Is Cal a safety for me?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Chance me</p>

<hr>

<p>High School Jr., male, white, middle class</p>

<p>also applying to HYPS, USC, UChicago, Penn, maybe michigan, ucla</p>

<p>From OK, high school sends little if any grads to top schools</p>

<p>Valedictorian
Ranked #1 in class of 300
GPA: 4.0, 4.6 weighted
AP classes I've taken:APUSH, English Lang, Calc AB, Chem, Art History (haven't got back scores) and next year I'm taking English Lit, Gov't, Euro History, Calc BC</p>

<p>ACT- 32, plan to take once more
SAT-2050 (650 CR, 710 M, 690 W), plan to test once more to get scores up
SAT Subjects- haven't taken any yet but plan to take: Math II (800 on practice), US history, and Spanish</p>

<p>EC's</p>

<p>Boy's State delegate
Senior Class President
NHS
FCA
Business Professionals of America
Academic Team
Spanish Club
Youth and Gov't
Model UN
Patriots against world suffering
Mu Alpha Theta</p>

<p>I have a part-time job working 20-25 hours a week at a local library.</p>

<p>I also served on the OKC youth council which is like a gov't/leadership program for 18 kids from the whole city</p>

<p>I've volunteered as a political campaign intern and at Feed the Children. I am also set up to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity this summer.</p>

<p>I plan to page at the capitol.</p>

<p>I will be in a mentorship program my senior year in politics or business</p>

<p>I will have college credit for macroeconomics and calculus from OCU</p>

<p>I can get a letter of rec. from the OKC mayor, and possibly my Representative.</p>

<p>My interests include history, politics, government, humanities, literature, music, international studies, economics, business, and volunteering.</p>

<p>Now, can I get in, and if not, what can I do to improve my chances and how can I improve my sat's
Thanks</p>

2

<p>The way things have been going lately, Berkeley isn't a safety for pretty much anyone; however, I feel like you have a good chance of getting accepted.</p>

3

<p>What's your intended major? Right now you look like a match, but your SAT I needs to be higher, and make sure your SAT IIs are 700+.</p>

4

<p>looks more like a match...</p>

5

<p>I wouldn't say a for sure at any of the schools you are applying at... your ACT is okay, SAT is ??. Hope you do well on the SATII's. Good luck to you!</p>

6

<p>it's not your safety. You don't even have an excellent chance of getting in. you have the average stats...but berkeley rejects plenty with those kind of stats.</p>

7

<p>not a safety. more of a match. SATs (and ACTs?) not high enough to make you a safety. besides, with all this "comprehensive review" stuff, who can say for sure these days who's going to get in?</p>

8

<p>If you are a California resident, you have a strong chance of admission; if not, not so much.</p>

9

<p>Not a safety, or even a safe match. I'd say match. A few things:</p>

<p>1) UC GPA can't go as high as 4.6.
2) Don't send recs to Berkeley, or any other UC.
3) Your ECs show very little focus.</p>

<p>Do you have any leadership positions?</p>

<p>Make your essays awesome.</p>

<p>I wouldn't be very surprised if Berkeley rejected you, though -- it's happened to plenty of people like you.</p>

10

<p>IN most of those EC's I hold a leadership position.</p>

<p>I think my EC's do show focus. YAG, MUN, youth council, student council, boy's state. Those are all involved in government. BPA shows my interest in business and NHS/FCA/PAWS show my character. Academic team and Mu Alpha Theta show that my academics stand out and I also hold a leadership position in each of those. </p>

<p>How is that not focus?</p>

<p>4.6 is my weighted GPA at school. the 4.0 shows my perfect grades though. </p>

<p>And also, why not send recs to UC?</p>

11

<p>UCs don't accept letters of recommendation.</p>

12

<p>not a safety (OOS)</p>

13

<p>You go from government to Spanish to business to volunteering. That, to me, seems to be all over the place. But you need not get defensive -- this is simply my opinion.</p>

<p>Also, are you out of state? If so, Berkeley is very far from a safety (Berkeley isn't a safety for anyone, especially OOS).</p>

14

<p>I guess you're kinda right... I've posted this on other threads and a lot of people have said it is good focus, others, no focus. I guess it just depends. What if I took out Spanish Club, MU alpha theta, and.... academic team?Those are the three least important EC's.</p>

<p>By the way, I'm OOS (OKLAHOMA)</p>

15

<p>Im sorry, but is this thread a joke? Your stats are just slightly above average for Cal in-state applicants. Thus, even if you were in-state at Cal, you could NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, call Cal your safety. But on top of that, your OOS. The fact that your OOS makes your chances at Cal (with your stats) quite slim. I would say Cal would be quite a reach for you. Good luck, though.</p>

16

<p>I guess I didn't do my research enough. </p>

<p>I guess I didn't really mean safety, it's just not in my top choices of schools. </p>

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>