Hi, I am a rising senior from a public school in NY state. I would like to be chanced for UC Berkely and UChicago (which, if possible, I would like to be relative safeties so I don’t have to apply to a true safety), in addition to schools like Harvard/Princeton and Columbia/UPenn.
I have taken 8 AP exams, and scored seven 5s and one 4: BC (5), Micro (5), Macro (5), US History (5), European History (5), Language and Composition (5), Chemistry (5), and Art History (4). I am also planning on taking another 8 in my senior year, which is reflected in my senior schedule.
I’m not sure what my GPA is–since the school hasn’t calculated it yet–but it is probably between a 94 to a 95 unweighted, and my Junior grades were better than both my sophomore and freshmen (because I just find more difficult courses more enjoyable, and I tend to do better in harder courses).
I don’t have many extracurriculars besides being an avid participant of Model UN (I’ve been chair twice and now I am in the Secretariat). I also took part in Science Olympiad, Masterminds, and Math League in my Junior year. I am also a member of my school’s Track and Field team. In my free time I mostly read the news and economic papers haha.
Many thanks for taking the time to read and respond to this.
P.S., I’m not sure if this would help, but I also took two sophomore/junior level courses at Harvard over the summer (Intermediate Microeconomic Theory and Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory).
SAT/ACT test scores? SAT subject test scores?
Intended major?
AP scores are not considered in admission decisions at least for UCB.
Are these schools affordable? UC Berkeley will cost you around $55K/year with no financial aid as an OOS student.
Oh my apologies, completely overlooked those.
My ACT score is 35.50 superscored, with 36 in both math and reading, and 35 in both science and English.
My SAT score was not very good, 1540.
I am looking to study Economics and Applied Mathematics, and maybe International Relations as a minor.
And yes to the last question. My parents are very generous with my tuition ceiling and I can afford all of the universities listed above.
Thank you so much for pointing out the lack of information!
And as for SAT IIs, I took Mathematics II (800), US History (770), and Chemistry (740). None of these are amazing, besides Math II, and I will retake US History and take Physics in September.
Total waste of time. The 770 is excellent. I can’t speak for UCB, but UChicago is looking for someone that is more than an academic drone with nothing better to do on a Saturday than retake a 770.
OP, not sure if you are humble bragging or have no concept of what is considered competitive test scores? You are fine with all your SAT subject tests, your SAT score of 1540 is excellent along with your ACT score of 35. You have a very good chance at UC Berkeley so no reason to retake as @skieurope stated. Your EC’s may be a issue for the schools on your list however, since as @skieurope noted that “an academic drone” is not what most colleges want to see.
Haha I am not humbly bragging. I am simply devoid of confidence, hence my question here. The reason for the lack of ECs is that I simply don’t find any of the clubs at my school interesting or challenging enough (besides Model UN). And so, outside of Track and Model UN, I mostly spend my time reading the news and economic publications (ie Fed letters and IMF reports). Should this be something I include in my essay?
UChicago had a 7.6% acceptance rate last year. It’s a lottery school to the same extent as Harvard/Princeton/Columbia/Penn. With that in mind, if you enjoy reading econ publications in your spare time, UChicago is probably a great fit for you. Good stats make you a very competitive applicant for Cal, especially since I assume you’re applying letters+sciences rather than engineering.
What have you done with Track and MUN? Have you run recruitable times for D1? If not, have you run recruitable times for D3?–Chicago has a decent track program (and Williams/Amherst/Pomona all have excellent track programs, if you’re interested in considering top LACs) and if you’re recruitable that’s a plus. Have you won gavels in any major MUN conferences? Gavels are significantly more impressive than chairing + being in secretariat.
Again, you’ve got a strong resume; your near-perfect stats meet the prerequisites to get your foot in the door. That being said, every school you listed bar Cal has a sub 10% acceptance rate and every school on your list rejects 4.0/2400s each year–applying to a true safety is not difficult and will save you a boatload of stress down the road, regardless of whether or not you get into a reach school.
UChicago is not a safety for anyone. It is equal in admissions difficulty to Columbia, and harder to get into than Penn. UC Berkeley is not a safety either, especially for non-Californians. UC Berkeley also cares more about class rank (and less about standardized test scores) than any other top school in the nation.
You need to find some real safeties.
So what do you recommend for safeties? And what other universities should I research?
For UC Berkely, our school doesn’t publish class ranks, but if I had to guess I would easily be in the top 5 of my class of 200+.
I qualified for D3, but I don’t want to run in College, so I’m not going to go that route.
Well, our school doesn’t attend national conferences, so I haven’t won any gavels at major events.
Safeties need to be 1) affordable 2) high chance for an acceptance 3) a school you want to attend. Go safeties are your in-state schools.