Chance Me for UC Berkeley!

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

I’m a sophomore at a somewhat competitive high school in the Bay Area in California. Berkeley’s been my dream school since 6th grade, and I want to see what my chances are at getting in.

Academics:
-SAT: 1540 (770 both sections)
-PSAT: 1480 (740 both sections)
-SAT II: Math II (800), I’m taking physics soon
-Unweighted GPA (so far): 4.0
-UC GPA (so far): 4.4
-Freshman Schedule: English 9 Honors, Alg 2 Honors, Bio Honors, French 2
-Sophomore Schedule: English 10 Honors, Precalc Honors, Chem Honors, AP Euro, PE, French 3
-Junior Schedule: English 11 Honors (most people self-study AP Lang on the side), AP Calc BC, AP Physics 1, AP Chem, APUSH
-Senior Schedule (plan): AP Lit, Multivar/LinAlg, AP Physics C, AP Gov/Econ, AP CSA
-I’m also taking my art credit, DiffEqs, and a few comp sci classes at my local community college

Extracurriculars:
-ASB Treasurer (in charge of finances and fundraising for anything not academic related i.e. clubs, sports, focus groups, etc.)
-Interact Club (several top leadership positions, 10+ hrs a week planning events, service projects, fundraisers, etc.)
-Math club founder (tutors kids in math and runs most math competitions on campus)
-USAPhO qualifier
-USACO silver, working on gold
-Piano (ATCL Diploma)
-Varsity swim
-Lifeguard at my neighborhood pool
-Boy scouts

Other:
-Prospective Major: Applied Math/Physics (applying in L&S)
-Gender: Male
-Race: Asian
-Income: <$60,000
-First gen student

If anyone has any comments or tips on what I should be doing in the next two years to potentially increase my chances (particularly with my extracurriculars and volunteering), please let me know! :))

2

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-general/2127392-faq-uc-historical-frosh-admit-rates-by-hs-gpa-2018.html

Probably low reach to high match if you maintain the unweighted 4.0 in hard courses (> 4.3 weighted capped).

3

Your planned sched looks awesome. Just make sure you can handle it (ie keep getting As).

  • Hopefully your MVC and Linear Algebra classes will he taught at a CC instead of a HS class. You won’t any credit for it unless it is thru a CC.
  • taking the AP Physics 1 and AP Physics C exams is considered redundant for UCs ie you only get credit for one or the other. Just pointing it out, not a big deal.
  • you may want to start considering what breadths to knock off in CC. For example, chances are if you take French 4 in CC, you would knock off the International breadth requirement. Taking a Psychology or Sociology class would knock off your Social Science breadth. Your Art class might knock off your Arts and Lit breadth. Look at assist.org to get the articulations. At Berkeley L&S, AP classes can’t be used to replace breadth classes, but CC classes can be used. Think about using summers or online to take these classes.

As far as ECs goes, get a couple of leadership positions. Berkeley values giving back to the community very highly as well.

4

Thanks! Both multivar and linear algebra are college courses taught on campus, so they’re going to count for credit. Does anyone know how different the l&s acceptance rate is than EECS or some other competetive majors and departments?

5

The acceptance rates are very different, though there is not a direct apples to apples relationship because the applicant pool is different.

L&S acceptance rates are somewhere in the 15% range.
EECS itself is between 5-10%, probably closer to 5 than to 10. Engineering as a whole is probably around 9-10%.
If you are going to compare EECS versus LSCS, the first question will always be, what is more important to you, getting into the major or getting into the school?. If the answer is the second one, you’ll probably want to apply via L&S. Also, if you are thinking about EECS, you may also want to think about upping the SAT as well, especially the math portion - the SAT score that you have is great, but below the median for EECS.

6

Ok thanks! I just wanted to know how the acceptance rates compared per college, I don’t have any intention of majoring in EECS or CS.

7

L&S is the largest division at UCB, and does not admit by major, so the L&S admission stats will not be that much different from the overall admission stats.