Chances @ UC Berkley

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

<p>Junior; Asian male from Texas; not US citizen, international student, canadian citizen
SAT I: 2030; 700M 690CR 660W
Rank: 2/450
GPA: 4.0 (on 4.0 Scale) and 101.95 (on 100 point scale)</p>

<p>Plan on taking SATII: Math IIc, Biology, US History, and Chem</p>

<p>Hardest courseload; will have completed 11 AP classes upon senior graduation. Two foreign languages: 3 yrs in Latin, 4 yrs in Spanish. 4 years of sciences, history, mathematics, and english.</p>

<p>Freshman Year (2002-03)
· Church pianist and worship team keyboardist
· SWT Young Pianist State Competition-3rd place
· Baylor/Waco National Piano Competition- Honorable mention and half scholarship
· Invitation to Summer Baylor Piano Institute to perform at a Master Class with Prof. Bohlen
· McLennan Community College State Piano Competition-1st place
· Awarded an advance measure from CHS advance measure review committee for outstanding piano performance
· Summer- Volunteer at Hematology Oncology Associates of South Texas (HOAST)
· 2003 Musical Arts Center of San Antonio (MACSA) performance honor roll
· Active Tuesday Junior Music Club member/performer
· Spanish Club Reporter (Freshman Representative)
· Student Council- Spirit and Pride
· UIL Literary Criticism participant
· UIL Poetry Interpretation-2nd place at district meet, 4th place semi-finalist at regional meet
· UIL Solo/ensemble- 1st division solo at region, 1st division saxophone quartet at region, 1st division woodwind ensemble at region, 1st division jazz ensemble at region, 2nd division medal solo state, 2nd division saxophone quartet at state
· CHS Little Theatre Company (LTC) member
· Soloist in church musical
· United States Achievement Academy- Mathematics Award
· Who’s Who Among High School Students? Award
· CHS Theatre Award for Outstanding Poetry Interpretation
· CHS Band Awards: Solo Award and Ensemble Award</p>

<p>Sophomore Year (2003-04)
· Selection to be a member of Youth Leadership New Braunfels
· UIL Region Marching Contest Winner, UIL Area Marching Contest Winner, UIL State Marching Contest Semi-finalist
· Fredericksburg Marching Contest-1st place
· Harlendale Marching Contest- 1st place
· All-district, all-region, and all-area band; qualifier for state auditions (2nd chair)
· Spanish Club Secretary
· Student Council- Spirit and Pride
· Latin Club Officer- “fabres”
· UIL Poetry Interpretation, Science, and Math Participant
· CHS Little Theatre Company (LTC) member
· United States Achievement Academy- Minority Award
· ITS (International Thespian Society) member
· Active Tuesday Junior Music Club member/performer
· Pearl Amster Concerto Competition- finalist
· Baylor/Waco National Piano Competition- honorable mention (3rd place) and full scholarship
· UIL Solo/ensemble- 1st division solo at region, 1st division saxophone quartet at region, 1st division woodwind ensemble at region, 1st division jazz ensemble at region, qualifier for state on saxophone quartet, 2nd division saxophone quartet
· TMTA local level- 1st place winner and advancement to district level
· TMTA district level- 1st place winner and advancement to state level
· UIL District: Poetry Interpretation-3rd place and advancement to regional level
· National Honor Roll Inductee
· Who’s who Among High School students award
· National Achievement Academy award
· UIL Regional: Poetry Interpretation: 3rd place Semi-finalist
· Volunteer at New Braunfels Public Library
· Church pianist and worship team keyboardist
· 2004 Musical Arts Center of San Antonio (MACSA) performance honor roll
· CHS Band Awards: Region Band Award, Area Band Award, Solo Award, Ensemble Award</p>

<p>Junior Year (2004-2005)
· CHS Head Drum Major
· ITS (International Thespian Society) member
· CHS Little Theatre Company (LTC) member
· Spanish Club Secretary
· Student Council- Spirit and Pride
· Active Tuesday Junior Music Club member/performer
· Church pianist and worship team keyboardist
· Volunteer at New Braunfels Public Library
· CHS Band Assistant Quartermaster
· Harlendale Marching Contest- 1st place, including Best Drum Major
· UIL Region Marching Contest- 1st division
· Brackenridge UIL Tournament- 3rd place in poetry interpretation
· Member of CHS UIL “winner’s circle”
· UIL Poetry Interpretation, Science, and Math Participant·
All-district, all-region, and all-area band; (2nd chair); 1st alternate for Texas all-state band
·National Honor Society member
·UIL Solo/ensemble- 1st division solo at region, 1st division woodwind ensemble at region
·TMTA local level- 1st place winner and advance to district level
·TMTA district level- 1st place winner and advance to state level
·Pearl Amster Concerto Competition- finalist
·Discover Card Tribute Award Scholarship- Gold State Winner (top three in state)
·McClennan Community College State Piano Competition- 1st place
·Selection as a school representative for 2005 summer Boys State</p>

<p>Extra Curr. hours:
Band- Approximately four hours per day during marching season, and four hours per week during concert season
Public Library Volunteer- Two times a week, four to five hours per week
Church pianist- Twice a week, two hours preparing, two hours playing periodically through service
Church Youth Group- approximately fourteen hours per week
Separate Piano repertoire- approximately fifteen hours per week
Spanish Club Secretary- Approximately two hours every week
UIL poetry interpretation practice- approximately one hour per week
National Honor Society- approximately thirty minutes per week
Tuesday Junior Music Club- approximately three hours per month, 5 months each year</p>

<p>My essays will be pretty good; teacher recs will be exceptional, about 2 outstanding recs</p>

2

<p>you sound like an über dork</p>

3

<p>looks good, thought teacher recommendation letters are not needed.</p>

4

<p>wow, my guess is you have a slim chance - plus, that is almost TOO impressive of a resume, Berkeley will think you are one dimensional and you just did all that to get into college - colleges hate that</p>

5

<p>well how can i change that? And how does my doing everything and excelling at the same time make me one dimensional?</p>

6

<p>Ah, I love saying this over and over...</p>

<pre><code>Because it looks sooooooooooooooooo planned, the fact that you're asian (we all know how undeviously calculating our parents can be) all but makes that image significant worse. If I were an adcom official, I'd think "Oh, check this kid out, his parents have read some books and used the 'do well in school, do a lot of clubs, volunteer, and play an instrument' formula.' Fact of the matter is, rarely any child's mind operates like that. Good thing Berkeley doesn't accept resumes, or else, if you were sending over that list, it would reak of blah blah blah. You're potential, it seems, is limitless and that is what Berkeley wants. Try finding something- one thing- in particular that you can do great, and Berkeley will jump all over you and accept. Others it's just another yawn-application. Reading the first comment, "uberdork," that's the initial impression I got simply from one of your statements "teacher recs will be exceptional." Sounds like a suck-up, the type of uber-dork that awillersrud might be thinking about.
Anyhow, you're best bet is to put the Discover Card Tribute and Boys State, along with three of your best awards in the music categories onto the "Awards" section of the application (there's only room for 5). Then, for your extracurricular activities, list three activities you're involved with concerning music, one volunteer/service activity, and one academic one. If Berkeley were to accept you, they'd based it almost solely on "male from Texas, good with instruments- admit."
</code></pre>

7

<p>Best of luck,</p>

<p>TTG</p>

8

<p>You are most definetly in. Take note, however, that you are only allowed 5 spaces for ECs on the app.</p>

9

<p>"you sound like an über dork"</p>

<p>wth is wrong with you?</p>

<p>Apollo1331, you did a great job and you will get into a great school from all your great efforts. You're in Berkeley.</p>

10

<p>please, you may be able to play piano and whatever, but are these really all the things you actually enjoy doing? this is what the adcom will look at and when applying you really need to focus or your main passions, not shoving some laundry list at them for them to decipher what you really are all about</p>

11

<p>apollo, you do konw there is a "What are my chances" section in the forum right?</p>

<p>and UC's don't take letter of rec</p>

12

<p>thanks. that is so nice...i know..people can be horrible sometimes...lol</p>

13

<p>I more or less was a typical ass in high school....made life tough for a bunch of people...I really regret it...but what can you do? I was young and thats it...</p>

14

<p>"please, you may be able to play piano and whatever, but are these really all the things you actually enjoy doing? this is what the adcom will look at and when applying you really need to focus or your main passions, not shoving some laundry list at them for them to decipher what you really are all about"</p>

<p>um.. there are actually people out there who just <em>might</em> actually ENJOY playing the piano. why are you judging someone based on something they typed up on a message board? how absurd.</p>

15

<p>The point of most people's comments is not to be harsh, it's to be realistic. Like ttgiang15 said (very well, I might add), there are only 5 spaces on the application to show Berkeley that you are a passionate, committed and talented individual that they would like to have on campus. If you spend your essay talking about how great you did in 30 different activities in high school, they will miss getting a chance to really know you -- they will know your resume, sure, but not <em>you</em>. </p>

<p>Doing and excelling in everything is great, but pasting that thing above is not a good way to get into Berkeley.</p>

<p>To answer your question, though, yes, you have a great chance at Berkeley. Everything you need is there (grades, ECs, volunteering; the SATs are an itty bitty weak for Berkeley's top, but are also awesome), you just need to prioritize those things and show why you did them and why Berkeley can expect that you'll knock them out of their chairs when you go to school there.</p>

16

<p>"Take note, however, that you are only allowed 5 spaces for ECs on the app."</p>

<p>HAHAHAHAHA</p>

<p>But seriously, I didn't read over that list, cuz it was ****in long as hell. I hope you're having fun in life, and not just studying.</p>

17

<p>come on now. you'll definitely get in.</p>

18

<p>Adcoms dont like to grant admissions to people who perform activities because they were forced to. Make your apps look natural, and most importantly DON'T tell them your race/ethnic background! If they know that you're Asian, they will think that you did do everything just to get accepted. Sure, Berkeley might say that they dont care about race, but if they really didnt why is it on the application?</p>

19

<p>make your essays awesome
try to up your sAT above 2100</p>

20

<p>hmm, soooo
let me post my status....on the other hand...with very different status....</p>

<p>Junior
moved to U.S. 4 years ago from Taiwan</p>

<p>GPA - 4
SAT - 1700 (gonna retake)</p>

<p>EC
4 Years of Varsity Volleyball (setter, including senior year too!)
150 Hours of Volunteering as Manager of Girl's V.B. Team ( gonna be 300 by November of 2005)
National Honor Society
5 years of Table Tennis Club ( including senior year, 3 times School Champion)</p>

<p>Few APs here and there, gonna have around 6-7 APs by the end of senior year, would i have any chance @ Berk. if i raise my SAT score? :)</p>