I’ve applied to the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley as an international applicant. While scrolling through college confidential posts and other posts on the internet, I just came to know that the College of Chemistry is Berkeley’s most competitive college and hardest to get into so I’m kind of regretting why I didnt apply to some other college in Berkeley to get in. My test scores are:
Sat 1-1460(highest composite) and 1490(Superscore)-Berkeley doesnt superscore.
Sat 2- 790-chem
780-math 2
770-math 1
690-physics
I felt my essays were really good especially the one in which I talked about chemistry and why its my favourite subject and how it inspires me. I also have 3 activities strongly related to chemistry:
2 years of work as research assistant-assisting research professor in his research of improving the production of microbial plastics.
Internship at pharmaceutical company.
Internship at fertilizer plant.
Also these activities played a pivotal role in my chem essay. Apart from these 3 activities I felt my other activities were very strong too. I have 90 percent As and A*s in my internal school exams as well as my O Levels. I do not need financial aid. Do I have a shot at getting in?
Anyone willing to respond?
Hallo is there any1 alive?
An SAT of 1460 should not rule out your getting into Berkeley, but is not going to “wow” them either. Based on other threads it appears that most of the people who contribute to CC are not very familiar with the O level exams (whatever they are).
As such I think that it is hard for us to us to predict anything, other than you will very likely be full pay if you do get in.
I do wonder why you are only asking about Berkeley. Are there other universities in North America that you are interested in, and do you have safeties and match schools in your own country?
To answer your question, you have a shot (probably more than a shot). Your SAT I scores are within the range for Berkeley - not spectacular, but well within the range. Your SAT II scores (except for Physics) must be at the top end of the range (I am guessing here because they are very high). Your extracurricular experience sounds impressive and I assume you presented it in your application and essays in a way which wove a coherent story of what you have done and what you hope to accomplish.
Your O levels are probably not that important because Berkeley admissions will know they are tests you take at 16 which are not as rigorous as your A levels. I assume that, given its size, Berkeley admissions will have certain people who will be familiar with the British system and know how to evaluate your predicted A levels or other school assessments in comparison to the US grading system. Also, they have your SAT II’s which in some quarters are viewed as similar/equivalent to A levels. I assume you are doing your A levels in Chemistry, Math and maybe some other science.
You may want to reach out either to the College of Chemistry and/or Berkeley admissions to check on status of your application and to see if they need anything further to evaluate your application because you are coming from a non-US based system. This might put you in contact with the particular person who handles applications from British-style schools and demonstrate your continuing interest. Or someone from your school (the equivalent of a US high school counselor) could initiate the contact, just to confirm that Berkeley has everything it needs to evaluate your school records.