Chances for an Asian Kid!

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

<p>Taiwanese, Southern California, Middle Class</p>

<p>Not sure if this has any relevance, but I am currently Attending Arcadia High School, which in my mind is very competitive.</p>

<p>UC GPA 4.25
10-11 Unweighted GPA 3.88
10-11 Weighted GPA 4.38</p>

<p>Freshman Year (I know, I screwed up)
Algebra II (H) [B+,B]
Biology [B+,A]
Freshman English [B,A]
Spanish 1 [A-,A]
Modern World History [B+,A-]</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
PreCalculus (H)/ Calc A [B+,A]
AP Physics B [A,A]
Sophomore English [A-,B+]
Spanish 2 [A-,A]
Computer Science [A]
Dev of Civ A (H) [A]</p>

<p>Junior Year
AP Calc BC [A,A]
AP Physics C [A+,A]
AP US History [A,A]
AP Statistics [A,A+]
Junior English [A,A]
Spanish 3 [A,A+]
Digital Photograph <a href="Summer%20Course">A,B</a></p>

<p>Senior Year
AP Chemistry
AP Computer Science
AP Spanish Language
AP Computer Science
Women's Lit</p>

<p>SAT Reasoning Scores
CR: 650 M: 800 W: 750 = 2200
CR: 720 M: 780 W: 720 = 2220</p>

<p>SAT II Scores
Math IIC : 800
Physics : 780
US History : 740
(All taken only one time)</p>

<p>AP Scores
5s on All taken (Calc BC, Physics C Mech, Physics C E&M, Physics B, US History, Statistics)
Will be taking Spanish Language, US Gov, CompSci A, Chemistry</p>

<p>ECs/Awards
National Merit SemiFinalist 12
AP Scholar w/ Distinction 11
California Scholarship Federation 10,11,12
National Honor Society 10,11,12
Math Team 12
Science Olympiad 11
Academic Decathalon 12
Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation 10,11,12
Volunteer hours totaling 200 hours 10,11,12
Tutored Math and Physics - 11,12</p>

<p>Major
Engineering-Undeclared</p>

<p>If you guys could help me out, I would greatly appreciate it. My application is not spectacular, but I am definetly hoping to be admitted into Cal!</p>

<p>If more information is needed, please do ask. Any help is welcomed!</p>

2

<p>In/<em>randomtext</em>/</p>

3

<p>There’s a chance thread stickied.</p>

<p>Berkeley: reach</p>

<p>If you’re going engineering undeclared, it’s going to be much more difficult to get in. Your ECs don’t really show a strong focus for your intended major, though the rest is strong.</p>

4

<p>You should be fine, but you better compensate for the lack of ECs with some good essays, especially if you’re applying to private schools as well.</p>

5

<p>i agree with the rest of the people here. but undeclared COE is one of the hardest to get into, so i suggest if possible to specify some other major, or like tropicaltriceps said, write pretty damn good essays</p>

6

<p>great chance and ecs for berkeley!</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the input. Anyway, would EECS or Undeclared be harder? I was under the impression that EECS was the hardest to get in.</p>

<p>More advice would be appreciated</p>

8

<p>Go L&S =]
Do CS instead of EECS</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>Undeclared engineering is the hardest, then EECS. (All the engineering majors are harder than general admissions, though.)</p>

10

<p>

You’re kidding right?
This fellow is not applying to Princeton for crying out loud! I know plenty of lesser asian males getting in COE. Your superiority complex is quite apparent.</p>

11

<p>Also, how heavily would my increasing trend weigh? I read somewhere that UC’s consider that. Should I even try to mention that in my essays? (Though I don’t have any legit reasons; mainly only b/c I wasn’t motivated, was lazy etc.)</p>

<p>I’m also stressing about the DIgital Photography ‘B’. I ditched class over summer ><. Would that label me as ‘lazy’?</p>

<p>Thanks for the input</p>

<p>EDIT: Is there a thread on here that has all the statistics of last years admited CC students? Or thier “chance” threads?</p>

<p>Thanks again</p>

12

<p>BUMMPPP</p>

<p>How heavily are essays loooked at???
I’ve just realized how bad my first UC essay is… but the other one should be decent..</p>

<p>How does this affect my chances???</p>

13

<p>essays are a major part of your application, and though it is weighed less at berkeley than at privates, berkeley’s admission process looks at your file ‘holistically,’ so your essays will play a role in whether or not you are admitted. as for the increased trend with grades - that’s good. i would not talk about it in your essays because it is clear that your grades have gone up and your latter grades are a more accurate representation of your abilities, as is proven by your sat and ap scores. the adcom sees this - they don’t need it to be spelled out. the same goes for your single B for digital photo over the summer. utilize your essays to talk about what passions drive your life - why you are choosing eng-undec. in COE for your major, why you did the activities you did, what shaped you as a person, etc. these essays should be the backbone of your application - they show what you are capable of and what your visions are.</p>

14

<p>sunfish:</p>

<p>

How is that a “superiority complex”? Are you sure you know what a superiority complex is?</p>

<p>[Superiority</a> complex - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superiority_complex]Superiority”>Superiority complex - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I’m well aware. But look at it this way: Berkeley in general is extremely difficult to get into, its acceptance rate nearing 20%; it’s ranked in the top 15 most selective schools in the nation, and the #1 most selective public. Engineering is even more difficult to get into. And engineering undeclared is extremely difficult to get into; Berkeley even says that it’s the most difficult to get into. As such, it’s most likely a crapshoot to get into Berkeley under engineering undeclared; the OP has a good GPA and good scores, but Berkeley has tons of applicants with the same; it isn’t phased by a 2200 on the SAT. And the OP’s honors/awards are somewhat weak, as they don’t show much passion/focus, nor do they seem to distinguish him much. I’m not saying he has a small chance; he has a good shot, but it’s most likely a reach. If his essays focus on his passion for engineering and how he’s followed it, then his chances would be better. But either way, for the majority of students, undeclared engineering is a reach.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/educators/counselors/resources/materials/CC_2006/Fresh_Matrix_06.pdf[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/educators/counselors/resources/materials/CC_2006/Fresh_Matrix_06.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://students.berkeley.edu/files/Admissions/9258_personal_statement.pdf[/url]”>http://students.berkeley.edu/files/Admissions/9258_personal_statement.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>(For a Cal student, you don’t seem to know much about its admissions – it seems you underestimate the difficulty of getting in.)</p>

<p>rwu125:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>See the stats profiles.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/profiles/[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/profiles/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

</p>

<p>That’s gonna hurt, most likely. See below.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Essays are very heavily looked at. Some assume that since Berkeley is a public, it’s primarily numbers-driven. If you look at its common data set, though, you’d see that GPA and rigor of course load are considered “very important” (the highest on the scale), but so are essays; scores are just “important.” So I would say its as subjective as it is objective.</p>

<p>In addition, admission to engineering really depends on your essays; since Berkeley does not consider either recommendations or interviews, it must look to more to distinguish applicants, and it must do this even more so for engineering. Thus, essays are extremely important, as you can see here:</p>

<p><a href=“http://students.berkeley.edu/files/Admissions/9258_personal_statement.pdf[/url]”>http://students.berkeley.edu/files/Admissions/9258_personal_statement.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>That said, I still think you have a shot at Berkeley engineering.</p>

15

<p>HAHA. I was just looking at old posts. Well kyledavid guess what! I got in for eecs at cal! </p>

<p>didn’t go though :)</p>

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<p>@kyledavid:
A belated thank you for the excellent wiki link.
The term “superiority complex”, in everyday usage, refers to an overly high opinion of oneself, which is precisely what it’s.
Cal engineering is actually much more predictable than L&S. Engineering admission can’t practice as much holistic magic becasue kids without great math and science background will not survive.</p>

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<p>so where are you going then to turn away such a fine school?</p>

<p>and don’t start with the admission process, soon you’ll be having people argue both sides whether it should be pure academia or be based on who is a more whole person.</p>