can i get into Cal with a 3.8 uc gpa

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>hey guys, i am a hs senior this year who applied to Cal. i really really really want to go to this school, but i am worried that my uc gpa will bring me down. my uc gpa is 3.8, but i heard the average at Cal is like 4.2 or maybe higher. </p>

<p>my sophomore and junior year grades were as follows:
Soph, 1st/ 2nd sem:
algebra 2 honors: C/A
english 2 honors: B/B
european history AP: B/A
chemistry 1 honors: B/B
orchestra: A/A
spanish 3 honors: B/B
soccer: A/A</p>

<p>Junior, 1st/ 2nd sem:
precalculus: A/B
english 3 honors: A/A
environmental sci AP: B/A
u.s. hist AP: B/B
spanish 4: A/A
advanced journalism: A/A
science research: A/A</p>

<p>with my kind of grades, how hard will it be to get into berkeley? my sat is 2150, act 32, and subject tests 800, 730, and 640.</p>

<p>thanks in advance for helping me out.</p>

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<p>At our session for admitted students the average GPA was 4.36 and a 2040 SAT. Scores are good, but GPA is a little low for Berkeley. Depends on your essay most likely.</p>

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<p>4.36 uc gpa??!
wow...that is a lot higher than i thought...</p>

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<p>how do you get an A/A in socceR???</p>

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<p>Scores are decent, but GPA is much too low. I would say you're most likely a reject.</p>

6

<p><em>tears</em>
10char.</p>

7

<p>My weighted UC GPA was 3.9, and my SAT was 2190 and I got in. I assume you're calculating the UC GPA correctly, and only counting UC-certified courses? That means only courses listed here:</p>

<p><a href="https://doorways.ucop.edu/list/servlet.jsf;jsessionid=C3E560466DD206B9A08547D85ED959B2?_flowExecutionKey=_c24C22950-70CF-FEC8-9D58-39C633280CEE_k663E71FA-645D-A403-4075-2B26EA46BA11%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://doorways.ucop.edu/list/servlet.jsf;jsessionid=C3E560466DD206B9A08547D85ED959B2?_flowExecutionKey=_c24C22950-70CF-FEC8-9D58-39C633280CEE_k663E71FA-645D-A403-4075-2B26EA46BA11&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Also, you get to add an extra point for each semester of AP and some honors classes, up to 8 extra points.</p>

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<p>WOW. scarily like me. The difference is I got like one more b... but no c. That C may be what kills you..... honestly... they accept only like 10-15% of people below 4.0 but those people have courses like you. So you need a way to explain that. Soccer doesn't count for sure and I'm pretty sure science research doesn't count either. However, they do look at it.</p>

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<p>o i know soccer and research don't count, i was just mindlessly listing my full schedules for soph and junior years. and yea that C is gonna lessen my already slim chances :(</p>

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<p>sorry dont mean to be harsh, but don't get your hopes up</p>

<p>i hope you have really good essays</p>

<p>i got into SPRING admit with a 3.8 gpa, 2200 sat, but like 8-10 APs</p>

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<p>Also, due to budget cuts and whatnot, I am sure it is going to be UBER-competitive this year.</p>

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<p>hey me again. I looked up my chances for cal. I have like a 15%-20% chance. So you are probably around there too.</p>

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<p>how did you arrive at that % chance?</p>

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<p>Well if its any consolation, I have a friend who applied with a 3.7ish UC GPA: he made it (given that he had a 2250+ SAT and a list of state and national awards). I'll tell you his strategy- you remember in that third optional essay box on the UC application? Well, he wrote something along the lines of "Oh, I know my GPA isn't as great as it could, but I'm improving and demonstrating an upward trend. If you have any doubt, ask for my senior year grades." Of course, I'm sure he wrote it with more articulation, but the point went across. Come spring semester (February-ish), he gets an e-mail from Berkeley asking for more information.</p>

<p>Bingo. My friend did well his first semester of senior year with 4 AP/honors classes and for the additional questions they asked (around 7), he wrote mini 3 paragraph essays for each one. I believe there was also an option for a letter of rec. so he also took advantage of that as well. Anyways, long story short, he's happily attending Berkeley as a fall admit. </p>

<p>Good luck and don't give up! And one last piece of advice, never use your weakness to compete with somebody's strength. Find what's unique about you and run with it. And if things don't work out, don't worry about it. And hey, there's always transfer or grad apps =)</p>

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<p>UC Stat Finder. They only let you enter three characteristics at a time. I rounded down for that margin of error.</p>