// Chance me for UC Berkeley //

Hi everyone !

In the May 2015 administration of the SAT, i got a score of 2170 (CR:720 M:780 W:670). Although I was happy with my reading and math scores, my writing sucked a bit, so I decided to take the SAT once again in June. However I only received a 2070 in this one, (CR:630 M:730 W:710). I was not only astonished, but also worried. I do know that Berkeley only considers the highest single sitting score (as per their website) and a 2170 falls good enough in their SAT range.
However, the drop itself has been an extremely vexing matter of concern.
So here’s my question -

WILL THE DROP BE A PROBLEM AND WHAT ARE MY CHANCES FOR BERKELEY???
I’m from India and plan to do either computer science or maybe engineering once I graduate from High School.

Take a look at my profile:

___School:

  • Class 9 - GPA was 9.6 (out of 10, with most A’s) - from the central board of secondary education.
  • Class 10 - GPA was 10 (out of 10, almost all A’s) - from the central board of secondary education.
  • Class 11 Midterm - percentile in the state : 99.49 - Percentage : 91% (GPA-10/10)( I ranked in the top 0.5% of the state! )
  • from the Gujarat higher secondary education board
  • Class 11 End term - percentile in the state : 99.87 - Percentage : 93% (GPA-10/10)( I ranked in the top 0.1% of the state!)
  • from the Gujarat higher secondary education board
  • Class 12 results will be out once admission procedures will be completed :slight_smile:

___Essays:

I’m a strong writer and can write pretty well when I’m calm and pensive.

___Recommendations:

My teachers are really fond of me, so I think that they will write well for me!

___ECs:

  • School student government leader - Council President.
  • School quizzing team for 5 years; participated in 15 quizzes on city, state and national levels. Won about 8-9
  • Founding member and leader of the school's Tech Club, wherein I teach Adobe After Effects to a class of about 30.
  • Currently trying to develop a voice controlled system using Arduino processors and BreadBoard.
  • Two quiz shows were televised on national TV in India and neighboring countries. (I felt like a celebrity, lol)
  • Active musician, about 13-14 years with the guitar and the piano.
  • I also have a degree in Indian classical music, which I completed when I was in middle school.
  • Have conducted many music shows in which I have performed at several occasions.
  • Active community service advocate; about one visit and musical performance at an orphanage every week.
  • Leader of the school music club and I write often for the school newsletter.
  • I teach math and science to homeless and impoverished girls in my town.
  • I'm really good at movie making; I design films for the school's events and have a successful YouTube channel with over 10.5K subs and one and half million views!
  • I also teach music to some poor people who live in the outskirts of the city in which I stay.
  • I have weekly school talks with lower grade students and encourage them to work harder, for it turns out that my speeches have a beguiling influence (not in the negative way though, lol).
  • national cyber Olympiad 2014 class topper, with a state rank of 23 and an international rank of 208 !
  • Out of all my years at school, I've Represented my class for almost 6 years, as the Class Representative.

Maybe i might have forgotten a few more ECs, but I’m sure you’ll get the gist of what I mean…

All your comments are appreciated.
Thank you!

You definitely have a very good shot at UC Berkeley with this information. Your EC’s are diverse and quite good.

If they say that they’re only looking at your single highest sitting, they really will. Even if you send all of your scores, their computers will probably filter out the lower scores. The score is definitely in the range for Berkeley. Especially since the CR+Math is the most important which you have a 1500 (that’s crazy good).

You have a shot but as an international applicant you must keep in mind that you’ll be facing fierce competition especially since your interests are typical of Asian applicants to Berkeley (CS/Engineering), so don’t be misguided by the ~18% acceptance rate.

Also, make sure you can afford the price of $55k per year.

Thank you all. I really appreciate your help. :slight_smile:
Btw, what else according to you all, should I do to bolster my chances at UCB? Also, please tell me if I have chances at Duke, Brown and Cornell.
Brown (and Duke I guess) superscore the SAT, so my score will be 2210 for them.
Thank you all once again. :slight_smile:

If you’re full pay, your chances are better at UCB han at Duke, Brown, and Cornell, where all bets are off due to the insane competition for Indians. You stand a chance there of course, but it only means about 1 in 10 at best. At UCB your odds are better, probably 1 in 2, which is quite good for such a competitive university with a strict cap on how many internationals it can legally admit.

Bump.

You haven’t answered the question of whether you and your family can afford tuition or find scholarships/work. Since UCB is a state university, tuition is generally very high for out-of-state residents and internationals…

@MITer94
Extremely sorry for this delayed reply. I seemed to have skipped upon it. Yes, I can afford Berkeley. I shall be looking for some work nearby, but would also be okay by just focusing on college. Decisions gonna come out next week! I’m rather nervous, really want to get in :slight_smile:

@CallMeHrishi Okay. Well good luck!