Chances at UChicago/Berkeley

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am a white male, junior, from North Carolina. I will be applying as a physics major. I go to a public, residential, competitive high school with selective admission for junior and senior year. All classes are at a minimum, honors level. GPA's are not given, nor are class ranks. I had a 4.0 GPA for freshman and sophomore years at my previous high school, and was ranked at 1. </p>

<p>SAT: CR 720 M 750 W 680 = 2150 Total (superscored, going to be improved)</p>

<p>SAT II's:
Not taken yet, probably going to take Math II, Physics, Chemistry.</p>

<p>Junior Schedule (we have a trimester schedule, so I'll just list the class I've taken):
A: Precalculus and Modeling (unfortunately, my school would not allow me to move up to a more advanced class) (year-long)
A-: Physics with Advanced Topics I (one trimester)
A: Physics with Advanced Topics II (one trimester)
B: AP Chemistry I (two trimesters)
A: AP Chemistry II (one trimester)
B+: American Studies (two trimesters)
B+: Hispanic Literature I (college-level) (one trimester)
A-: Hispanic Literature II (one trimester)
A: Hispanic Literature III (one trimester)
B, maybe A: APUSH (one trimester)
A: Classical Piano and Guitar (one trimester-long independent course, all three trimesters)
A: Introduction to the Research Experience in Physics (one trimester)</p>

<p>Senior schedule:
AP Biology (year-long)
AP Calc BC with Advanced Topics (year-long)
AP Physics C: Mechanics & E/M (year-long)
Astrophysics (college-level) (one trimester)
Galaxies and Cosmology (college-level) (one trimester)
Modern Physics (college-level) (one trimester)
Western European Cultural Studies (year-long)
Classical Piano and Guitar (one trimester-long independent course, all three trimesters)</p>

<p>ECs:
I have been a member of the Boy Scouts since the first grade, and I have my Eagle Scout award. I was crew leader on a 100 mile backpacking trip through Philmont Scout Camp in New Mexico.
My group, of which I am the team captain, was selected as semifinalists for the NASA BHALF competition. We get to go out to Ohio in May to compete in the finals. Last year, my school won in the finals.
This summer I will be interning with a professor at Duke University and her group, which studies data from the SuperK Neutrino Detector in Japan.
Based on my PSAT score, I should be qualifying for National Merit in September.</p>

<p>Previous School:
Science Academic Team- 2 years (captain as a sophomore- all other captains were seniors)
General Knowledge Academic Team- 2 years
Debate Team- 2 years
Book Club- 2 years
Crosby Scholars (college prep program, since middle school)
Student Government- 1 year</p>

<p>Current School:
Secular Student Alliance (president, founder)
SPECTRUM (Gay-straight alliance, hopefully president next year)
ScienceDays Volunteer (we go out to local elementary schools to teach them random things about science, from fingerprinting to anatomy)</p>

<p>Essay: Probably going to ask either American Studies or APUSH teacher and a physics teacher. I've met with my guidance counselor several times so that she actually gets to know me. </p>

<p>U Chicago (first choice, EA)
Reed
Harvey Mudd
Berkeley</p>

<p>I've probably left some stuff out, so I'll likely be posting again. Any advice on what to improve upon/focus on would be much appreciated!</p>

2

<p>I think you sound like you should be in at all of your schools. It is clear that you have a passion for science and physics, and I think universities will love that about you. Good luck :)</p>

3

<p>Oh also, I’ll hopefully be getting an extra recommendation from a teacher at my school who is an alum of UChicago. I served as her paper grader for one trimester, and she is the sponsor for the SSA I founded.</p>

4

<p>Serious reach at Harvey Mudd and Berkeley. My friend with a 4.3, lower SAT and slightly less ECs didn’t get into either. It’s really rough, honestly. You need to bring your weighted GPA up. I think our rank 1 (our of 367) with a 4.4-ish UC gpa didn’t get into Berkeley.</p>

<p>EDIT: I don’t know much about UChic or Reed. Good luck!!</p>

5

<p>[What</a> Are My Chances? - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/]What”>Chance Me / Match Me! - College Confidential Forums)</p>

6

<p>Right now, my weighted is at 4.8, but it should go up after this trimester, and a lot after first trimester next year.</p>

7

<p>Also, during this trimester, I’m “overloading,” which means I am taking an extra core class, above the normal five core classes. I don’t know how exactly that would figure in on my application, but I just wanted it to be known.</p>

8

<p>And I’m a first generational college student.</p>