(For UC Berkeley, let me know if you think I have a chance at Regents please!)
Demographics: California citizen. 18-year old male (just turned 18), Filipino immigrant, LGBTQ+, Catholic, Low/lower middle class
Intended Major/Field of Study: Political science/Global studies
UC GPA: Weighted: 4.13 (17 A’s, 5 B’s, upward trend) UW: 3.81 Scores: ACT: 33 (E32 M32 R33 S36) Subject tests: U.S. History (640, without ever taking a U.S. History course in high school), Literature (630), Math II (610) APs: Art History (3, took the exam but not the class), Physics 1 (1), AP Lang (3), AP Euro (4), currently taking Statistics IBs: SL Math (5), currently taking HL History, HL English Literature, HL Global Politics, HL Biology, HL Spanish, and Theory of Knowledge
ECs: - Key Club (4 years, 300+ hours): Fundraising Coordinator, Club President, then officer for the California-Nevada-Hawaii District. Was recognized on the District level for 2 years. Raised thousands of $$$ for 2 charities for children. Cultivated a 200+ person membership during presidency. Learned graphic design and picked up fundraising & leadership experience from Key Club. Was the major focus for my PIQ on leadership. Was mentioned in 2 others, with regards to service to the community and learning graphic design. - Student Government (3 years): Freshman Class President, chaired 9 committees and worked in 4 others over 6 semesters. Quit to focus on Key Club, work, internships, and college applications. Mentioned serving in student council since 1st grade in my essay. - Barista at a boba shop (1 year+): Worked 15 hours a week. Put money into supporting my family and paying for extracurriculars and school supplies. - Filipino Club (3 years): Founder and president. Had a 100-ish membership. Discussed Fil-Am culture. - Model United Nations (2 years): Won Best Delegate at Southern California MUN Conference hosted by USC. Worked with 30+ underclassmen to train them in debate and research. - PTSA Student Representative (2 years): Coordinated volunteers for our major event 3 years in a row. Helped raise $1k+ each year for the school.
Essays: I’d say that they’re good/okay. My leadership essay focused on Key Club, my years in student government, new programs that i’ve implemented in Key Club and student government, and my focus on leading communities. My creative essay described the process in which I taught myself graphic design and learned about my passion for it. I talked about how I used it to earn leadership roles, give to my community, and how I’d like to use it in my dream to become a political campaign manager. My academic subject essay was about how I brought my love of history and my passion for math together in a research study that I conducted on the effectiveness of the electoral college based on the least amount of popular votes needed to become president. My significant challenge was uniting my cultural background and faith with my sexuality and liberal beliefs. I believe that this one was particularly strong, as it was the essay I used to get into USC w/ an invitation for a merit scholarship.
LORs (Only for Stanford and Northwestern): Kiwanis Mentor that I work with one-on-one every week, my 10th and 12th grade history teacher that I asked to mentor me academically, and my 10th grade AP Lang teacher/12th grade Global Politics teacher/MUN Coach
Extra Info: I was a QuestBridge College Prep Scholar and National College Match Finalist, semi-finalist for Posse, early admit for USC, and I’m an IB Diploma Candidate