<p>I'd appreciate any insight on my chances to go to UC Berkeley (I'm a CA resident), Cornell, and any other schools that come to your mind. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Weighted GPA: 4.4
Unweighted GPA: 3.9
Class Rank: 9/630
ACT: I expect 27-30, 28 or 29 seems most likely
SAT II: 650 in Physics and 690 in US History
Ethnicity: White male</p>
<p>Classes:</p>
<p>Freshman: Pre-IB classes (equivalent to honors)
Sophomore: Same, but AP U.S History was available so I took that, got a 4 on the AP test.
Junior and Senior: Full IB curriculum with IB Physics as my elective my Junior year and IB Theory of Knowledge as my senior elective</p>
<p>ECs:</p>
<p>Speech and Debate club President
Speech and Debate club Vice President
Speech and Debate team captain
JSA Secretary
Key Club Senior Representative
National Honor Society Web Tech (lol)</p>
<p>Awards:</p>
<pre><code> Speech and Debate:
</code></pre>
<p>1st place Lion's Club Regional Competition (3rd level of competition)
1st place Lion's Club Zone Competition (2nd level of competition)
Two time 1st place Lion's Club Club Level Winner (1st level of competition)
1st place Rotary winner (club level)
3rd place California State Tournament qualifier in student congress
1st place A division student congress (local speech and debate tournament)
4th place Original Oratory (local speech and debate tournament)
2nd place American Legion Oratorical Contest club level</p>
<pre><code> Art:
</code></pre>
<p>1st place in the county art faire
Two time Honorable Mentions in two different county art faires</p>
<p>Sports:
3 years varsity golf
1 year JV wrestling</p>
<p>Volunteering:
I plan to have at least 50 volunteer hours at my local hospital, I'm shooting for 100+ though</p>
<p>I think your GPA definitely makes you a contender for Berkeley. You should really work on ACT prep to get a 30+ since UCs are very much numbers based. Your ECs look good and show commitment.
Cornell would require ACT scores around 32-25. I’m not really seeing any hooks here. However, if you write a great essay, it’s definitely doable, so don’t give up.
I would recommend applying to more UCs, and I think you’re a match/in at UCSB, UC Davis, UC Irvine, etc. UCLA and UCSD (to some extent) are the same situation as Berkeley.</p>
<p>Focus on writing great essays, getting good reqs, and prepping for the ACT again. Consider taking another SAT II.
But overall good stats, great job.</p>
<p>I think that overall, you are very well rounded and have great, thus giving you a fighting chance at a lot of really good schools. However, your ACT and SAT 2 are a little low (not terrible by any means, really good actually…) I just think that if you retook your standardized tests, got a 700 (not that far at all) on the SAT 2’s and a couple points higher on the ACT, I would put 10:1 odds on the fact that you would be accepted to Berkley. Cornell on the other hand, you can never be sure of…even though only parts of it are state schools, they seem to be all around lenient on NY residents. </p>
<p>In other words, right now, your chances at Berkley are good, but not the best at Cornell. I think if you retook the tests I suggested, you could get into both!</p>