Low GPA but pretty good ECs and test scores. Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Hey! I'm going to be a senior in the fall and I am currently working on my applications. I am new to CC, so if you need any more information, please let me know. Any suggestions as to how I cam improve my chances would be appreciated. I also included everything I could think of in here, so some of them might be repeated, or may not be too important. I would really grateful if you could chance me for UCB</p>

<p>GENDER: Female
ETHNICITY: Asian Indian
INTENDED MAJOR: Engineering or Applied Mathematics
SCHOOL TYPE: Private/Magnet
LANGUAGES SPOKEN: Fluent in English and Hindi, I know a little Spanish</p>

<p>SAT I: Total-2240. Math-740. Critical Reading-750. Writing-750. Essay-8
ACT: Total-31. Math-36. English-35. Reading-30. Science-25. Essay-11
SAT II: Math Level 2: 800
Chemistry: 750
(I am planning to take English this fall)
UNWEIGHTED GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
WEIGHTED GPA 4.2
RANK (percentile if rank is unavailable): neither % nor rank is available
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calculus BC (5)
AP Chemistry (4)</p>

<p>(i went to a public school 9-10 grade and switched to a private magnet school to be in the Engineering Magnet Program for 11-12 grade)</p>

<p>FRESHMAN YEAR COURSE LOAD
Honors Coordinated Science 1
Honors English 1
Honors Global Perspectives
Dance Tech 1
Spanish 1
Honors Algebra 2</p>

<p>SOPHOMORE YEAR COURSE LOAD
Honors Coordinated Science 2
Honors English 2
Honors Pre Calculus
Honors Chemistry
Spanish 2
U.S. History</p>

<p>Spanish 3 (completed at local community college)</p>

<p>JUNIOR YEAR COURSE LOAD
Engineering Physics 1
AP/IB English HL1
Show Choir
AP/IB Spanish SL1
Honors Physics
AP Calculus AB/BC
AP Chemistry</p>

<p>SENIOR YEAR COURSE LOAD
Engineering Physics 2
AP/IB English HL2
AP Physics C
AP Economics
AP Statistics
Differential Equations
(Deciding between AP Music Theory and AP Psychology)</p>

<p>AWARDS AND CERTIFICATES (Grade level in parenthesis)
- Certificate of Merit Level VI, Branch Honors, Music Teacher Association of California (11)
- High Honor Roll Certificate, Fairmont Preparatory Academy (11)
- Division Recognition Award from Center for Global Leaders Essay Competition from among 5000 participants. (10)
- Certificate of Merit Level V, Branch Honors, Music Teacher Association of California (10)
- Commendation at Branch Honors Recital (10).
- Magna, Cum Laude University High School (9)
- Honor Roll Certificate, American Mathematics Contest 8 (8)
- President's Award for Educational Excellence (8)
- Academic Merit Award, University of California, Irvine (6)</p>

<p>MUSIC AND ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT (Grade level in parenthesis)
- Part of school show choir group at Disney Competition 2011, 1st Place(11)
- 2011 All State Honor Choir, American Choral Directors Association, California(11)
- Part of Hawaii Music Festival , Show Choir Group, Excellent Rating(11)
- High School Honor Choir, Southern California Vocal Association(10,11)
- Invited by United Federation of Indo Americans of California to sing at their 63rd India Independence Day celebrations (10)
- Invited to sing at 63rd Indian Association of Inland Empire Anniversary of India's Independence Day (10)
- 2010 Convention Honors, LA, Music Teacher's Association of California (10)
- Branch Honors Recital, Music Teacher Association of California (10)
- Invited to dance and sing at United Federation of Indo Americans in California (9)
- First place Annual Raas Garba and Dance Competition 2009 (9,10)
- second and third places, two consecutive years (group) at IYANA 3rd and 4th ANNUAL Youth Convention (9,10)
- Dance performance-High School Show Case (9,10)
- Donald Bren Honors Concerts, IUSD (6,7,8)</p>

<p>SUMMER PROGRAMS:
Summer'11 Internship at Boeing, Phantom Works
Summer'10 All Girls All Math Camp, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Summer'10 42nd Annual High School Honor Institute, University of Colorado
Summer'09 Microsoft DigiGirlz Summer Camp, Microsoft</p>

<p>LEADERSHIP:
Vice President (11 – present), Light up the World
President and Founder (11-present), Free the Slaves. I started the first high school chapter of this organization in the nation.
Publicity Manager (10), Indian Student Association
Publicity Manager (12), UNICEF</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS:
Music: Hindustani Classical Vocal (4-present)
Western Classical Music (5-present)
Honor Choir (5,6,7,11)
Musical Theater (7,8)
Dance (9-present)
Sports: JV volleyball (11)
Volunteer: Discovery Science Center (10-present)
Homeless Shelter (9-present)
Clubs: Free the Slaves (9-present)
UNICEF (11-present)
Light up the World (11-present)
Indian Student Association (10)
Educational: NASA Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and Education Experience
Our school team of four students including me, was one of the 2 teams nationwide that was chosen to attend the 13th Annual United Nations Students' Conference on Human Rights at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Mars Desert Research Station: my proposal to conduct some experiments at the Research Station was accepted by a research team from Georgia Tech that will be conducting these experiments.</p>

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<p>Bumpppppp!</p>

3

<p>Everything is fine, except for your unweighted GPA. But the rigor of your course load and your EC’s should get you into Berkeley.</p>

4

<p>If you apply for engineering, your sex will give you a boost seeing as females are a disastrous (((slight) definite) noticeable) minority.</p>

5

<p>^^^why are you taking differential equations before Multivariable Calculus? Having taken both, i would not recommend it…especially for Cal. At Cal, Differential Equations and Linear Algebra is one course, not 2 like at most colleges so to take it without also taking linear algebra would be a waste. Taking multivariable would make more sense content wise and for the sake of transferring credits</p>

6

<p>why are you even making this thread?</p>

<p>writing all that **** out says:</p>

<p>hi i’m qualified for cal</p>

<p>damn, all i had on my application(s) were:</p>

<p>GPA, SAT, 2 clubs, ACT, essays, 3.7gpa</p>

<p>voila cal cornell dartmouth</p>

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<p>Well I guess I’m just paranoid like everyone else. Sometimes I feel like I’ll be fine but then I look around and everyone else is doing SO much it’s kind of intimidating. And moreover its so extremely competitive these days. Plus I have no older siblings and my parents were not educated in the united states. They went to college in a different country so I’m just looking for a few opinions regarding college admissions and what’s enough. I’m glad to know that I shouldn’t be worrying though. Thanks (:</p>

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<p>Well, you’re right in that admissions at Cal are very competitive and it’s hard to call anyone a total shoo-in these days. But it looks like you have a competitive application so I think you have a good shot! Best of luck to you - and if Cal says no, I’m sure you’ll have lots of other great schools to pick from. :)</p>

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<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>And @mjmay7</p>

<p>My decision to take differential over multivariable is more based on the teacher. With completing applications and considering my course load for next year, I think I might be too overwhelmed with multivariable. :&lt;/p>

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<p>multivariable is easier…this is coming from someone who took both in high school…you will enjoy multi more and actually get credit for it if you come to Cal versus basically nothing if you come to cal.</p>

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<p>Oh I should add that I’m in the top 15% (possibly 10%)of my class. I go to a pretty competitive private school</p>