chances at UC, chicago, cornell

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>hi all. first off, thanks for looking over my stuff. here's the 411</p>

<p>age: senior (applying now)
school: very competetive texas high school with very good academic reputation
rank: comes out next week, but top 7% at least
weighted GPA: around 4.02
old SAT: 780 math, 800 verbal
new SAT: 740 math, 770 verbal, 720 writing
SAT II: 790 writing, 710 biology M, 680 math IIC
PSAT: 207
AP world history: 5
AP us history: 5
AP english lang/comp: 5
AP biology: 4
AP computer science: 4
this year: AP stats, AP calc BC, AP macroecon, AP US gov, AP env sci, AP eng lit</p>

<p>ECs: loads of community service
-president of an outside of school honor society
-student government, several officer positions
-science club vice president
-3 year orchestra member, officer
-science fair, regional and state awards
-NHS
-young democrats</p>

<p>some other misc. awards.</p>

<p>summer '05: biomedical engineering internship at UC Irvine</p>

<p>schools applying to:
UCB
UCLA
UCI
UCSD
UCSB
chicago
cornell
UT austin</p>

<p>my rank and GPA are unimpressive because i had a less than stellar freshman year. however, i buckled down sophomore year and have not dipped below a 4.2 per semester since. hopefully my freshman year will not hurt me too much.</p>

<p>i was sick the day of the PSATs and could not concentrate. i did really well on practice exams and blew the real thing.</p>

<p>i will be retaking the SAT biologly and math IIC, shooting for a 750+ in both.</p>

<p>my top priority is the UC schools, namely berkeley. i know that their recalculated GPA does not include freshman year. however, i know that me being an out of stater will lower my chances significantly.</p>

<p>my problem is that even though i am very happy with some parts of my resume, there are holes big enough to fit trucks through. these flaws are making me very nervous.</p>

<p>i will be applying to most of these schools as a bioengineering/biomedical engineering/biotechnology major or a biology major. is biology easier to make than bioengineering?</p>

<p>i'm applying to the private schools more on a whim than anything else. i know i really dont stand a chance at making them. mostly likely i'll just end up going to UT austin, where i have a guaranteed spot because i'm top 10%, or UC irvine, where hopefully i'm a match. i'm not a pessimist, just a realist.</p>

<p>also, i'm currently struggling in calculus BC and have a C for this grading period. how badly will this reflect upon my transcript? should i drop to AB, or will that look even worse?</p>

2

<p>alin88:</p>

<p>UCB/UCLA: Match (Bioengineering)
UCSD: Match (Bioengineering)
UCI/UCSB: Safety</p>

3

<p>wow that is an overwhelmingly positive response... definitely something i wasn't expecting. i'm a bit skeptical though, can you give me reasons? i really dont see myself as exceptional by any means. does anyone else have any input?</p>

<p>two other possibly important facts:
-i'm asian american, which for UC is probably a disadvantage
-i have a ton of family members who have gone through the UC system. a lot of my cousins are undergrads, my dad and my uncle are PhDs, and my other uncle was a professor of dentistry at UCLA. the problem is, i know that the UC schools have no legacy system of which to speak of. is there any way i can use these connections to my advantage?</p>

4

<p>alin88:</p>

<p>Being Asian is not a disadvantage. Social stature is more important than race in UC admissions, and even so, they help an applicant more than hinder him/her. I don't think legacy helps in any way though. The reason why UCB, UCLA and UCSD Bioengineering are matches is because your UCI Biomedical Engineering summer internship is an incredible hook for getting in, and your above-average standardized scores compensate for your below-average GPA, rounding it out as a whole. An SAT II score of 750 isn't the make-or-break level for these schools; it's more like 720.</p>

5

<p>mmm looks like you have a pretty good chance at all UCs... and I knew a guy with similar stats who got into Cornell's engineering... but hey, best of luck</p>

6

<p>bumpity bump</p>

7

<p>First, you need to CALM DOWN!! You have EXCELLENT stats. You're retaking a 710 Bio??? Let's not be an overachiever or a perfectionist. Insted of studing for Bio and Math IIC, just relax, its senior year.</p>

8

<p>wats UW GPA?</p>

9

<p>UW GPA = Unweighted Grade Point Average</p>

10

<p>i agree u should not retake your SAT IIs- you only live once.</p>

11

<p>haha alright. thanks for making me feel a lot better about myself guys. now i have to stop procrastinating on my apps. those UC essays are so generic and bland.</p>

<p>is there a reason why UC isn't releasing the app till october? the admissions officer told me that the essays haven't changed for a couple years now, and theyre not going to. hopefully he's right.</p>

<p>oh yeah, no one really ever touched on my calculus question.</p>

<p>thanks again, guys.</p>

12

<p>BC Calc may be difficult at first if your background classes were not pretty solid. You should be capable of doing the work, once you get up to speed. If you are considering an engineering major, I suspect that its best to stick with the more rigorous course.</p>

<p>You may want to think about Case for biomedical engineering. It would be strong match/likely admit for you, with the possibility of good merit aid.</p>

13

<p>i thought about case, but i realized that i really wouldn't be happy if i wasn't in california. i was born there and i have family out there. nowhere else really feels like home.</p>

14

<p>"nowhere else really feels like home."</p>

<p>I hear you on that one; I wish I were back in Boston, but that that's not going to happen any time soon.</p>

15

<p>one last bump...</p>

16

<p>What high school do you go to? I'm in texas too</p>

17

<p>plano senior high</p>

18

<p>UCB- reach (not in california)
UCLA- reach (not in california)
UCI- match
UCSD- match
UCSB-match
chicago- slight reach
cornell- reach
UT austin- safety</p>

<p>If you apply early to Uchicago, I think you can get in</p>