<p>I am a female filipino senior who is about to apply to UC berkeley. I fell in love with the school when I first visited it to drop off my brother at the berkeley dorms. It has always been my dream school and I want to graduate with honors from berkeley like my brother did. I grew up in a community where no one really cared about school, but I am at the top of my class. I believe my rank is 11/345. I am very active in school and I am involved in multiple extracurriculars. </p>
<p>Took AP: world history, US History, English Language, Physics, Calculus
Took Honors: English1 &2, chemistry, pre-calculus
California Scholarship Federation (4 yrs)
National Honors Society (2 yrs)
Math Club(4yrs): President&Vice President
Tennis (2 yrs)
Soccer (2yrs)
Track & Field (1yr)
Volunteer: Relay for life (cancer) (4yrs), California Election Polls</p>
<p>I’m a senior in high school right now, and I applied to UC Berkeley among other UCs last month. Do you mind posting your stats, UCBerkeleyColin, so I can see if mine measure? I have decent stats:
31 ACT
3.65 unweighted gpa, 3.85 weighted
and a lot of volunteering and extracurriculars, but I’m just a bit worried about how much the essay would help with such a competitive school. Do you think that a great essay would tip me in favor, even though my stats are not up to par? thanks so much!!!</p>
<p>@monkmonk
Your GPA is awful. UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, UCI, and UCSB will reject you. Also, you should not steal threads. And, if you want someone to see your reply, add the “@” sign before his/her name, like what I did at the beginning of this post.</p>
<p>@Mangiafuoco - not sure if that’s sarcasm, but if it isn’t, don’t disillusion applicants. </p>
<p>See, there’s really no point in posting stats and everything else because in the end, only the admissions committee makes the decision. So you’re better off just focusing on what needs to be done at school instead of focusing on what you can’t control. And you’ll probably get a bunch of negative/unwanted comments too. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>@ttrinidad7: Your GPA is competitive but your SAT score is way below the 25th percentile.<br>
UCB is a High Reach. Your EC’s and essays may give you a boost, but probably not enough to compensate for the low test score. I hope you have some backups on your list. Good Luck.</p>
<p>@Mangiafuoco - ok, but still you’re generalizing. You (and everyone else) should check the stats before posting blatant opinions. There are countless of us who have been fortunate to attend a UC despite not having exemplary statistics. A 31 ACT and a 3.65 unweighted GPA is by no means awful. </p>
<p>@elitepwnage
I know what I am talking about. I understand that there are some students who miraculously managed to attend a UC with an awful GPA, but the majority of students with an unweighted GPA below 3.7 have no chance for any of the mid-tier and high-tier UCs. These scatterplots and my own admissions results clearly support my views.</p>
<p>My stats and results:
3.66 unweighted GPA, 4.29 fully weighted GPA, 4.00 capped UC GPA
2300 SAT score
800 on SAT Math II, 740 on SAT Physics
5 on AP Calculus AB exam, 5 on AP Calculus BC exam
IB courses (HLs were English, Math, and Biology)
Solid extracurriculars and essays
California resident
Rejected by UCB, UCLA, UCSD, and CPSLO for computer science
Waitlisted by UCD for civil engineering
Waitlisted by UCI for computer science
Accepted by UCSB, UCSC, and UCR for computer science
Attending UCSB</p>
<p>I deserved these rejections/waitlists because my GPA was awful. If you look at the scatterplot for UCSB, you will understand why UCSB was the only mid-tier UC to accept me. UCSB seems to be more lenient to students with a 2200+ SAT score.</p>
<p>To OP:
I do not want to “steal” threads, so I will chance you. As others have said, your GPA is good, but your test scores are below average. Although UC Berkeley values GPA more than test scores, your 1700 SAT score is quite low and could be detrimental to your chances. UC Berkeley is your reach, but I would not be surprised if you are accepted.</p>
<p>@ttrinidad7 don’t stress too much about it (and anyone else looking at this thread)! You did your best and you applied, so just hope for the best. If you don’t get it in, then no biggie, there’s always transferring/ or grad school, and maybe you dodged a bullet! I got into Berkeley with a a 3.60 unweighted, with a few Cs on my transcript, but my essay and leadership experience (Berkeley values leadership a lot) helped me out in the end! Most important thing to know is that UC Berkeley has a holistic review process, so they will also look at other strong points you might have. UC Berkeley does not just look at GPA and test scores. </p>
<p>If you get rejected, and you still want to go, just submit a letter of appeal with a recommendation letter (you won’t know until you try, worse case they just say no) . My friend got rejected from Berkeley, and she submitted a letter of appeal despite having no change in circumstances, and she got accepted. </p>
@Mangiafuoco chill with that pessimistic stuff man, your sample size is one and the average admit from my brothers public school (and the school i attended) is 3.7/2200 according to naviance. maybe they got turned off by your essay?
i see you post a lot about the ucs and i dont think its that healthy to obsess over schools you didnt get into. i know how it feels cuz i didnt get into my dream school (princeton) and was devasted for a couple days but i dont go around years after telling other students that they have no chance. I ended up attending a college that fit me better (stanford). college is what you make of it, just keep your head high and dont worry about what mightve been
my brother also has a low gpa/high sat and i dont think its fair to discount him just bcuz of his stats. just 2 cents
U.S Senate Youth Delegate
Girls State Governor
Girls Nation Senator
Marketing Intern School Leadership Initiative (2 yrs)
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Show Choir (4 yrs)
National Honor Society (3 yrs)
Tri-M Music Honor Society (3 yrs) Vocal and Piano Performance (4 yrs)
Mock Trial
Volunteer English Teacher ASE in China
@Duvarc
monkmonk stole this thread. That is very rude. He deserved my harsh comments.
Every single point on those six graphs are part of the sample size.
Princeton is a reach for almost everyone. You are foolish to think that you even had a small chance of being accepted with a 3.65 unweighted GPA.
You are probably wondering why I am on this account. I exploited forum glitches and was banned. :))
@smarterthanaslug
I already reproached monkmonk for stealing a thread. Your stats are good enough for UC Berkeley, but next time, please make your own chance thread.
@Mangiafuoco Your GPA seems to fit within the range of a lot of these schools that turned you down, and your SAT is way above average. Odds are those didn’t hold you back.
Be realistic, @mangiofuoco has a very good point. His pessimist view toward applicants with a relatively low GPA for UC’s is warranted. They value grades > testing. There’s nothing wrong with warning prospective about where they stand. Applicants with relatively low GPA and/or scores are still considered but have a much reduced statistical “chance.”
