<p>Berkeley says that they want new information and I don't think i can offer them any new academic information but I think I may have another case.</p>
<p>I am Christian and my parents are buddhists. On my 18th birthday they locked me out because of their disapproval of my religion. Arguments with my parents have been going on throughout high school but they actually kicked me out this early march. I never talked about how this all affected me on my actual application. </p>
<p>My grades didn't slip because of this, but I had to work a lot harder.. balancing the emotional aspect of my situation. I don't hold any grudges against my family for doing that and maybe I could focus it more on how I learned to be independent and be more accepting of others (<-- shows growth?)? What do you think? </p>
<p>As for my grades and extracurriculars, I am positive they are Berkeley material so it's just a matter of whether or not my statement above will help get me admitted. </p>
<p>Do you think this would work? I really need advice on how to construct this. Berkeley is my top choice.</p>
<p>What are you claiming? Did getting kicked out force you to work to support yourself which impacted your grades?</p>
<p>I got kicked out march 2012 which means that no the removal of my home did not impact my grades. However our arguments prior to that did. ← I can claim that.</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>I can talk about how although my parents decided to kick me out, I hold no negative feelings toward them or their religion, therefore, i contribute a sense of acceptance to other cultures & open-mindedness to the university. I can also say that I have become stronger because I had to emotionally overcome the family hardships and I am more driven to create a better future for myself because of my parent’s unwillingness to support me. </p>
<p>Will that work?</p>
<p>These are not valid reasons for an appeal.</p>
<p>Error on transcript, family hardship requiring you to be near home (and you live near the UC), failure to have sent scores…</p>
<p>elmeria, most appeals don’t work, especially in such schools as Cal. Once they decide they decide – unless you have some SIGNIFICANT new addition to your application - a major award, publication, curing the common cold 
- you are unlikely to get admitted. </p>
<p>Also… your buddhist parents kicked you out because of your religion? Sort of unbuddhist-like of them…to me (and adcoms probably) this sounds a bit suspicious & far fetched, imo</p>
<p>Yeah… Waverly i get where you’re coming from but I don’t really have much to explain. I received all A’s (except for 2 B’s in bio & ap calc bc) I have a high gpa and outstanding extracurriculars. The only flaw in my application that i can think of was that I may have come off as too arrogant or my AP scores ranged from 3-5’s. I had a 3.96 unweighted GPA. My SAT was a 2070 (which is lower than usual for UC’s). But all in all i think that I was pretty well rounded. The only thing i could possibly add is my current situation. </p>
<p>I can concede & apologize for maybe coming off as haughty b/c i didn’t mean it that way. I did struggle a lot because of the environment i was in during that time but I was determined enough not to let my grades slip. I knew what my education is important, which is why I couldn’t let it mess me up. But when AP tests came around, it did mess me up a little because it was hard to balance studying for everything at once while also dealing with my parents. </p>
<p>Katliamom: I told them that… and they still did it. So what’s there to do? If it helps, my counselor can attest to it.</p>
<p>The issue is they can’t accept all in range students because of lack of room. They make clear what grounds for appeal are. Read their website. Figure out something within their criteria or move on and go where you were accepted.</p>
<p>I think you should try it, it does show another side of you that they may like, it shows how you would really respect others and bring a new perspective to their campus, and at this point it’s your best shot for Berkeley. Although withyour stats, I’m sure you got into some other amazing schools and will do well whatever the case. Good luck!
Also to waverly, needing to live near home isn’t really reasonfor an appeal, at least not according to ucsd and since it’s the same system I think the policy would still apply</p>
<p>Don’t beat yourself up elmeria – you’re a very good student and a decade ago you probably would have gotten in. Yes, it sucks that a highly qualified student like you doesn’t get into what is, afterall, a state school. They have so many candidates (plus OOS and international students willing to pay a fortune, but that’s another story) and a limited number of spots. Very disappointing, but success is the best revenge. Do really well wherever you go, then apply to Cal for grad school… (and maybe turn them down in favor of Stanford? )</p>
<p>elmeria</p>
<p>I want to advice you. CollegeConfidential is filled with trolls. Most of the people who gave you advice in the previous posts are most likely appealing and dont want to you to appeal so it will increase their chances.</p>
<p>I am not gonna comment on what I think about your stats. But I think you should definitely appeal. It is just gonna take an hour at most to type and edit that letter. Please send it because it is your future. You never know. You might have some luck.</p>
<p>Please dont let these people kill ur dreams. Just appeal and see what happens. Its not like u are giving up a whole lot to appeal.</p>
<p>Its just 1 dollars max in postage stamps you gotta pay. Do it for your future. Ignore the pessimistic dumbasses here.</p>
<p>Yea I know the chances are EXTREMELY LOW. But hey, you may just be that EXTREMELY LOW percent. Please dont let collegeconfidential ruin your dream.</p>
<p>Good luck! As a 2016 Cal student, I hope to see you next year in campus!! :D</p>