Chance me for BU, NYU, UC Berkeley?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi! I’m currently a senior at an International school in Dubai, and I was wondering what my chances were at getting into BU, NYU and UC Berkeley.

Ethnicity: East Asian
Intended major: Comparative Literature

SAT: 1510 out of the new 1600, but I plan on retaking it next month to raise my scores

SAT Subject: I didn’t take any yet, but I registered for the French and Literature test next month. I did get more or less 800s on both subjects during all my mock tests.

GPA: My school only offers the IB course, and IB scores aren’t generally converted to GPAs. So my predicted grade is around 35-37, which I know isn’t good. I did take English literature Higher level and got a 7. I also wrote my Extended Essay (a mandatory 4000 word essay) on English literature.
In my freshman and sophomore year, I got 5A*s and 2As on my IGCSEs.

ECs:

  • Honor Award of Excellence in the international Benchmark Test in English (sophomore year)
  • 100+ hours of volunteering
  • Debate club, participated in WSDC as representative of my school
  • Secretary of school Environmental committee (junior year)
  • Vice President of school Learning Council (junior year)
  • President of school Learning Council (senior year)
  • Member of the Student Cabinet (senior year)

Also I’m really scared because admissions are supposed to be way, way harder for international students, and my IB scores and extracurriculars aren’t that outstanding. So do you think I have a chance at any of those universities? Should I aim lower or could I try aiming higher?

2

Just wanted to say at UCB they really look into you as a person and your background - like stuff besides school or your back story. I knew people with really low gpa’s who got into ucb - I knew one lady who had straight C’s but got accepted for aerospace engineering - when I asked the UC rep at my cc she said what I mentioned above - she said UCD only looks at academics so I didn’t put anything into the questions and statements only into my grades - I got straight A’s and UCD accepted me on a full ride - UCB denied me. So I feel her statement holds a little credence. If you want to get into these schools you will need more then just grades - you will need to go take classes or seminars for writing those personal statement questionaires in the UC application. My cc offered them so you might be able to find some locally if not then online. Just make sure you have a well rounded application that stands out from the rest. Most just get a quick read through then through in the trash - thus you have to stand out.