Future Berkeley Transfer: What should I be doing to increase my odds?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

The goal of this thread will be to help people who are hoping to transfer into Berkeley at some point to gain insight on where they should improve

I am currently a Junior in a California High school. My school is pretty competitive (60th in state) but my application for applying as a freshman is overall quite weak. I was wondering what I should start doing now so that I can get into Berkeley, either right after highschool or two years later, no preference.

Here is a basic rundown of my current application and things I am considering for it, they are all changeable as I am still a junior so I would like to know which I should improve/add the most to if possible

UC weighted GPA: 4.1 (Subject to change,I’m still a junior, but it can’t get higher than this)

ACT score: 26 composite (26,26,25,28) This is my top priority right now

EC: PVSA (gold) volunteering at a kid’s science museum (projecting 400+ hours within one year by the time I apply)

3 years public forum debate (Not many awards)

3 year member of two of my school’s human rights clubs, 2 years as a campaign manager for 1 of them, possibly VP or president next year.

Very Likely I will receive a leadership position at my volunteering institution this summer, if this is important or not please tell me, but ill likely do it for fun anyways.

Thinking about doing some lab research at a local college (Likely UCI) over the summer. should I?

Various minor academic awards

Overall, what should I be doing to get myself into Berkeley? Thank you very much for reading through this,

2

Your ACT score needs to go up. That ACT is not competitive for Berkeley.

3

If I could it up to a 29 or 30, how would my odds look then?

4

Try over 32.

5

You realize I had a lower UC GPA at the end of sophomore year than you did (albeit much higher test scores) and I’m still applying right now as a senior? Why just UCB? What about other schools?

6

Well I was hoping to transfer from a community college as the UC’s have quotas of community college students to fill (Cal, UCLA, and UCSD do not have transfer admission guarantees). My goal is to get into UCSD, UCI, UC Davis, or Cal Poy SLO, but I really want to go to Berkeley. They are great for chem majors (which is where I want to be) and I like the idea of me going there.

7

@vsauce4 oh please. You’re one of those kids who base all their happiness and success on getting into one school. Why not UT Austin? Why not USC? What’s your actual GPA? You could probably make a lot of those UCs if you got test scores up. I’m applying to CoC too at UCB, and my GPA is much lower than yours (albeit an outside circumstance). You realize that CoC is Ivy-level, right? Even if you did everything right in high school, your chances of getting in is still the CoC acceptance rate: ~16%.

8

yes your absolutely right. I want to believe that Berkeley is the best school for me, and there for I have to get in. WHat are more realistic goals for chem majors that you could suggest

9

@vsauce4 UCLA (ok, almost UCB level, punish me for it), UCSB, UIUC, and UT Austin all have respectable chem programs. If you were to get your test scores up, you could probably make UT Austin.

10

“there for” Typo?
Not for Berkeley wannabe. That ACT shows that you would struggle at Berkeley.
What happens if you don’t get in?

11

Ok and because I’m an ignorant high school student (no sarcasm) how important, as far as when I finally get a job, is the place I went to school?

12

If you intend to start at a CC and transfer later, http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfer-admissions-summary can show you transfer admission rates to various UC campuses based on your college GPA. For example, Berkeley for 2014 admitted 36% of transfer applicants with GPA from 3.60 to 4.00.

13

I expect that. And honestly, I’d be fine with getting rejected, because I probably will be. But I want to improve. I want to know I at least increased my chances of getting in. I know my ACT needs alot of work, and im giving it that. But if I need a 33 to have a realistic shot, I should get ready to lower my standards.

14

As long as you have a degree from a university, most companies don’t really care where you went to school.

15

thank you for these tools. I can never find them until someone shows me them. The more informed my decision, the better.

16

Oh OK. That is a relieving thing to point out

17

For all of the chemistry programs @basedchem listed, you should probably try to get at least a 30 ACT to be competitive.