Chance Me! Undergrad Mechanical Engineering

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

<p>Chance me for undergrad engineering admission to Berkeley! </p>

<p>High School Senior
Competitive Private Catholic High School in Orange County
Race: White (Upper Middle Class)
UW GPA: 3.95
W GPA: 4.76 (honors, AP, and IB's count as 5.0's)
Class Rank - unknown (probably top 3%)</p>

<p>Junior Schedule:
Class (AP score if applicable)</p>

<p>Religion 3
AP Lang (5)
AP BC Calc (5) (Top Student award)
AP US History (5) (Top Student award)
IB Latin HL 1
Ancient Greek 2 H
AP Physics C: Mechanics (5) (Top Student award)</p>

<p>Self Studies:
AP Chemistry (4)</p>

<p>Summer After Junior Year:
Self-Study of Multivariable Calculus using MIT OCW (almost done with this)</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
Class (expected AB/IB score if applicable)</p>

<p>Religion 4
AP Lit (4 or 5)
IB Math HL 2 (6 or 7)
IB Further Math SL (5, 6, or 7)
AP Macroeconomics (5)
IB Latin HL 2 (5, 6, or 7)
IB Ancient Greek SL (5, 6, or 7) (ONLY 3 SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD OFFER THIS COURSE)
AP Physics B (5)</p>

<p>Took 2 online Coursera classes: Intro to Mathematical Logic and Programming</p>

<p>Academic Awards:
Top Student Award in Ancient Greek 1 Honors, Biology Honors, Chemistry Honors, Cultural Geography Honors, Film as Art, Latin 1 Honors, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP US History
Top Scholar Athlete for Soccer and Tennis 3 years in a row!</p>

<p>SAT: 2250 (730 CR, 750 Math, 770 W)
SAT II Math II: 800
SAT II Physics: expected 750+ (taking test in October)</p>

<p>ECS:</p>

<p>Club soccer through 9th grade
Won the US Youth National Championship in Boston (2008)
4 years high school soccer (1 frosh, 1jv, 2varsity (starting center midfielder))
4 years varsity tennis (captain junior and senior year)
MUN (3 years, traveled to London and will go to China senior year, 3 gavels so far)
President of Kiva/Microfinance Club ($2500+ in microloans to individuals/businesses in over 35 countries)
2 year member of Engineering and Physics Innovation Club (EPIC) (Chief Engineer senior year) - We have built a hovercraft, a magnetic accelerator cannon and a Ruben's tube. We intend on building a potato cannon and a model rocket (capable of going 10000 feet high) this year.
Member of Ping Pong Club (I am pro!)
California Scholastic Federation (CSF) 7 semester member
NHS 2 year member (tutored throughout junior year)
Link Crew (Freshmen Transition Program) 3 year group leader
Member of Lion's Heart (community service organization for teens, president for 3 years, 400+ hrs) since 7th grade
Special Camp for Special Kids (week long one-on-one camp for kids with disabilities) counselor for 3 summers (planning to do summer after senior year as well)</p>

<p>Employment:
Calculus/Physics Tutor
Teach my home-schooled neighbor Pre-Algebra/Algebra and Wheelock's Latin (he's 11 years old and really smart, I teach him the material and give him weekly homework to do)</p>

2

<p>your stats would suggest that you’re a match for Berkeley.</p>

3

<p>Those IB math courses won’t get you any more credit in Berkeley engineering than a 5 on AP calculus BC gets (i.e. Math 1A and 1B). If you want to take more advanced math, consider taking it at a local college.</p>

<p>AP physics B also won’t get any subject credit in Berkeley engineering.</p>

4

<p>Getting into Berkeley isn’t the problem. In fact, with your stats, unless you put the essay for another school, you’re in.</p>

<p>The real question is if you can survive the 4 years at Berkeley…</p>

5

<p>^ Getting in to Berkeley is still a problem with the kind of stats the OP has. If you’ll look at his stats more closely, the numbers are just within the 50% mid-range, not in the upper quartile of those who were accepted. In my opinion, only 1 of 3 applicants with stats like his is accepted.</p>