Please chance me for UCB!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): 800 Math, 730 CR, 760 W (2290 total)
ACT: projecting 34 or 35
SAT II: 780 Math II</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.74 (UC GPA: 4.22)</p>

<p>AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Chem, AP Calc AB, AP Stats, AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, AP Biology, AP World History</p>

<p>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
9th Grade:
- Medalist in regional solo and ensemble festival (regional)
- Top 1000 MMPC in Michigan (state)
- Nominated for NYA “Youth of the Year” award (regional)
- Congressional Recognition for Community Service (national)
- House of Representatives award for Volunteering (national)
- Oakland County Award for volunteering (regional)</p>

<p>10th Grade:
- Medalist in regional solo and ensemble festival (regional)
- Honorable Mention All-State Jazz Bassist by judges on MYAF committee
- Top 1000 MMPC in Michigan (state)
- 6th place in North South Foundation essay contest (national)
- 12th place in North South Foundation public speaking contest (national)
- Named to Academic Honor Roll (school wide)
11th Grade:
- Honorable Mention in Young Voices short story contest, published story(national)
- Top 1000 MMPC in Michigan (state)
- 236 PSAT, National Merit Finalist</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Orchestra (Bass section leader 9-12)
-Jazz (lead bassist 9-12)
-Pit orchestra (lead bassist 9-12)
-Orchestra Committee (chair, 10)
-JV Tennis (9-11): 2nd doubles, conference champions (individually+team), top team in the state
-Relay for Life team (co-captain 9-12)
-Model United Nations (numerous conferences)
-run a personal engineering blog (>4000 views)</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience:
- Data Analyst at Pharmaceutical Firm (9-11, 40 hours a week in the summer)
Volunteer/Community service:
-Lots and lots</p>

<p>Essays:
Teacher Recommendation: Should be fantastic
Counselor Rec: Ditto
Additional Rec: One from my boss at work (should be good)</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: nope
Intended Major: engineering(?)
State (if domestic applicant): MI
School Type: large public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: >300,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):</p>

2

<p>Strong chance, but no guarantees because your GPA is slightly less than ideal.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the thoughts. Any other chances?</p>

4

<p>Same opinion here. The GPA is a bit low but your other things should make up for it. I’ve seen people with lower GPAs get in from my school, but I’m just wondering why you’re applying to Berkeley when you have U of M with in state fees. From someone who’s lived by U of M for 8 years and by Berkeley for 4, the quality of learning is honestly not that different. U of M is a bit worse imo, but not bad enough to lose 30K a year for…</p>

5

<p>UofM is definitely my top choice. I need some solid alternatives if they’re not willing to overlook my freshman gpa there, a big reason why I like the UC system.</p>

6

<p>Go to Michigan if you get into both UCB and UM. They have better football program.</p>

7

<p>Be aware that, at Berkeley, the College of Engineering is more selective than the College of Letters and Science, and selectivity varies by major in the College of Engineering (in contrast, it does not in the College of Letters and Science, and all freshmen there enter undeclared). Transferring into a major in the College of Engineering is generally considered very difficult for students already at Berkeley in a different division.</p>

<p>Others to consider if you need less selective backup schools that are not too expensive:</p>

<p>Michigan State
Minnesota
North Carolina State
Stony Brook
Virginia Tech
Cal Poly SLO (it is a CSU, which calculates GPA similar to how UCs calculate GPA)</p>