<p>I'm a sophomore at a highly competitive school in New Jersey. I took the SAT II Math IC and IIC in middle school, and got a 770 and an 800 on them, respectively. I also took the
SAT I test in the 8th grade an got a 2200. Freshman year, I had one of the heaviest course-loads in my grade, taking Honors Precalculus, Honors Biology, and Honors Chemistry, while taking Honors wherever I could. However, I ended freshman year miserably, with a 3.51 UW/ 4.11 W. Being a glutton for punishment, I skipped AP Calculus BC over the summer, taking Honors Multivariable Calculus sophomore year, as well as AP Biology, Honors Physics, and a bunch of other Honors classes. I am probably going to get a B in AP Biology, and I might also get one in Honors Physics.
I am a tournament-level chess player, with a USCF rating of about 1520. I have been playing chess all my life. I received a gold medal at the NJ Science Olympiad state tournament. I was also part of the team that placed 1st there. I am an avid participant in my science and math clubs, having done well in Mandelbrot, AMC and PUMAC (Princeton University Math Competition). Is there anything at all that can be done? I project my GPA will be at around a 3.7 by the start of junior year. My weighted GPA will be much higher, though not outstanding. Do I need a reality check?</p>
<p>lol you’re fine right now…I got in with 2190 SAT and 760 Math SAT II and 3.7 GPA unweighted with IB Diploma at a magnet school. You’re a good candidate but make sure you can pay…total costs are around 56k/year including flights.</p>
<p>You can probably get in, but why would you want to spend $60k for a public uni? With your numbers, you will easily receive merit money from a lot of great private colleges. (IMO, that is what requires a “reality check”.)</p>
<p>^there are ways to reduce costs, but it depends on the major, and UC Berkeley is well respected. I mean bugatti, if you’re doing something like business or engineering then I’d definitely say go, but if its something that Berkeley doesn’t give you an advantage compared to other colleges for, then maybe you should consider going somewhere cheaper.</p>
<p>if you cut down on food and rent, then it’s not going to be 60K. Tuition for OOS is around 30K (maybe 33-34K) but that’s still lower than the ivies’ tuition isn’t it? And you will get some financial aid in combination of grants, work-study, and the remaining need is government student loans if you’re middle class (the middle class that earns less than 100K a year family income).</p>
<p>Thats very true diivio, but still even if you cut costs as much as possible, I think it’d still be at least 47 or 48k per year before taking loans which could be tough for many families to afford.</p>
<p>^yeah you’re absolutely right, but I come for a slightly upper middle class (family income around 80K) and they gave me about 12K in grants/scholarships and 4K in work study, and the remaining amount in loans. That is a lot of loan but if you’re engineering or any field that has a high bachelors starting salary and you really want to get involved with the cool research or private company internship opportunities that you may not get depending on your state, then maybe the cost is worth it. I suppose that determination is a family matter and varies with each family. Good luck OP!</p>
<p>PS: Does OP stand for “Original poster” or something? I’ve always wondered.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys! Your input has been extremely valuable. I didn’t realize that Berkeley was that expensive. I may need to reevaluate my options. :(</p>
<p>Good luck on your admission bugattive :)! Remember scholarships are always an alternative to big loans. Start applying to them now and you’ll end up feeling more relief when you enter your senior year :p. Just apply to as many as you can, I’m sure you will get at least some :D!</p>
<p>bugattive, don’t feel intimidated by the large cost. An education at Berkeley is second to none. My family is concerned about the cost as well but they’re willing to send me anyways because of the education and opportunities I’d receive there. There’s plenty of ways to reduce the cost, and I think its feasible to get the cost below 45k even, as long as you save money and as misterb7k said, apply for scholarships. I read a book about a couple who financed their entire college education through scholarships, so don’t rule anything out just yet. Good luck.</p>
<p>the OP is a Sophomore…rates are going up each and every year…COA today is ~$55k, plus an additional $1k for OOS travel = $56k. By the time the OP applies and is accepted, do any of you really think it won’t be $60k? </p>
<p>Cal does NOT give out need-based grants to OOS’ers…the whole purpose of recruiting them is for their money. </p>
<p>The OP scored NM high as a 8th grader. Plenty of schools, including 'SC, will literally throw money at him to attend. Other than the Colleges of Engineering & Chemistry, seeking to pay full freight at Cal is beyond foolish, IMO. (sure, Haas is great too, but not a guaranteed admit.)</p>
<p>^Bluebayou, with all due respect, I think Cal does give out need-based grants to OOSers, since I wouldn’t be able to go here if they didn’t meet 100% of my financial need (the 12K grant I was given was the Berkeley undergraduate academic scholarship, which is given on the basis of both grades and financial need). The remaining amount as I said before was in work study and loans.</p>
<p>Diivio, Cal only meets 100% financial need for in-state students. OOS usually won’t get much because the high tuition costs we’re given is to make up for the budget cuts. I’m not sure how you got 12k but that’s a great number. Also, I talked to their financial aid officer who told me that grants are not merit-based, and they are only based on financial need. So whether you have a 4.0 GPA or a 3.6 GPA doesn’t matter for aid, but whether your family makes 100k/year or 50k/year is what determines how much aid you will receive.</p>
<p>That’s awesome, but I’ll have to take it up with my local legislator, bcos the whole reason about stiffing instate kids was to attract the wealthy OOS’ers to pay sticker.</p>
<p>am i the only one that doesn’t believe that anyone would just jump from pre-calc to multivariable calculus, basically cutting out 2 semesters of calculus? i’m sorry i don’t see you being able to do that without at least studying on your own or that their high school would let them</p>
<p>You’re absolutely right. I had to take a Calculus BC course over the summer through Johns Hopkin’s CTY program. I then took a school-administered test. Passing this, I was promoted to Multivariable. It does sound odd, but I was displeased by the Calculus BC curriculum, and wanted a greater challenge.</p>