Chances of getting into these specific colleges:

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello I was wondering what my chances were of getting into Columbia University (for ED, I’m taking a shot at it because I felt that if not I will come to regret it in the future), Cornell University, UCLA, and UC Berkeley.

I was not driven during my freshman year of high school and did not study at all; therefore, received a GPA of a 3.4. I tried harder during sophomore and junior year, and received a GPA of 4.15 and 4.5 respectively. My average GPA including freshman year is a 4.0 weighted, but not including freshman year would be around a 4.3.

My SAT is 800 math, 690 reading, 690 writing. Composite: 2180

I received a 5 on AP Biology, AP Lang, AP Music Theory, 4’s on AP Psychology and AP US History.

I’ve participated in a UCI Summer Surgery Program, is a president of a club at my school, volunteered at a hospital for 100 hours, went to Japan to volunteer for those affected by the 2012 Tsunami, and done various other volunteer work.

I’ve played piano for 13 years, violin for 7 years, and am planning on sending a supplement for piano.

Basically I put a lot of strength into my extracurricular, but I’m unsure if my grades are good enough.

I know Columbia is definitely a dream school (to be honest, it is for everybody unless you were some mad genius inventor, and, even so, you do not have a 100% chance of getting accepted to such a great school). Cornell is my other dream school, to which I really wish to get in. I already know my chances of getting accepted to those schools aren’t very high, but I was wondering if I had a shot at getting into UCLA/UC Berkeley. I’ve always aspired to get accepted to those schools, and would love to be a part of their school. I was hoping I would appeal to them through my extracurricular, but is it true that UC’s mainly check your statistics and not really anything else (such as essays, extracurricular, etc)?

2

For UC’s the main focus is GPA, which you are rather weak on that for the top UCs. I suggest you to look into mid-tier UCs (if you have any interest, such as UCI which you mentioned above! That is a fantastic school and is on the rise!)

3

I am a senior at Columbia University and I can tell you that the driving force behind your application will be the ability to show PASSION. This means that extracurriculars , entrance essay, and recommendations are very high on their priority list. I, obviously, can’t guarantee acceptance, but I wouldn’t consider yourself out of the running for this school. Put a lot of time and effort into showing who you are as a person. Columbia wants individuals, not statistics.