<p>I just finished my Sophomore year of high school. My grades look atrocious, but how bad do you think they'll appear to admissions officers? Not just for UCB, but other UC schools as well?</p>
<p>Semester 1:
AP Biology C-
Honors English 2 A-
AP Euro C+
French 2 B-
Geometry A-</p>
<p>Semester 2:
AP Biology C-
Honors English 2 A+
AP Euro B-
French 2 B-
Geometry B (final hasn't been graded yet)</p>
<p>I don't believe my grades this year reflect on my intelligence, or my ability to work productively and vigorously. I can honestly say that I have never felt so frustrated with work ever before. Taking 2 AP classes was more of a learning experience for me, because now, I'm aware of how difficult the curriculum can get, and how much effort I need to set forth in order to attain a high grade. I wasn't going to take AP or Honors classes this year, but I tried and tried to get these courses to challenge myself. I didn't do well in them, but at least I asked for a higher-level of education.</p>
<p>Next year, I will be taking 4 AP classes, an Honors class, and ASB (Associated Student Body). I have already been chosen for ASB Secretary, Junior Class Council member, and Member-At-Large for a program called "Senators." </p>
<p>Do you think I could redeem myself? Not only in the eyes of UCB, but other good colleges as well?</p>
<p>The classic question is, “Which do colleges want to see, high GPA or more challenging classwork?” The answer is: “Both.”</p>
<p>You couldn’t handle two AP classes and you’re jumping to four?
See also, “Biting off more than you can chew.”</p>
<p>The typical Berkeley has admittee probably has five or fewer grades below a B+ for the last three years of high school. You have seven in one year. Ummm. You’re playing with “live ammunition” now and being naive or ill-informed in making choices won’t be viewed as a mitigating factor. </p>
<p>Upward trajectory can count but you’ve got an uphill climb.</p>
<p>For Berkeley, I think you pretty much need a solid string of A’s salted with maybe a few A- and one or two B+ grades for your entire last two years. As it is, I don’t like your chances for UCSD or UCSB or UCD, let alone Berkeley. </p>
<p>I hate to say it, but the reality of college admissions is that grades matter… I know plenty students who had well over a 4.0 weighted, fairly close to a 4.0 unweighted, and didn’t get into UC Berkeley or UCLA. Then again, I also knew a guy with a 3.6-ish who got into UCLA. You really never know… but it looks like you have under a 3.0 unweighted. I’m really sorry, but I wouldn’t be unrealistically hopeful. It’s highly competitive. I’m glad you realize GPA isn’t a pure reflection intelligence. However, it is often a reflection of applying your intelligence, a lot of hard work, and dedication. Anyway, point is, it IS important to admissions.</p>
<p>That said, if a top UC school is your goal, you may want to consider community college if you don’t get in where you want out of high school. You get to start over, in terms of GPA (for UC, anyway). Apply out of high school, see what happens, but if you’re very serious about getting into a top school, that’s always a backup plan. There are a lot of transfer students at Berkeley. It’s not an uncommon path to take, if you don’t mind having a different freshman/sophomore experience.</p>
<p>I appreciate the honest and constructive criticism. To be truthful, I must admit that I was a bit lazy this year. I didn’t do a good job with prioritizing, nor did I plan ahead for tests and homework assignments as well as I should have. I do realize, however, what I need to do if I want to increase my chances of attending a good college. Does recieving high scores on major tests (AP, SAT, ACT) balance out a person’s application if they have a low GPA? I also, just found out that I got a job with a Cardiologist who graduated from Harvard Medical School. I think that’d look good on an application as well :)</p>
<p>To be honest, unless you do something very extraordinary in the next year, your chance is very slim. From my experience, UCs (Berkeley in this case) weighs GPA more than SAT/ACT scores (AP scores don’t really have a big impact here). </p>
<p>Like the other two posters, I’d recommend that you consider CC and transferring as an option if you want to go to Berkeley of UCLA.</p>
<p>What are examples of something extraordinary? Because something extraordinary to one person, could be basic to another. I also plan on becoming a doctor. Do you think going to a CC, then transferring to a UC would make me look bad?</p>
<p>It is hard for me to name things that are “extraordinary.” I am pretty positive you should be able to know if you’ve done something extraordinary that would make you stand out from other applicants. </p>
<p>And no. Technically, no one would care or know if you have transferred to UC Berkeley or any other places. Transferring doesn’t make you less “qualified” to be a doctor by any means.</p>
<p>I would say try looking into other schools, most people at UCB took around 9 APs in hs and got very few B’s. I knew many people in hs with around a 4.3 (this means only a handful of Bs) who didn’t get UCLA or UC Berkeley. Also, going to a CC is not a bad choice, in fact, it sounds like a good choice for you, and no med schools don’t look down on it. </p>
<p>And, speaking from experience (I interned with 3 cardiologists in hs), it doesn’t mean much and a lot of applicants have this sort of experience. I’d also say you need to get used to working hard, high school workload is nothing compared to any college, let alone Berkeley.</p>
<p>Doing the transfer route seems more likely, but you should still apply to a few UCs. Maybe consider CSUs also. The only thing with transferring is that it will impact your ability ro network, that isn’t a major problem for pre-med though.</p>
<ul>
<li>and - does not matter. but answering your question, it is commonly said that colleges look mostly at 10th and 11th grade. so just approximating by that, you’re showing yourself with those grades just a little less than 50%. especially UC’s, they account grades (privates may look more into standardized tests). Honestly, with those grades, you put yourself very disadvantaged for the “good” UC’s. like someone else mentioned up there, unless you do something extraordinary, this will bring you down very heavily.</li>
</ul>