Chances for UC Berkeley, EECS + OOS

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

Asian male intending to go into EECS.

SAT - 1560, 23 essay
GPA - 4.79 weighted, 4.0 unweighted (Since probably none of my honors courses are considered, I’ll end up with a 4.57 UC GPA, 4.29 capped)
AP - 11 courses taken by graduation (8 between 10th/11th grade), 4s and 5s on all exams, National AP Scholar and AP Scholar w/ Distinction
EC - Intern at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Officer in Coding Club, Computer Club, NHS, Math NHS, and Spanish NHS for tutoring, At least 100 hours of volunteering and community service at various athletic events, local businesses, fundraisers for academics/school sports

Being out of state and the general rigor of the College of Engineering’s admissions are daunting - are the chances still there or am I overreaching?

2

Your qualifications are excellent, but as you already know, OOS is a challenge, especially for EECS, especially at UCB and UCLA.

Can you afford the OOS COA? There will be no merit FA or OOS tuition waiver, which you would qualify for at many flagship schools across the nation.

3

I believe I will be able to afford it. I’ve already applied to UMich and UMD College Park EA, the latter of which will be in in state tuition with a moderate chance of a full ride. Both are undoubtedly great choices for computer science and engineering, but Berkeley’s programs and post graduation job prospects (i.e. Silicon Valley) seem superior.

In regards to Berkeley’s GPA deflation for out of state applicants, is this something admissions officers will take into account - or will I be compared directly to in state applicants? I’m a bit hung up on this as the admissions statistics last year seem to point towards the more adverse situation.

Furthermore, do you have any recommendations for engineering/CS schools that have a similar level of academic distinction to the top UCs? I’m already considering UVA and Georgia Tech, as well as Caltech and MIT as reaches.