<p>Ok so a couple of month ago when I was talking to my counselor about the IAP Scholarship I asked about the other four people I was competing with for the money. She told me about this other kid and how he might not win because he was not as academically gifted as the other four. So guess how confused was I when I found out that not only did he get into Berkeley but won the scholarship. Then I found out that of the 600 seniors his rank was 20 and mine was 30. I was like W T F. Was my counselor calling me stupid. Then I saw his schedule and realized why his rank and GPA was higher.
His schedule:
P.E. A
AP Calculus A
Eng. 7-8 A
Gov. A
My schedule:
AP Econ. A
AP Gov. A
AP Stat A
AP Bio. A
AP Physics B
Eng. 7-8 A
Art A</p>
<p>In his entire HS career he only took 1 AP class. I took 7 APs.
He is in the College of L&S as a CS major and I am a MB major in the CNR. So does anybody know of someone who took it easy (classes) in HS and excelled in UC Berkeleys competitive atmosphere and difficulty in curses?</p>
<p>I don't know anything about the iap scholarship, but i would guess that other factors besides gpa are taken into account (ie ECs, SATs, financial need, essay) .</p>
<p>it doesnt matter how your high school career was. what matters is how your career at berkeley will be. </p>
<p>and a word of advice...life is a bi*ch and random things happen all the time. just deal with it. stop worrying about him and stop being a sore loser.</p>
<p>You sound awful like a sore loser. Frankly, the best advice is for you to get over it. Maybe you're right: he got in because he got great grades by taking easy courses, but you don't know the rest of the situation. Maybe he had great test scroes, incredible ec's, stellar essays, there are just too many variabls for you to come out and propose superiority over him just because of a few grades. Life isn't fair, it's better that you learn that now than down the road.</p>
<p>Actually, being in the IAP finals we did a practice for interviews and I got to go over his whole entire UC application. Yup, I got to see everything the university would see. And his SAT's were ok (1820) and on one of his subject (Math 2) he only got a 500!! It was so funny, he got a 500 on his SAT II and he thought that was decent. The only EC's on his application was 4 years of baseball and 2 years of basketball. And his essays were so Oh look at all the bad things that happened to me and by no mean were they stellar. Yes I am a sore loser, but you would be too if you lost $32,000 to him (I was the alternative). I just really want to see him crash and drop out. Sorry if I enforce the stereotype that everybody in UC Berkeley is a conniving cynic. </p>
<p>Oh and from what I know everybody in the IAP's needs finacial assistance.</p>
<p>Many kids who get into Berkeley cannot handle the workload. If he isn't ready, then he won't be alone.</p>
<p>I know people who took easy courses in high school and excelled at Berkeley. I also know people who took the hardest courses in high school and performed dismally at Berkeley.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I just really want to see him crash and drop out.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>dude, you need to grow up. If you saw over his entire application and that data is true, well then guess what? Yours must have been worse. Either that, or you came across as the same imatture as$ in the interview as you are now. I should have included this before, but UC berkeley takes AP classes into account: they would rather you got a B in an AP class than an A in a regular class, so your whole argument that he got in from taking easier classes doesn't hold water. Which again brings us to the conclusion that your stats must have been worse overall than his.</p>
<p>Again, stop embodying the classic cliched berkeley-reject stereotype.</p>
<p>I'm an IAP scholarship recipient, and I know that the scholarship is HEAVILY dependent on personal circumstances and struggles. Getting into Berkeley is the difficult part of it and then it comes down to the minute details of your life. So, even though your scores were amazing in comparison to the other applicants, that's not what the scholarship recognizes. You all got into Berkeley but that kid must have had a tougher time getting there. That's why he got it.</p>
<p>That is the f'ing reason I am confused by how he won. My SAT was a 2080 and both my SAT II's were better. I already said that his GPA was higher because all he takes is easy classes. AND I did get into berkeley, I am
F U C K I N G ****ed because I did not win the money.</p>
<p>Tastybeef, thank you for actually answering the question.</p>
<p>Ahhhhh losing $32,000 I bet this happened because I screwed over the grades for my whole entire Chemistry class (That made me feel better) :)</p>
<p>... Was this thread really necessary?</p>
<p>It is very theraputic for me.</p>
<p>I didn't know much about the scholarship, but as cal_diva said, they emphasize more on personal circumstance and struggle. All you takes about is your academic achievment (SAT, GPA, AP), life is not about score and what you get in high school.</p>
<p>What the F U C K, now all of you are Dr. Phil or what. Apparently tastybeef was the only person who read and responded to the question.</p>
<p>I know two people - one had a rough time during HS, so her class schedule had to compensate for it; she eventually went to a CC and is doing great at Cal. The other person I know took all nonHonors classes and is going to Berkeley and doing well also. I don't personally know either of them though; more like friends' friends.</p>
<p>P.S. You may have more luck if you seperate the question into a new paragraph or stick it at the top of the post :D Just a suggestion.</p>
<p>Thank you for answering the question. Great advice, I will definitely use it next time.</p>
<p>Yes, some students take advantage of honors classes instead of AP classes to get a higher rank. I've used a combination of both APs and honors classes(However, I did take my foreign language classes in colleges, instead of my high school). That's why at a high school (in my city's neighboring town) the person became valedictorian.</p>
<p>However, the salutatorian went to UCLA, which (if we go by US News rankings, and no offense) is a better university than the valedictorian, who went to University of Indiana.</p>
<p>The use of honors classes and easier schedules over APs doesn't automatically give people higher ranks. Personally, throughout high school, I took 7 APs as my school's val of the class of 2008, while my school's sal took 5.</p>
<p>Does the race of the student factor into whether he/she receives that scholarship (as with many uni admissions)?</p>
<p>i got a 2250 and i didnt even get nominated for this scholarship >=(</p>
<p>in response to the first poster, I only took 3 APs (stats, spanish, calc bc) and failed the spanish test. onnly 1 ap my junior year (stats). got 5s on calc n stats. was a honors math student but never honors science or honors english. horrible sat score. but i did have straight a's thru high school was one of 19 valedictorians. and now after my first year here i have a 4.0 as well. so its definitely possible. some ppl dont really push themselves to the limit in hs then figure out their potential in college. so **** and stop hating on ppl who dont take all ap's. some ppl play sports some do other activities u cant judge ppl based off of graddes and coursework</p>
<p>In response to Stalker, race is factored in to the scholarship application process. They also factor in six short answer questions about your school environment, home life, and personal responsibilities, a personal interview, and your UC application.</p>
<p>hmmm. the person who won had probably gone through some really tough times. </p>
<p>i know a person from my school who had a complicated family background and only took 2 AP classes senior year while my friend tried harder and took ALL AP classes and had a way higher GPA & SAT score. She made it into UCLA and he didnt (and was ****ed). =/</p>