Berkeley and suggestions

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello! :smiley:
I’m a senior from California.

So college apps start soon and I’m starting to panic. Up until recently, I never wanted to go to college so I never placed an emphasis on ECs/volunteer work/etc, so I’m in a bit of a pickle at the moment.

I’d like to know which colleges I would be a reasonably competent applicant for based on the following:

SAT:
2140 (730 CR, 710 M, 700W)
I’ll be re-taking the SAT soon because I’d like to improve my math score which will be pretty important for intended major (Comp Sci)

SAT II: None yet but I plan to take Math II and possibly Spanish; Can I submit my December scores after the college app deadlines?

GPA (9-11th grade):
UW: 4.00
UC W: 4.7 (no idea how I got this number with only 4 APs up to 11th grade, but that’s what my transcript says)

APs (up to 11th grade): World History (5), Calc AB/BC (5), US History (4), Env. Sci (5)

Senior Workload: AP Gov, Honors Physics, AP Stats, AP Comp Sci, AP Psych, Honors Composition

Work Experience: none whatsoever =(

Volunteering: nothing

Sports: nothing

ECs:
Main Hobbies: Computer Programming, game development
Vice President of Computer Club (9th grade)
Member of the Robotics Team (9th grade)
Shared/Contributed to open-source programming projects on GitHub
Top 22% (in terms of points) of StackOverflow (community for programmers) and my posts reached 68,000 users
Blogging about programming, algorithms, and general computing
Created clones of popular 2D games with a small team

To be honest, I’m not really sure what counts as an EC activity. And I didn’t see the point in joining clubs that didn’t interest me during high school, although I’ve been warned multiple times that I should make myself well-rounded. So is it too late to start new ECs during senior year?

The main things I’m concerned about are my math SAT score and my lack of work experience/volunteering.

My reach school at the moment is Berkeley but Ivy schools are definitely out of the question.

I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up too much, otherwise I’m gonna face a lot of disappointment when I get rejected.

So my question is, which colleges would I have a reasonably good shot at getting into? and what chance do I have at getting into Berkeley?

I’m pretty average in terms of Berkeley’s SAT scores, so I fear that I may not stand out from the sheer amount of qualified applicants there.

Anyway, I’ve been worrying my pants off for the last couple of days and I hope someone can point me to colleges that I would be suitable for.

~Toodles

2

I’ve also considered the University of Washington and UTexas, but I doubt I’ll be able to afford the out-of-state tuition.

3

Berkeley is also expensive at $55K per year, with no to limited financial aid for OOS students as a California public school.

4

I am a resident of California, though :slight_smile:

5

Look at private schools with good CS / EECS programs too. You will probably find them affordable because of generous FA. Also look at some of the more Science focuses schools like Rice, Harvey Mudd, Cornell, Penn etc. You will need to raise your SAT/ACT for more of a chance at Cal and the private schools.

StackOverflow etc. are EC’s. You are volunteering to help fellow programmers. Actually, many schools would find your EC concentration quite attractive. They are looking for a diverse, well rounded student body but not necessarily well rounded students.

6

You probably have an average chance at UCB for the reasons you stated. If you do not mind Southern California, you should look at UCLA, UCSD and USC, which are closer to “high match” territory for you. Others might be able to suggest some good instate matches and safeties.

I hear that UT is very tough to get into for OOS students. You should be fine for UW (possible Honors Program and direct admit to CS major, if you nail that math section).

Good luck!

7

Coolio. Thanks, I’ll keep these suggestions in mind :slight_smile: