Chance me for Berkeley, Davis, UCSD?

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

Alright, here it is… Northeast (USA) student with great extracurriculars but ok scores applying in the fall:

SAT: 1450 (750 M, 700 E) → retaking in October
ACT: 31 (Eng. 35, Math 29, Reading 28, Sci 30) → this was my first time, plan to retake
SAT II: 680 Math → will retake; 780 French; taking Bio E/M in a month

GPA: 4.14 W, 3.8 UW

AP: French (5), Spanish (5), Biology (4), English Lit (3) || Couldn’t take Physics, CS, and Statistics because of a really pressing family issue at the end of this school year but got A’s in these classes :confused:

Senior year course load:
AP Econ, AP Calc AB, AP Physics II, AP Spanish Lit, AP English Lang, Discrete Math, CADD, mostly STEM classes

Major Awards:
-National Center for Women in Information Technology award, robotics state champions, state community service awards, tech service awards, etc.

Extracurriculars/Volunteering/Summer activities:

  1. Coding
  • Set up coding classes in my town and nearby city for low income students, ongoing for past 2 years. Part of this responsibility includes finding sponsors, computers, guest speakers, scholarship, etc. Got big attention in the news
    -Running CS camps for refugees and undocumented individuals living nearby; teaching an after school enrichment program at an elementary school serving kids of the same background
  1. Water Research
    -research on water quality impact on local wildlife for national science program, research led to new filtration systems in my county (still don’t know how I managed to do that)
    -created water filters for the American Water Works Association and its competitions
  2. School
    -National Honor Society president
    -President of the Hispanic Club
    -Minorities in Technology Club president
    -Language Honor Society president

Work Experience:
-Intern for NYC-based company creating statistics functions to be implemented in spreadsheets with JS
-Intern at a patent firm where I serve as a translator (French, Arabic, Spanish)

Rec Letters:
-Teacher I: CS teacher who has had me for two years now and has recommended me for summer programs in the past
-Teacher II: Bio teacher who I did water research under, I was also her lab assistant this year
-Counselor: She’s a big fan of my community service and has endorsed me for other activities and honors
-Add’l rec: My boss who will speak to my fluency in Arabic, French, and Spanish. I worked for her for 3 years and I’m learning a lot about chemistry patents, etc.

Other:
Will apply for Financial Aid
Intended school/major: Engineering
Ethnicity: Hispanic / Middle Eastern
Gender: F
Income Bracket: upper mid class
Hooks: URM

What I’m banking on:
Extracurriculars, work experience, URM. My extracurriculars kind of run my life now.

2

Are the UC’s affordable at $60K/year with no financial aid?

UC’s also do not consider ethnicity/race in the admission decisions, so you cannot bank on being a URM.

You are a qualified and competitive applicant. UCSD and UCD are definitely within reach. UCB will be a tough admit you have some great EC’s.

Best of luck.

3

Thanks for taking the time to respond! To clarify, I meant that my experience as a URM will be an issue that I discuss throughout the app because it’s had a significant impact on my life outside of school. Thanks again!

4

I think you are well positioned. It’s not too early to start working on those 4 essays so by the time you hit the send button, they are well polished also.