Chances for scholarship money

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

<p>I'm not big on chance threads, but I'm wondering if I should bother applying to Cal Berkeley. I know that I will get in, but I'm OOS and looking to see how much aid that I can get. I am not familiar with how the UCs award aid at all. Michigan will cost be around 15k/year with everything, and I'm wondering what I'd be looking at at berkely considering it is a slightly better school.</p>

<p>ACT:35
SAT II: math ii:800, bio:800, US hist:780, Chem: 770, physics:740(err)
GPA 4.0/4.0 1 of 200 (not shared) IDK Weighted average
APs: I've taken all 5 that my school offers, all honors too-if that counts
2 Community College Courses from this summer</p>

<p>ECs:
TRACK, 4 vars letters, 3 vars captain, not quite good enough for cal
FOOTBALL, 3 years vars, multiple conference/state honors,
POWERLIFTING: Top ranked squat and bench for my weight class for high schoolers in state
SCIENCE O: 3 years, Regional winner in 2 events. Team didn't make states :/
TRADING: 3 years, beat market every single year
SPANISH CLUB: 3 years, founding member
KEY CLUB: 2 years, founding member
NHS: 2 years, typical worthless EC
BAND: I've played the basson for 8 years; won't be playing in college though</p>

<p>Volunteer
Assorted, 150-200 hours</p>

<p>Work
7th,8th-Published FAA Compliance forms for Grandpa and his work buddies
9th-Automotive Factory 40 hrs/week during summer
10th-Bus Boy Manager (kinda, head bus boy?)
10-12-I own an online retail company (EBAY), but it has close to $150,000 in sales for the past two years
12-Just started a small consulting business on how to sell your time share effectively on the internet, only 6 customers so far, but we'll see.</p>

<p>essays- craaazzzy good</p>

<p>anti-hook: john david is my 2nd cousin....</p>

2

<p>$80 to apply, why not just find out? I've seen a lot of different people with very different qualifications get scholarships, so it's hard to say if you'd get one.</p>

3

<p>"I know that I will get in"</p>

<p>Nobody knows that for sure, not even in-state applicants, and certainly not OOS applicants.</p>

<p>That said, you're rather average for OOS. Good GPA and scores, average - slightly weak ECs -- they mainly focus on athletics, and those that don't are rather bland. The work experience is very good, though.</p>

<p>That said, you just might get in. However, don't expect much financial aid -- Berkeley doesn't give much to out-of-staters. Since UMichigan is just as good and is cheaper for you, you might as well not apply, unless of course you want to do the application for the hell of it and are willing to dish out the $60 for the app fee.</p>

<p>On another note, aren't you being recruited at MIT/Princeton/etc.? And if you're likely to get in there with great financial aid, why would you even consider an out-of-state public which is probably on par with your in-state public (if not a little better) and that gives little financial aid to out-of-staters?</p>

4

<p>$80!? UMICH was only $40, so much for public education being non-profit</p>

5

<p>MIT- no recruiting, just 'consideration' MIT really doesn't reruit
Princeton- sprint fball....athletic consideration, can't recruit means that nothing is for certain. i was thinking cal as a safety considering that UMICH does not offer operational research...maybe not!</p>

6

<p>lol definitely not a safety...</p>

7

<p>why do you say my ECs are weak kyledavid (not defensive but rather interested bc you obviously know what you're talking about)? I am a state powerlifting champion and started a business with 4k and now have over 60k now and 150k in sales. Those (and 2 vars sports) eat up all my time. I had no idea cal was that hard to get into, I thought I would be a lock. oh well....</p>

8

<p>^ I don't think your EC's are weak...but you're still OOS so it's definitely not a lock.</p>

9

<p>ah I got in OOS and I feel like your stats are somewhat better than mine, so... who knows? But I do agree that pretty much nobody OOS can assume Cal as a safety. But yeah, getting a scholarship from Cal as an OOS student is reaaaaallly hard. You're way better off looking at private scholarships.</p>

10

<p>I didn't say your ECs were "weak"; I said they were "average - slightly weak" (restrictive modifier). Why? Because they're mostly athletic. While you've distinguished yourself to a degree, your academic ones are spread out all over the place: NHS - trading - band - Spanish - science -- seems like a serial joiner (or founder, in your case), to me.</p>

<p>"I am a state powerlifting champion"</p>

<p>Well, ask yourself: how does that make you attractive to Berkeley? What are you going to bring to the campus with such an accomplishment? One thing about athletics is that there isn't as much to get out of them: they can show a focus, they can show leadership, but beyond that, you'd need to be recruited. Now, I'll add that you don't fit the typical athlete -- your GPA is strong, your scores are excellent, etc.</p>

<p>"and started a business with 4k and now have over 60k now and 150k in sales."</p>

<p>Notice that I said, "The work experience is very good, though."</p>

<p>That said, I do think you have a good shot at Berkeley OOS. But it's far from a 'safety.' Hell, in-state is competitive enough, regardless of what you've heard. With ~40,000 applicants, they have to be, and they have so few spots for OOSers -- to the point that, no matter how awesome you are, you can be rejected. OOSers of your caliber are rejected all the time, in part because there isn't enough room and Berkeley's purpose is to serve CA residents first. So you have to really be awesome to beat all the others.</p>

<p>At any rate, if your essays are as "craaazzzy good" as you say, then you have a good chance. But, as stated, financial aid will be hard to get.</p>

11

<p>thanks kyledavid, looks like no berkeley for me. UMICH is clearly a more practical safety</p>

12

<p>And UMich is practically an academic equal with Berkeley.</p>

13

<p>Ha, UCB is not even a safety for in-staters. Stick with UM for safety status. Good luck.</p>