<p>I am a white male from Washington soon to be a senior in high school who will be applying to L&S in the fall.</p>
<p>I have an SAT score between 2200-2300 after this June SAT (my scores got delayed because I had too large of an increase between two testing dates). Based on answer discussions I am thinking my breakdown will look like:
CR:760-800M:790W:680-720
Comp:2230-2310</p>
<p>Unfortunately my GPA (3.81 UWUC) is comparatively low to other cal applicants. Will a higher than average SAT score help my admissions chances? I have gotten the general "vibe" that the UC system in general and Berkeley specifically doesn't really care about SAT scores as long as they aren't horrendously low. Is this true? I am hoping they really like high math and critical reading scores LMAO. Also I don't have any AP classes just lots of dual enrollment classes at a local comm college. For instance my fall quarter will look like: Linear Algebra, Chem I, Physics II. For the record my community college classes were very challenging and were much more difficult than any classes I took in high school but unfortunately the Admissions officers won't know that :(.</p>
<p>Short version: Will higher SAT's compensate for a low GPA in the context of UC-Berkeley?</p>
<p>probably</p>
<p>idk I definitely got lucky
cal over admitted this year</p>
<p>Pretty much only thing I had going for me were test scores
2350-2400 range
and high APs/ sat 2 scores</p>
<p>my gpa weighted was 3.6
Minimal extracurriculars</p>
<p>Personal statement was decent
Not extraordinary tho
Wrote it the night before</p>
<p>So u definitely have a chance</p>
<p>Do you mind if I ask what your unweighted gpa was?</p>
<p>think it was 3.2 ish</p>
<p>School is sorta well known tho
And like 20-30% of our class got in
many of whom weren’t very qualified</p>
<p>I got in for spring though
look at the hour report
publishe by berkeley
It’s a detailed report of their admissions review
Sort of play up some sort of disadvantage/hardship you had growing up in one or ur statements</p>
<p>they assign points to certain things I think
even tho berkeley is supposedly more holistic in its approach than, say, ucsd</p>
<p>Note that college courses taken while in high school are weighted with +1 (up to 8 semesters’ worth) for UC admissions GPA purposes. Standardized test scores are emphasized less than high school courses and grades.</p>
<p>More importantly, can you afford the out-of-state price? Financial aid will not be offered to cover the out-of-state additional tuition.</p>
<p>I didn’t focus on creativity/ even great writing for the personal statements
As I did for my common app essay</p>
<p>@berkeleybrah</p>
<p>Ok thanks man.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus</p>
<p>That is certainly going to be my dilemma if I get in. I am very interested in math and physics but as you can see I have a “low” gpa for top schools (its only a 3.71 with 9th grade classes). The only thing I am looking for for my undergrad college is a prestigious enough institution that I can get into top grad schools in whatever I end up focusing in. So my thinking behind applying to Berkeley is this:</p>
<p>1) UC doesn’t count some of my worst grades so I have a much better GPA and thus higher chances of admissions.
2) Several of my teachers/mentors who have PHDs and are in academia think that cal would be worth the tuition as opposed to say, university of washington, as far as grad school admissions. (aka out of schools that I have a hope of getting into Berkeley is very well renowned both in math and physics)
3)I will have all lower division math courses (so through 53 and 54) completed by the time I finish high school, and essentially the first year of the physics curriculum done, not to mention credits for the distribution reqs. Therefore, my hope is that I could major in 3 years if I am lucky.</p>
<p>spring admit. my stats (2300+, 4.5 UC) and leadership saved my butt. my application itself was awful.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What is wrong with University of Washington (less expensive for you, especially if you need financial aid) for this purpose? It has plenty of prestige overall and in math and physics, neither of which is as highly competitive a major to declare as computer science is there. Indeed, people go from universities as unselective as Arizona State University to top-ranked PhD programs in their major.</p>
<p>Remember that while popular conceptions of university prestige are based on the worst undergraduate students at the university (i.e. the undergraduate admissions selectivity setting the bar here), PhD program admissions are likely to see prestige in the strength of the department and the quality of the best undergraduate students in the major there.</p>
<p>In general, the UCs place less emphasis on standardized test scores. In fact, they had been pushing for many years and were of the biggest proponents for getting rid of the regular, non-subject SAT. </p>
<p>Grades are absolutely more important to them. Rarely will any institution take high test scores as a substitute for a lowish GPA.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus</p>
<p>You’re right. I think that if I got into Cal and UW I would almost surely pick UW. But I want to make sure that I apply to enough places I would be happy attending that if I don’t get into the University of Washington I will still have some options (albeit expensive ones). In fact I recently went on a tour for prospective physics students of the physics department at UW and was awed by their extensive research labs.</p>
<p>My only fear (and I know it is mostly irrational) is that my undergrad institution’s prestige will somehow limit my possibilities for grad school. I get especially worried when I see that many successful physicists were the type that went like MIT->Oxford->Caltech (postdoc). And not as many going like UofA->Berkeley->MIT (postdoc). And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you have to go to a prestigious school to be considered “successful” in your field. But as far as theoretical physics (which is what I am thinking about doing–experimental doesn’t interest me much) it seems as if the only funding to be had is at the “big name” schools. Please correct me if I am wrong.</p>
<p>While the preferences with respect to undergraduate schools by PhD programs is opaque (each PhD granting department likely has its own preferences based on its own experiences), remember the difference between general public prestige (defined by the worst students at the school) and prestige for PhD program admissions (defined by the best students in the major at the school).</p>
<p>You may want to find out from the physics departments of various schools where students have gone to for PhD study.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus</p>
<p>That’s a great idea! Thank you very much for your help!</p>