The Official Chances Thread!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
321

<p>Out-Of-State
First Generation college student</p>

<p>UC GPA 4.17
Unweighted GPA 3.94
Weighted GPA 4.33
Rank: 2/266</p>

<p>PSAT: 209
SAT Reasoning Scores: 2140 (780M, 640CR, 720W)
SAT II Scores: 800 Math II, 770 Chemistry, 760 Physics</p>

<p>AP Classes finished by graduation:
AP Chemistry (Junior) - 4
AP Physics (Junior) - 5
AP US History (Junior)
AP Calculus AB (Junior) - 4
AP Statistics (Junior) - 5
AP Biology (Senior)
AP Physics C: Mechanics (Senior)
AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism (Senior)
AP US History (2nd year of 2 year course) (Senior)
AP European History (Senior)
AP Calculus BC (Senior)
AP Macroeconomics (Senior)
AP Microeconomics (Senior)
Spanish 5 (Senior)</p>

<p>Which college are you applying to? Letters and Sciences</p>

<p>Awards:
National Honors Society
Spanish National Honors Society
AP Scholar w/ Honor
National Merit Commended
2nd place in individual for regional math competition
2nd place in team for regional math competition
Qualified to State math competition</p>

<p>Extracurriculars
Math Club President
Multicultural Club VP
Vietnamese Buddhist Youth Association - leadership position
Member of 2 different Lion Dance Groups - coleader of one
Vietnamese School
Volunteering 5 hours/week
Work 10 hours/week</p>

322

<p>AznPwyd: Very nice stats, very nice APs, very nice Awards/ECs. You have a very strong chance at Berkeley, too bad you didn't try applying for a particular department.</p>

323

<p>AznPwyd: good GPA and SAT, okay ECs, and very good honors/awards. I would say you're a match for in-state, but out-of-state for you will be quite a bit tougher. It's probably a slight reach - reach, though you do definitely have a shot. Being a first-gen student may help.</p>

324

<p>hey, what about me??</p>

325

<p>jasonlee576: good GPA, (presumably) good SAT, somewhat weak ECs that may or may not be made up for by your essays. Your honors/awards don't particularly distinguish you, either. The math II could be higher. I'd say slight reach - reach. You do have a shot, though.</p>

326

<p>Thanks kyledavid!</p>

327

<p>for a friend now.</p>

<p>Out of State
Senior
Indian Male</p>

<p>GPA: 3.98 (One B in honors english)
Weighted Rank: 6 of 266
SAT: 1830 (590CR 650M 590W)
SAT 2: 700 Biology, 690 Math level 2
ACT: 29 Composite (27 English, 33 Math, 28 Reading, 28 Science)</p>

<p>Junior Year Schedule:
AP Biology
AP US History
AP Calculus AB
Human Physiology
Junior Honors English
Spanish 4
Newspaper/Weight Training</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
AP Chemistry
AP Physics
AP US History (year 2 (2 yr course at our school))
AP European History
AP Calculus BC
AP Statistics
Senior English</p>

<p>Activities:
Varsity Cross Country all 4 years (captain)
Varsity Track since sophomore year
National Honors Society (president)
Internship at Oregon Literacy over the summer
Volunteer at special olympics
Volunteer at museum of science
Hosted an elentary school race
REAL (help children in India get a better education)
Link Crew Leader for 2 years
School newspaper business manager
Dances for India Day at the mall</p>

<p>Awards:
Student of the Quarter in history, precalc, bio, stocks
Dartmouth Book Award
Newspaper Honorable Mention in publication olympics</p>

<p>I will retake the SAT in January hoping for an improvement.
Thank you so much</p>

328

<p>AznPwyd: your friend has a good GPA, great ECs, somewhat weak awards, and weak scores. I'm going to say reach. Also, Berkeley does not accept the January test date; December is the last acceptable date.</p>

329

<p>pdef: I'm guessing you're predicting those SAT II scores? It'd be better to just not list them until you get the actual scores. Otherwise, great GPA, decent SAT, good ECs, 60-70% chance.</p>

<p>jasonlee576: I really hate doing chances when you don't know your SAT score. Predictions are often off by a lot. Otherwise your stats look good.</p>

<p>AznPwyd: Great GPA, good SAT scores, great SAT II scores, APs look impressive, especially Physics C, not sure not much that'll help though. ECs look solid. Work + first gen should help. Too bad you're OOS, that'll make it harder for you, but I still think you have a great chance. I'm thinking 80%.</p>

<p>As for your friend, great GPA, but that SAT score is really low for OOS and will hurt. SAT IIs are okay. ECs are good but mmm...I honestly don't know if he can get in OOS with an 1830. I'll say 30%.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Oh, vicissitudes has come from his period of dormancy. =p

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I've been busy, sorry. Thanks for filling in.</p>

330

<p>@kyledavid80: You should post your own stats after all these years of CCing. :)</p>

331

<p>
[quote]
@kyledavid80: You should post your own stats after all these years of CCing.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I never found it to be particularly important. I evaluated my own chances from what I'd seen. So there'd be no point in posting my resume/stats, other than to appease some CCers' curiosity. (Funnily enough, you're not the first person to ask me to do that.) =)</p>

332

<p>you guys are awesome for ranking people! thanks for taking that time; i hope you don't mind another one? :D</p>

<p>Out-of-state, Chinese female.</p>

<p>How DO I calculate my UC GPA? You'd think that it's simple...
Unweighted: 4.0
Weighted: 4.66 (We get 5's for A's in AP classes, 4.5's for A's in honors classes, 4's for A's in regular classes, etc etc)
Rank: 2/660 (suburban competitive school)</p>

<p>PSAT: 226
SAT: 2290 (CR770, M720, W800). My math was better the first time, but for a "one-sitting" test this is my best overall.
SAT II: MathII 800, US History 770, Biology E 740</p>

<p>Applied to: Engineering</p>

<p>Schedule: (aka AP classes by graduation)
Human Geography (Freshman) - 5
World History (Sophomore) - 5
Language (Sophomore) - 4
Statistics (Sophomore) - 4
French Language (Junior) - 3
Biology (Junior) - 5
Calculus BC (Junior) - 5
Physics C: Mechanics (Junior) - 4
US History (Junior) - 5
Chinese Language (Senior)
French Lit (Senior)
English Lit (Senior)
Microeconomics (Senior)
US Government (Senior)
Art History (Senior)
Chemistry (Senior)</p>

<p>My senior year schedule is all AP's with the exception of Multivariable Calc which counts as an honors course at school.
I feel like I'm just coming off as a bunch of statistics right now. Ahh.</p>

<p>Awards:
National AP Scholar
National Merit Semifinalist
Wellesley Book Award
UGA Merit Award
School academic letters (9th-11th grade)
Senior Class Most Intellectual (yeah, lame award, but it made me happy :D)
in Academic Bowl, my team has competed regionally; we've gotten from 2nd rounds of playoffs to 1st at competitions
ABowl JV Best in Literature, Person I Like Most (another silly award... my parents have successfully prevented me from ever including that one)
All-State Orchestra (5 years total, 2 in high school: 3rd and 6th chair)
French National Exam (top 10 in state freshman and sophomore years, didn't take it junior year)
National Latin Exam (silver medal freshman year)</p>

<p>ECs:
Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra: 5 years, this year I am co-principal. I am also employed as a librarian for the orchestra, which is almost a year-round job. (5 hrs a week, takes about additional 2 hours for traveling)
Academic Bowl (4 years): JV recording secretary (sophomore year), co-vice-president (junior year), and we were defeated for a senior year president-ship :(((((
Math Team (3 years): treasurer (junior year), then we did away with officerships
MathFest: i'm on the committee to plan an annual math convention at my school (which was started last year) -2 years
National Honors Society // Beta Club (1 year, only seniors can qualify for these at my school)
French Honors Society (2 years)</p>

<p>I finally qualified to do volunteer work for my church this summer:
VBS teacher for one week, 25 hours
Missions trip to Arizona for one week, 144 hours</p>

<p>I also went to the UPenn PSSA program this summer for four weeks. Last year, I took summer school...</p>

<p>Significant accomplishments in a specific field:
Well, I'm not particularly gifted with math team, and I used to be really competitive in Academic Bowl, but I go often to the tournaments and competitions...
I want to do science-y things, but other than my summer camp I haven't really been able to do research. The big colleges are sort of far away, and most of my time is eaten up by other EC's...
I've been part of some really awesome things in my Youth Orchestra, though. Three rock concerts, half-time show at a professional football game, and NPR's From the Top recording!</p>

<p>I've read the other stats... it's just that I feel so... statistic-y, and being Asian doesn't seem to help any of that.
Suggestions? Comments? It's too late for my UC application, but for the others....</p>

333

<p>once.: being an OOSer applying to an already-competitive program, it's most likely a reach. However, you do have an excellent shot, probably better than most. You have a great GPA and SAT, a rigorous course load, and good ECs and honors/awards, but they don't particularly distinguish you. If your essays are really great, you'll have a better shot. Did they focus on engineering, your passion for it, your experiences and progress with it so far? If not, Berkeley's a reach (not even a 2290 would make up for that, methinks).</p>

334

<p>Sorry that I’m not going to be very specific in activities…..i don’t want my identity revealed with my stats</p>

<p>Instate( very very competitive…easily top 5 highschool in state)
Unweighted gpa about 3.5
UC GPA about 3.75 (8 honors/ap as designated)
Fully weighted about 3.9
Rank: school does not rank
SAT 1 : 2000
Sat 2 : Math IIC-760, Chem-750 +( expected …don’t know till scores are out Thursday)</p>

<p>Honor classes- chem., Spanish, precalc, community college business class
Junior yr AP: Bio-4, Calc AB 5
Senior Year AP: gov, econ, stats, Spanish, chem.</p>

<p>Very unique /GOOD ESSAYS!</p>

<p>EC
JV Sport-9-10
Club Sort-9-10
A Club officer -10
2 leadership positions at school 10-11
Volunteer tutor 9-11</p>

<p>Awards
Scholar AThlete</p>

<p>do i stand a chance????</p>

335

<p>


</p>

<p>About that comment, would you say the same if someone (me) wrote an essay about DNA research instead of an engineering experience?</p>

336

<p>mvsenior: just by virtue of your GPA, it's a reach (about 20%).</p>

<p>blddrake44: does the DNA research relate to your intended major? That's the point. If you declared EECS and talked about something related to bioE, it might not look the best. But if you declared something related to that experience, then you should be fine.</p>

337

<p>Instate: Attend a competive high school, top 10 in California. If you've heard of Monta Vista, Saratoga, or Lynbrook you know the competitive nature of these schools.</p>

<p>UC GPA: 3.79</p>

<p>SAT I Math: 700
SAT I Critical Reading: 620
SAT I Writing: 620</p>

<p>Total: 1940</p>

<p>ACT: Do now know yet. Results come out this Wednesday.</p>

<p>SAT II Spanish w/ Listening: 720
SAT II Biology - Molecular: 690</p>

<p>AP Biology - 4
AP U.S. History - 3</p>

<p>12 Grade Courses:
Trig / Pre-Calc Honors
Band 5 Wind Ensemble Honors
AP Spanish 5 Language
Economics / American Government
AP Language and Composition
Physics</p>

<p>11 Grade Courses:
Spanish 4 Honors
Band 2 Wind Ensemble Honors
AP Biology
Trig / Math 4
Creative Writing: Poetry II
AP U.S. History
English 11 Honors</p>

<p>10 Grade Courses:
English 10
Creative Writing: Poetry I
Spanish 3
Algebra 2
Band 3 Symphonic
Chemistry Honors
World History</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
- UCSF Biomedical High School Internship Research Program
- National Institutes of Health Short-Term Education Program, full paid trip to Maryland to present my UCSF research studies
- 4 years Marching Band
- 2 years Band Leadership Team
- 2 years Poetry Club
- 2 years Treasurer of Poetry Club
- 2 years Swimming </p>

<p>Awards & Honors:
- 2 time State Level Poetry Publication
- 1 time National Poetry Publication
- Research from Internship Publication in medical journal
- Band selected to perform at the Sydney Opera House, chosen to perform the world premiere of a new concert band piece
- Chosen to read my poem for the opening of my high schools PTSA Founder's Day Celebration</p>

<p>Community Service:
- Lucille Packard Children's Hospital Volunteer over 60 hours
- Second Harvest Food Bank
- High School Link Crew
- National Honor Society</p>

<p>Work Experience:
- UCSF Research Lab Team Member, part of internship, helped to record data from CT/MRI images for a cardiac disease study which was included in my research project </p>

<p>Applied to Berkeley as Undeclared, Letters & Sciences</p>

338

<p>Richzz89: it's probably a slight reach - reach. Your GPA is weak, and your scores don't make up for it. You have good ECs and honors/awards. Being from a competitive public might help, though a 1940 doesn't speak well to the caliber of your school. Have you taken the most rigorous course load?</p>

339

<p>jasonlee</p>

<p>I rarely do "chance" threads but I believe your rural background is a plus for the UCs.</p>

<p>good luck and hope to see you at Cal!</p>

340

<p>Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
California Resident
Upper-middle Class</p>

<h2>Prospective major: Business Econ./Finance</h2>

<p>GPA: 3.97 UW, 4.25 W, 4.29 UC
SAT I Math: 700
SAT I CR: 620
SAT I Writing: 720 (10 Essay)</p>

<h2>SATII: Math II - 710, Spanish - 620, Spanish w/ listening - 610</h2>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>California Scholarship Federation (CSF) (10,11,12)
*Lifetime member
National Honor Society (NHS) (11,12)
Spanish Honor Society (11,12)
*Officer position
American Red Cross Club (11,12)
Science Buddies (11)
*Online help w/ science fair projects
Track and Field - 2 years JV and 2 years V
*Captain
Competitive Soccer
Recreational Basketball</p>

<p>Mexico Mission 2007 <built houses="" w="" church=""> (11)
Administrative Work at Medical Center
Yachting Company in France (Summer '06, '07)</built></p>

<p>Awards/recognitions</p>

<p>Principal's Honor Roll
Biology Departmental Award
CSF Lifetime Member</p>