<p>My SAT score was also a 1780.
Subject Tests were US. History 720 and Literature 600
My GPA was a 3.7. It was 2.7 freshman year and 4.0+ all other grades. Because they only take your sophomore and junior year for GPA, mine was 4.4</p>
<p>You need to take into account the fact that Berkeley does a holistic review. Compared to other Cal students, I am aware that my scores are very low. However, you need to take into account the fact that Berkeley compares your SAT scores to your schools average sat scores (This is how its done for UCLA and a person who I know works there told me that Berkeley does it similarly if not the same way).</p>
<p>My schools was very unprivileged and had an average of 1190. Mine was 1780. My score was the 3rd highest in my school. Some people may scoff at it but if you go to a school ranked as one of California’s worst, it’s a blessing. Our salutatorian for last year scored a 1300 and was also admitted to Berkeley. Note however, that the two of us had amazing extracurricular activities to back us up (bringing us back to holistic review).</p>
<p>For my lack of SAT scores, I made up for with a rigorous workload. Before my senior year, I devoted myself to many clubs, namely ones that were committed to volunteer work like Key Club and took many AP classes. However, like you, I was worried that it would not be enough for my senior year so I went for a more intense senior year schedule. I took on 4 AP classes (Psychology, Literature, Human Geography, and Environmental Science). I also became Captain of the Debate team, which meant I had to be present in all practices and devoted 14 hours of my Saturdays to debate tournament. At the same time, I also took on marathon training which took up ALOT of time, practice, and devotion.</p>
<p>If you want to improve your chances, I suggest you spice up you extracurricular like I did. It’s nice to have something to fall back on and leadership positions are always a +. </p>
<p>Berkeley usually does not allow you to submit a letter of recommendation. However, they gave me the option of sending in supplementary information which included a third personal statement from me and a letter of recommendation from my counselor. I believe there are 3 types of supplementary options (I’m aware that there is one for being poor/underprivileged and another one for disability. I do not know what the 3rd one is.) If you fall within those genres, I suggest you write your personal statement in a way that informs Berkeley readers that you qualify for a supplementary package if it wasn’t already emphasized on the rest of the application.</p>
<p>I applied only to these schools and was rejected at none:
UC Berkeley (The only one that allowed me to send extra information)
UCLA
UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara
UC San Diego</p>
<p>Good luck on your application. If you have any questions, feel free to message me.</p>