<p>Hello everyone, I just finished my Junior year of high school and am trying to figure out where I stand among the mass that apply to Ivy Leagues every year. However, I have a slightly different situation when it comes to schooling.</p>
<p>By the time I graduate, I will have spent two years as a PSEO (Post-Secondary Enrollment Options) student at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. This means that I will graduate High School with 4 full time and on campus semesters at a college (around 48 credits!).</p>
<p>I'm also extremely successful in extracurricular activities:
Speech (forensics) - Since Freshman year, State Champion
FIRST Robotics - Since Freshman year, Team Captain & State Champion
Band - Played the Saxophone for 6 years, in the Jazz Band for 2</p>
<p>However, I am not the best at taking exams such as the ACT and SAT Subject tests (just the way I am!). My scores are as follows:</p>
<p>GPA - 3.522 (unweighted). Keep in mind that both Junior and Senior year have/will be spent at the University of Minnesota.
ACT - 30 (Plan on taking it once more, should be able to get 32 at least)
SAT Subject Tests - Have to take Math 2, Biology E: 610 (plan on taking again)</p>
<p>Obviously I will try to improve my ACT and Subject Test Scores in the coming months, but how do you see my chances? Attending a University for two years as a PSEO student clearly demonstrates that I push myself academically, and I have many accomplishments in extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Class profile: <a href=“Student Profile - Office of Undergraduate Admissions”>http://admissions.berkeley.edu/studentprofile</a>
Your stats are on the lower end for out-of-state applicants/admits. Did you receive relatively good grades in your college courses?
Also, I don’t think UC Berkeley offers much aid to out-of-state applicants how much are your parents willing to contribute yearly. Run a net price calculator if you haven’t done so already. </p>
<p>Thank you for the feedback.</p>
<p>Yes I received fairly good grades my Junior year (around a 3.3 GPA I believe, after 7 courses). This was my first year taking a full time college course load, so I am confident that I can raise my GPA significantly senior year and Fall 2015.</p>
<p>I have run the net price calculator in the past and am aware of the cost as well. Thank you!</p>
<p>If there is any dip in your grades try to explain those in the Additional Comments section. Your UW GPA is a little bit on the lower end but readers will not know why unless you write it down. Coming from my experience my stats were on the low end too and my UW GPA wasn’t so hot either. If you can, write about your experiences in EC’s. Mainly just show your passion. I wrote about my love for trombone and jazz and one other life experience. </p>
<p>If there’s anything I can say it’s this: Cal readers love to read about students who are extremely passionate about what they are doing whether it be playing trombone like myself or presenting a case in Mock Trial. They like students who are passionate enough to share what they love and help other people grow. I’ve seen a lot of friends with better stats than I not get in. And I’ve also seen a lot of people like myself with lower stats and get in. If Cal is your #1 show how much you want to be here by writing strongly about what you love. And if you don’t happen to have that ‘passion’ yet write about “dreaming to find a dream”. Make that a reality. </p>
<p>hope that helped</p>
<p>^ @alwayswonderines I love what you wrote about how people should write about what they’re passionate about and Cal loves these applicants 
I myself had lower stats from other students,but I got accepted because of my essays and the passion I showed I would definitely say that the applicants, when writing their personal statements, have to live the moment they’re writing about by feeling it and describing details and moments of something they love to do and are passionate about :)</p>
<p>Check the net price calculator to see if you can afford Berkeley as an out-of-state student.</p>
<p>Lots of college courses taken while in high school, particularly those more advanced than the college frosh (or AP) level, can look favorable, but if your GPA is only 3.3, that makes things much more uncertain. Note that transfer students tend to need significantly higher college GPAs for admission to Berkeley.</p>
<p>48 credits is about 3 semesters’ worth if you consider full time to be 15-16 credits per semester (what you need to graduate in 8 semesters of such course loads). 12 credits per semester is typically the minimum for full time status for financial aid purposes, but it will require 10 semesters of 12 credit semesters to graduate.</p>