My chances of getting into Berkeley and Stanford

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm just about to finish my sophomore year in high school and I would like to know what my chances are of getting into UC Berkeley or Stanford. </p>

<p>Grades:</p>

<p>I'm currently doing the French Baccalaureate program, so all my grades are out of twenty. I'll be going over to the IB next year. </p>

<p>This year:
Math: 18.5/20
Physics: 17/20
French: 14/20
English: 19.5/20
German: 15.5/20
Biology: 16.5/20
Economics: 16/20
History: 19.5/20
Chemistry: 16/20
Geography: 13.5/20
Average: 16.6/20
Best grade in my class (by far), top 10% of my year. Finishing the year with a "very good" mention ( best you can get) and the "Congratulations of the class council" (meaning you have shown motivation, good will and got very good grades).</p>

<p>Last Year I got an average of 15.5, but it was my first year in high school, i got some pretty miserable grades at the start of the year and they got better and better as time went on. </p>

<p>My grades got better at each trimester since I started high school, last trimester I got a 17.1/20 average.</p>

<p>I go to a competitive high school (private), grade screening when you apply, absolutely no grade inflation. </p>

<p>Extra-curricular activities:</p>

<p>I play tennis intensively, do a lot of training every week and frequently compete in several tournaments of the Swiss Tennis League. I have been in my school's tennis and badminton team for the past 3 years (my school has more than 2000 students) and have achieved good results.
I have done a one week internship at a trading company to acquire job experience and see if trading interest me. I plan to do another internship before finishing high school.
I will take college level courses for a few weeks next summer to see what college is like and acquire an extra experience. I will also visit most of the universities that I am interested in applying to next summer to see what the campuses are like, to talk with admissions, ect...
We are going to create a charity with a few of my friends, we're still planning it but we might also go to a poor country next year to help those in need.
I will have to complete the CAS program next year (150 hours sports, 150 hours arts and 150 hours service), so I guess I will do many other ECs. </p>

<p>Extra Information:</p>

<p>I consider languages to be a kind of talent for me, I currently speak four languages perfectly (English, French, Hungarian and Danish), have been learning german for 5 years and speak it quite well and have started to learn Chinese two years ago.
I live in Europe but I definitely want to study in the US. I want to study economics because I have a real passion for that subject, I actually spend a lot of time researching it in my free time.
I have chosen Math HL, History HL, Economics HL, Biology SL, French SL and English SL as my subjects for IB. </p>

<p>Thanks :)</p>

2

<p>Im too lazy to do the math. Can you give me your GPA out of 4 and we need SAT/ACT scores.</p>

3

<p>And your OOC (Out of Country) so you have a really low chance at Stanford, and a fair chance at berkeley if you can pay full price with out fin. aid. But that is, if you make a 2.1k+ on SAT.</p>

4

<p>It is hard to chance anyone only after their sophomore year grades without SAT scores/AP results…but if you truly want to have the best chance of getting into Stanford (which is the hardest school to get into for Americans or internationals) try to focus on your tennis and be the best in your country/Europe and your specialty/passion of being a polyglot will help you stand out…</p>

<p>…Stanford looks for the best students accomplished in academics plus one of the following: sports champions who play at the national or international level (preferably Olympic level), music prodigies (have won national or international competitions/appeared on national TV/made major recordings, accomplished actors who have already appeared on TV or on major stages, science/math prodigies who have won major national/international competitions, and young promising entrepreneurs who have already established legitimate companies…bottom line, they are looking for lopsided specialists who are passionate/tops in their field of interest.</p>

<p>…along with great thoughtful essays and “walking-on-water” recommendations from your teachers…will give you a chance.</p>

<p>…hope this helps, but, unfortunately, by the time you apply the acceptance rate will be even lower…</p>

5

<p>BubiNuni, your grades are excellent. You stand a good chance, don’t ever let anyone discourage you. What school do you attend? I am familiar with the French bac, PM me if you want.</p>

6

<p>You have a good chance, and these two schools are pretty much a reach for anyone. Of course, Stanford is more of a reach.</p>

7

<p>Berkeley: Aim for 2150+/32+
Stanford: Reach</p>

<p>Is McGill an option for you? That might be either your safety or a school you can apply to if you bombed the SAT/ACT. The highest safety line at McGill is either 16/20 (French baccalaureate) or 39 (IB), but some majors have lower safety lines.</p>

8

<p>@BubiNuni I’m a French student aswell so I’m basically in the same situation. Do you plan on applying for financial aid?</p>

9

<p>^@wowthere</p>

<p>US Colleges are generally ** not need blind to international applicants**. </p>

<p>The OP should also take that into account. </p>

<p>Try looking at more affordable colleges, especially Oxford or Cambridge where EU applicants get a discount</p>

10

<p>Thanks for all your replies, they’re really usefull! </p>

<p>@catria: McGill isn’t really an option for me, as I said, I really want to go to the US and living in California is kind of a dream for me (been there several times, always loved it). I think some of my safety schools would be UNniversity of Virginia or Unniversity of Michigan, although I’m not sure how competitive they really are…
@wowthere: No, I don’t think I’ll be applying for financial aid, although I still have to understand how hard it is to get some. From what I have understood so far, it is quite difficult in public universities like Berkeley, but much less in the top private ones</p>

<p>Please continue to give me my chances :)</p>