I am writing this for my friend Also chance UC Berkeley Regents please
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2350: Reading 800, Math 800, Writing 750
SAT II: Math 2 800, Chemistry 800, World History 800, Spanish 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): unknown I think like 3.7+? (bad freshman year, amazing after that)
Weighted GPA: 4.28 (4.5X for UC and ELC)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 25%?
AP (place score in parentheses): AB Calc 5, AP Chem 5, AP lit 5, APUSH 5, AP Stats 4, APCS 5, AP Spanish Lang 5, 1 more idk
Senior Year Course Load: 6 AP classes all hardest level (AP lit, AP Stats, etc.)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, Siemens Semifinalist, Local Science fair winner, National AP Scholar,
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Science Club (president), dance club (Secretary), Class office, Track (9,10,12)
Job/Work Experience: Burger King in Summer
Volunteer/Community service: - a few here and there
Summer Activities: Worked on Science Research
Teacher Recommendation: good?
Counselor Rec: good (known for fact)
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: Very good, competitive public school, ~300+ kids in class
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): a lot
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
The GPA will hold him back a lot, unfortunately. His ECs are also fairly generic and diffuse. Scores are good so that’s a plus, but Columbia will be a reach like for everyone else. Berkeley maybe a slightly lower reach but still a reach. The good thing about Berkeley is that his freshman year won’t be considered. What’s his UC GPA?
Really, you think Berkeley will be a reach for him? I am certain he will get in, 4.58 UC GPA, 2350 SAT, Siemens Semifinalist. I think he will also be a regents scholar.
His UC GPA is impressive, as are his accomplishments. But he’s still Asian male from California, which is super over-represented at Berkeley, especially when you consider that he’s a STEM-centered applicant. After seeing the UC GPA, and seeing that he’s in-state (missed that the first time, sorry), I’d call it a high match/low reach.
Theres no way Berkeley is a reach for you. Columbia is a bit of a reach, but is still definitely possible. The fact that you are applying ED also makes your chances at Columbia fairly decent. These schools are defiinitely in your range.
I think you’re looking great for the Regents at CAL, and as far as ED at Columbia, that is the unknown. I just pasted their statement on ED applicants into my daughter’s working application folder, and we are considering the statement from the university:
"Although a larger percentage of the Early Decision applicant pool is admitted than of the Regular Decision pool, that higher acceptance rate reflects the remarkable strength of a self-selected group of applicants. A candidate to whom we otherwise would not offer admission is not going to be accepted simply because he or she applied under the Early Decision program.
We strongly urge you to apply under the Early Decision program if and only if Columbia is your first choice."
While being a Siemens semifinalist is a nice honor, it would have had to have been with a group project which doesn’t carry nearly the impact of an individual project.
You have been given chances at all these schools in the various threads that you have started. But the only answer that you are willing to believe is that your friend will be accepted at all the schools that you list.
His rank will hold him back for Columbia, since something like 90% of their students come from the top tenth of their graduating class. However, the fact that he’s applying ED and has research and work experience will help. It’s anyone’s guess whether he gets in. Not sure about Stanford but I will say that I’ve seen similar kids (with higher ranks) get waitlisted there.
I don’t know about the others.
@TomSrOfBoston See this is what I hate about CC, random people like you who don’t even answer the question come on and just criticize the guy who is trying to help his friend. Who cares if he does not want to make an account, is it your business? I mean come on? Seriously just get off College Confidential if you are not going to actually help.