Chance for Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, and UC Berkeley

<p>These are the schools that I want to get into, either their arts/science or engineering colleges.</p>

<p>4.44 gpa weighted, 3.68 gpa unweighted
AP's: statistics - 5 from last year. calculus BC, APUSH, english lang/comp, and chemistry for this year. micro/macro economics, us government/politics, electricity/magnetics physics C, computer science A for next year. also receiving dual credit for multivariable calculus and ordinary differential equations from a local college for next year.
SAT: 2190 (680 CR, 800 M, 710 W), SAT II Math II 800, and I am planning to do Chemistry and Physics soon.
EC: a lot of math team (made state last year, MVP at my school, etc.) and math competitions at our school. I did science olympiad and scholastic bowl this year... however our school is not very reputable in these two extra curriculars so I don't have many achievements in them. I also did fencing last year but had to drop short due to an injury. I've volunteered quite a bit for my library and have been volunteering for my church for ages now. I did an orchestra ensemble at my school where we went around the city and played for people freshman year, but I couldn't continue it sophomore year because I couldn't fit orchestra into my schedule. I am going to be in NHS next year... and I can't think of any more as of now. I've done a lot of math stuff (and I'm pretty much a math geek) at my school and not much science ec because our science department is quite weak compared to the other departments (for sci oly, the two teachers would often just do trivia with 3 other students and not work on the projects).</p>

<p>the three I really want to get into are Cornell, CMU, and UC Berkeley... for safeties, I am thinking U of I Urbana Champaign or Georgia Tech.
Do you also think I should retake the SAT to get into the 2200's? And if these schools seem like reaches to you with my stats, what other schools do you recommend that I try for that are somewhat reputable and that I can get into without much stress over being rejected with my stats?</p>

<p>Hey! I am a senior and just got admitted into uc berkeley. So I might be able to help a bit.
Which year in high school are you in? That would change things regarding sat scores and numbers of APs taken and such…</p>

<p>Your stats:

  1. gpa might be a little low…I think uc Berkeley wants around 3.8 unweighted…but I’m not sure about that
  2. APs seem good! I ended up taking 11. Just for reference :slight_smile:
  3. your sat seems a little low to me…at least get into the 2200. I’m not sure from which state you are applying, but ACT might be easier if your state administers it.</p>

<p>EC:
Uc Berkeley LOVES leadership. You seem to be involved in a lot of activities but I dont see any awards or some leadership position.
You don’t have to be in a ton of leadership positions (although that would be favorable)
For me, for example, My only leadership positions were flute section leader in 3 ensembles, music honor society officer, and having led a fundraiser in the school.
You just have to make sure you get something out of being in these positions so that you can write about it in your essays and give Berkeley a detailed description of what exactly you did in these positions.
Again, I’m not sure which year you are in. If you’re a junior, then I think you should look at other uc. Maybe like ucla. But if you’re a sophomore, then there’s plenty of time to get everything ready. </p>

<p>I also got into ucla so let me know if you have any questions!
I hope this helped a little…>.<</p>

<p>Ohhh I gather you’re a junior. Sorry I didn’t look at the AP subjects…
You might as well try. I think your stats are fine. Probably average in the uc Berkeley applicant pool.
Its just the EC that I’m iffy on…maybe try to get into a leadership position during the summer or even senior year? If you don’t have leadership, then I don’t think you have a very good chance if getting in.</p>

<p>Wait…make state in math…which contest are you talking about ? (i’m very involved in math competitions, and I have never heard of something like making state. r u talking about mathcounts, which doesn’t count for college?) if you are so much a math geek (like making usamo or even mosp), then you have a pretty high chance for the colleges you listed. (weighted GPA is good. SAT is good enough, but can be better). If you didn’t at least make AIME, sorry I don’t think math will help that much for ur app. Afterall, if you can raise that SAT to a 2250, you have an average to high chance of making Cornell ED.</p>

<p>@musicf08 well I guess if you call it “leadership” I’m first chair in my church’s orchestra, but it’s not like we’re world renown; we just play for mass. I could try to get into the NHS government positions but considering I’ve seen my class council elections in past years, it’s generally only four girls that generate enough popularity to get into those spots.</p>

<p>@lovenerds and I made state for ‘ictm’, it’s uhh something more known in the illinois suburbs. you probably reacted like I would when I hear people say “president of math club” and I have no idea what they are talking about. I personally don’t feel like it holds little to no weight, and I’m not saying that my apps will be based around math… it’s just my fav subject lol. thank you for the input though.</p>

<p>ok well uc berkeley places a lot of weight on leadership so if you didnt do anything as a section leader and thats the only position you have, then you’ll have a tough time getting in.
Also, you need to exceed in one field. If for you that’s math, then you have to push that aspect of you to the full extent.
I’m from illinois to btw :)</p>