Help me improve my chances of getting into Berkeley!!

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Hey everyone, before I begin I must state that I am truly dedicated to getting into Berkeley. It is everything I want from a school and then some. Its got the perfect mix of scholastics and fun and I think it would really inspire me to work hard and better myself. I will do whatever it takes to get in!</p>

<p>Anyways, here are my stats:</p>

<p>Community college student (Allan Hancock College, Santa Maria, CA)
3.2 GPA (I will explain this in a bit)
Hospital Volunteer/ Animal Shelter Volunteer
Working at Office Depot
Have had many different jobs, which gave me a chance to explore careers... from being a Certified Nursing Assistant, to running a Tool Shop.
Sociology Major</p>

<p>Anyways, I know my GPA isn't very high or competitive but I have till next Fall 2010 to bring them up. I am taking one class this semester, and then spring and summer I was going to pile on the units and shoot for straight A's to bring it up to a 3.65 hopefully!</p>

<p>In my first year and a half, I did great in school. But then things came crashing down when my girlfriend of 2 years broke up with me and at that exact moment, my mother became very ill with breast cancer. Both of these events tore me up, and it affected my grades during my Fall 08 semester. I received a D in Speech (which I plan to retake this coming Spring 10), a C in Film 101 (do you suggest retaking this also?), yet pulled out a B in Soc 101 (thought I did the worst in this class oddly enough).</p>

<p>I was wondering how I should handle these upcoming semesters and also my personal statement when that time comes around? My plan is to ace my Global Economics class I have this semester (which helps fulfill part of my IGETC) then load up my Spring '10 semester with about 15 units and ace those, then load up my summer with as much Sociology related classes as possible to fulfill the Assist.org portion of my major. By Fall 2010, I will have my IGETC completed and hopefully 75% of my Sociology major courses done. </p>

<p>My personal statement troubles me also, as I dont know if I should bring up what happened to me, and how it really got me down, yet also taught me alot about my self and what I wanted out of life? What do you guys think? </p>

<p>I know I have alot to answer here, but help a guy out! Do you think I have a chance come Fall 2010 to make it in? =)</p>

2

<p>Don’t retake the C. Don’t make the personal statement into a sob story. Bring up your GPA and you should be good to go.</p>

3

<p>^ So nothing about it at all? I didnt want to sound cliche, but I sincerely feel that what happened during those times helped me grow in ways I didnt know were possible. </p>

<p>But you honestly think I have a good chance at Berkeley??</p>

4

<p>you cant retake c’s, i know this because i’ve gotten denied and they said the state wont let them or something, can someone else confirm this?</p>

5

<p>If you can talk about how you grew then you might be able to do the personal statement about it but what most people end up doing (without knowing it) is giving a long string of excuses which the board sees straight through. Have a lot of people rea it and honestly tellyou if it sounds like excused it shouldn’t be on your mom or your gf just on how you have grown or matured as a person. Good luck</p>

6

<p>Lol sorry for typos I Posted from my crummy
phone</p>

7

<p>idk man…even if you get ur gpa up to 3.65, it’s gonna be tough getting in because your major is just so damn competitive. if you really want to go to berk, try an easier major.</p>

8

<p>^What major would you recommend?</p>

9

<p>if you can get your GPA in the 3.8-3.9’s, finish all prereq’s, and write an amazing essay, then I’d say you have a shot. and samsizzle is correct that you cannot retake a C for credit/renewal so don’t bother with that.</p>

<p>i think it’s fine to write about the hardships surrounding your mother’s health troubles but i would really avoid bringing up the failed relationship with an ex-girlfriend. focus on what you have learned from the experience and demonstrate how you overcame it.</p>

10

<p>Its physically impossible to get my GPA up to a 3.8- 3.9 SeeHerFly… not being negative, but even if I were to somehow get another class this semester (A fast track course, very compacted) then take a bunch of units Spring '10 and Summer '10, the highest I can get would be a 3.72… </p>

<p>UC’s only look at your grades before your application date right? The semester your currently in when you apply doesnt count right?</p>

11

<p>If you are applying during fall semester, then they will take it into consideration when you update your grades in January.</p>

12

<p>Do not talk about a breakup. This does not count as unusual circumstances, it is meaningless to adcoms. A divorce thats different, but breakups happen every day and to every human being on earth.</p>

13

<p>there always la… just saying</p>

14

<p>idk something like linguistics perhaps? Philosophy?</p>

15

<p>I don’t appreciate false information, here’s what I got from the official Sociology Department at Berkeley:</p>

<p>Is this an impacted major?
Although the major is consistently growing, we are not impacted. This means there is no competitive admission process in which there is a set limit of students we can accept. If students have taken or are taking the prerequisites, and are in good academic standing, they are admitted to the major.</p>

<p>Taken from this: [Department</a> of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley](<a href=“Home | UC Berkeley Sociology Department”>Home | UC Berkeley Sociology Department)</p>

<p>I dont know where you people are getting your information, but obviously what you have been saying is false. The Sociology major is not impacted, so why are you saying it is? Not trying to be rude, but I don’t like being told something that is not true.</p>

16

<p>maybe they don’t say it’s impacted but try looking at the numbers… ~20% acceptance rate at both ucla and ucb for Sociology. Looks pretty impacted to me…</p>

17

<p>I don’t see why you asked if you could find the information yourself…
Sociology and psychology are amongst the more popular majors so they are technically impacted. Plus, even if you do everything right and get a 3.65, you will still be in the lower 25-50% range of GPA so your GPA won’t make you competitive unless you have a 2100+ SAT scores to compensate for your GPA. To make your application seem more competitive, do EC’s, volunteer, get a job.</p>

<p>You also shouldn’t write a “pity me” essay because admissions officers will pity you and putty away your application near a garbage can.</p>