is 33.” http://www.pomona.edu/news/2015/03/20-class-of-2019.aspx. Try to raise your SAT score, especially the Math section, to improve your odds at Pomona and all the others. If you can get in, Pomona and the other privates on your list might well cost you less than Berkeley. Run the NPC’s for your schools.
Are you taking the SAT subject tests in May/June? Those scores will be important too.