<p>Applicants are starting to fear that they'll get rejected from Berkeley because of their low SAT scores. While still having a 4.0+ UC GPA, good extracurriculars, and excellent essays, but average test scores, do you think it's still possible for a student to get into Cal? By average I mean 24-27 on ACT & 1600-1800 on the SAT.</p>
<p>i want to know this too, because my scores are bad....</p>
<p>I try to tell people that SAT scores will not get you into Cal or rejected. I took the SAT only twice and I was feed up with waking up early on the Saturdays. My highest score was a 1620 (No LIE):
M-570
E-560
W-490
US History-690
Span Lang-650
One of my friends got into UCLA and her writing portion was also a 490, but I am not sure about the rest but like me she is also a bad tester. I didn't play any sports and was in only 2 clubs. I did 70 hours of community service and a couple of other stuff. For awards I put simple things like perfect attendance and Honor Roll. Just remember that the average SAT is like around 2000 meaning for every person with a 2300 somebody with a 1700 had to get accepted. The only thing going for me was that I had a 4.3 GPA and wrote essays that were so good that a lot of people accused me of buying them but I really wrote them because my English teacher and counselor proof read them and helped me to make them perfect. I also had ELC, which is another bump and took 8 AP classes.</p>
<p>So summarizing what Viromonkey said, you only need two out of the three:</p>
<ul>
<li>High SATs</li>
<li>High GPA</li>
<li>Awesome essays + ECs.</li>
</ul>
<p>Well I do know a girl who was rejected by UCLA and Cal who had a higher GPA then me. Her SAT score was slightly below 2000, was in a lot of sports and was black/Hispanic and suppose a shoe in for both schools. What happened? One essay was OK but she wrote her second essay only a few days before the deadline and while it was not terrible it could have been MUCH more better and also had a few grammatical and spelling errors. Convince your English to teach the class on how to write a good and effective application essay as part of the curriculum in order to prepare those who plan to apply for college. If you are serious write the essays months before the due date and ask many teachers and counselors to proof read and help to improve your essays. I really think it was my essays that got me into Cal.</p>
<p>Thankyou, Viro.</p>
<p>You've made me happier. (: Haha.</p>
<p>I have actually been working on my personal statements since like, last October when '08 was working on them. I'll be applying this fall. I think I chose good topics that aren't so common and I plan to get a lot of people to help revise, including my AP English teacher, who is also going to help students write application essays this fall. </p>
<p>If I have anymore questions, I'll be sure to contact you. :D</p>
<p>the answer to OP question is absolutely NOT, there is a wider array of students at CAL, i feel the student body is just like highschool only 50x bigger. just do your hw, attend class, contribute a little in sections, and you will have no problem getting A's. the key is time management, those who manage their time effectively are the ones getting A's.</p>
<p>no, you don't have to be. but I believe Cal does a good job of making the "lower" crowd of current students feel inferior.</p>
<p>college admissions is a crapshoot
anything is possible
the more you worry the more it will hurt in the end if you don't get in.</p>
<p>there are people who get in who don't deserve to be here.</p>
<p>The answer is absolutely and unequivocally "no."</p>
<p>You can just go to community college and transfer to Berkeley.</p>
<p>I’m applying to UCB
I have low SATs good GPA, great AP’s and super ECs (over 500 hours of rural-medicine and hospital volunteer)</p>
<p>The thing is I was such a bad test-taker in high school and I’m also worried, I’d be happier with a higher SAT but it’s too late for that.</p>
<p>I have a lot of hope though!
as lot of people say, UCB has a wide-range of everything</p>
<p>I have a friend who got into UCB with a supplemental questionnaire (which I also got)
and she had 2 AP classes, tons of ECs, a GPA of 3.89, and a low SAT.</p>
<p>Her essays got her in, and she helped me a lot with my essays.</p>
<p>I’m confident about my essay.</p>
<p>I posted this on this website on another thread, but here’s for others to see. </p>
<p>I know this is a long answer but here it goes. I got into berkeley but not UCLA. As far as the other schools, I have no idea. I took the SAT once, and I didn’t even send my SAT scores to UCB. I just wrote the scores on the UC application. These are the reasons I think I got in.</p>
<ol>
<li>I took 2 AP classes (but only passed the AP English one)</li>
<li>I have over 20 college credits already done.</li>
<li>I’ve done a good amount of volunteer work.</li>
<li>I’ve had an interesting life story</li>
</ol>
<p>This is an overview of my transcript:</p>
<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.93
Weighted GPA: 4.04</p>
<p>SAT SCORE: 1800
SATII-Literature: 550
SATII- US History: 490
SATII-Chemistry: 540</p>
<p>I have also volunteered for Peer tutoring, the American Cancer society, Computer for Classrooms, and an elementary school. Over the 3.5 years of High School when I applied, I had about 230 hours of volunteer work.</p>
<p>I was also in the Pottery club, French club, and was a Manager for a Hockey team my freshman year. I was only in these clubs as a member, never a leadership role. I was barely active in any of the clubs, but had attended a few meetings of each (so hardly any effort there).</p>
<p>I also had a summer/part-time job for the summers after my sophomore and junior year. After the summer job after my junior year, I got a part-time job that lasted through my senior year.</p>
<p>My school has a cool program that allows a few select (90 or so) seniors to attend a local community college for their entire senior year (which I did and got a good amount of my G.E. done). If your school has nothing like this, then continue with those AP classes!</p>
<p>My family story was interesting, so writing about it for the UC essays was easy to kind of get a sob story out of. Try to write about an unusual and/or personal hardship (if the prompt calls for it) and connect it to how well you’ve done in school/what you want to do with your life. I wrote about how I was abandoned by my parents when I was 14 and had to be more independent, thus making me a good student, etc.</p>
<p>I applied for a science major at Berkeley and got into their College of Letters and Sciences. After I applied, they actually asked me for more information (like letters of recommendations, etc) to help my admission. I actually did not send in any of that and still got in!</p>
<p>I think your chances are pretty good if you keep up the work and do some extra curricular/volunteer work, but consider other schools too! I applied to three UC’s and got into 2 of the 3. I got into UCB and UCDavis, but not UCLA.
Best of Luck!</p>
<p>You definetly don’t need high SAT or ACT scores.
I got a 1700 on SAT and a 26 on ACT’s and I got into Berkeley.
I maybe had a decent essay and did a decent amount of community service.
Everyone has a chance</p>
<p>nope. even i got in.</p>
<p>I can’t really speak for myself because I had a really high gpa and a 2310, but I know a ton of people who didn’t pass 2000 on the SAT, and whose gpa’s weren’t that great at all. Extracurriculars and essays count for a lot, especially if you’re trying to go for something like an alumni or regent scholarship.</p>
<p>got in, deferred admission, 2100 SAT, crap gpa, 9 AP classes by senior year, 3 more in senior year, crap extracurriculars, almost no leadership, mediocre essays, got in!</p>
<p>yeah, essays matter. My SAT scores were pretty good - 2270 - but I didn’t get into many colleges, I think, cuz my essays were not very good. I stressed out so much that I couldn’t write a good one, and when the deadlines came, I just spewed out a couple stories. </p>
<p>My point being, write good essays, have TEACHERS(!!!) edit them, many times, and that’ll probably be just as good or better than great SAT scores.</p>
<p>So no, you don’t have to be a high achiever to get into Berkeley. I did, but btw you don’t have to be a high achiever to get high SAT scores.</p>
<p>no i know i bunch of people who have gotten sat’s below 2000, most below 1800…but they all have characteristics that made them cal-worthy</p>