UC Berkeley Chance Thread Class of 2020

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

UC GPA
Unweighted GPA
Weighted GPA

California Resident, Out-Of-State, or International

SAT Reasoning Scores (by section) or ACT scores
SAT II Scores

Which college are you applying to? (Letters and Science, Engineering, Chemistry, etc.)

List a few of your most important ECs (a list of 20+ items is not needed)

Any other significant accomplishments in a specific field

FAQ:

  1. How do I know if I'm eligible for admission?

You have to complete the “a-g” courses, take the SAT or ACT, and two SAT II tests. More information can be found below:

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/eligibility.html

  1. What criteria is Berkeley looking for in its applicants? What matters more, GPA or SAT?

It is my general feeling that Berkeley looks for these, in order of importance:

GPA/State Residency
SAT/ACT
Essays/ECs
Rigor of courseload

  1. What stats do I need to have to be a competitive applicant?

Average stats of admitted students (off the top of my head)

UC GPA: 4.17
UW GPA: 3.93
W GPA: 4.27

SAT: ~2050

  1. How much harder is it to get into Berkeley from Out-Of-State?

It is noticibly harder for an OOS applicant to get in. To get an idea, you would probably need ~2150+ on the SATs to be competitive. I would compare the difficulty to that of a lower Ivy (Cornell, U Penn, Brown).

  1. How much harder is it to get into ___ college versus ___ college?

Generally, it’s harder to get into the college of engineering, with the majors EECS, Bioengineering, and engineering undeclared considered to be the most competitive. The other colleges are about the same.

  1. Will applying for ___ major increase/decrease my chances?

Only the college of engineering admits according to major. If you are applying to the College of Letters and Science, you are considered to be “undeclared” and the major you put down in your application does not affect your chances. I believe the same applies for the other colleges besides engineering.

  1. I am interested in Berkeley's Hass business school. How do I apply?

You can’t get into Haas straight out of high school. Students generally apply at the end of their sophomore year in college, when they declare their major. As such, if you are interested in majoring in business, you would most likely apply to the College of Letters and Science.

  1. Does UC Berkeley require letters of recommendation?

The UCs do not look at letters of recommendation.

  1. I'm an URM! How much will it help?

The UCs do not take race into consideration for admission.

  1. I'm a Legacy! How much will it help?

The UCs do not take legacy into consideration.

2

Hi All!

I’m a junior at a Virginia High School and it’s my dream to get into Berkeley Engineering (even though i know it’s harder than pronouncing the capital of Croatia). Here are my stats, let the chancing begin!

UC GPA: 4.36
Unweighted GPA: 3.96
Weighted GPA: 4.4 (as of end of Junior Year)

Out of state

SAT:
Reading: 800 (holla)
Math: 730
Writing: 700
Total 2230

SAT II Scores
Taking them November 2015

APs (took 5 in sophomore and junior year): AP World History, AP Bio, AP Calc AB, AP Stats, APUSH
Taking 6 in Senior Year

Which college are you applying to? the hard one (Engineering)

List a few of your most important ECs

Vice President FBLA
Co-Chair of Community Service at county’s Youth Advisory Council
Eagle Scout
Attended a Virginia Summer Residential Governor’s School
Attending Virginia Boys’ State (1 boy per school is picked to go)
3 years Varsity Swim
2 years JV XC
2 years Varsity Debate (hopefully winning something in Senior Year)
NHS, 200 + volunteer hours for random things
Summer paid internship at a consulting firm, internship usually goes to college students but i’m an exception

Please let me know what you think!

3

I was admitted to Berkeley this year as a CS major.

The average SAT is actually more like like a 2140, not a 2050. http://admissions.berkeley.edu/studentprofile
Average SAT admit for in-state: 2124, out of state: 2171, international: 2124. Doing a weighted average should get you to around 2140.

Your SAT is a bit on the low side for engineering. Look into raising it to like 2300+. Your grades are competitive, but nothing special. I suggest you take your SAT subjects a little earlier since the UC application is due Nov. 30, and you might not be able to see your score before you send it.

My main issue is your EC’s. You want to do engineering, but I don’t see any EC’s remotely related to math, science, or engineering. On the UC application, you have the opportunity to list 5 awards, but you don’t seem to have many awards other than your Eagle Scout designation. You only have space for 5 EC’s as well. When you apply as an engineering major, they will heavily focus on your experience in math and science. Any other subjects or non-STEM related activities are not very important because engineering is such a focused discipline in math and science.

I’d say you should focus on raising your test scores just a little bit, and doing something related to math or science in the coming few months. The school year is almost over so joining Science Olympiad or participating in a math competition isn’t really an option.

For now, I’d say it’s a reach. @Musa42

4

Thanks @2019goldenbear !! It’s been a little rough finding average scores of engineering students, only Berkeley overall, but your insight on ECs and SAT is really helpful! I’m taking the ACT in June, aiming for 34, 35. Subject tests have to be early fall cuz there’s no sessions left that I can do before then. Hopefully the ACT should supplement the SAT a little bit.

As for ECs, I’m planning on putting Eagle Scout, Gov School, and Boys State as honors. I’m participating in this year’s Google Science Fair so maybe I can get some credit for that. I also was on a research team of a friend of mine who tried to find a cause for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis as her 2-year science project. Can I put that in awards or EC even if we didn’t win anything? I’m also trying to land an Engineering internship over August as per your advice :slight_smile:
Also taking AP Physics C and AP Calc BC next year should boost some of my STEM-ness.

5

I’m assuming you want to do biomedical engineering? @Musa42

6

No not biomedical, I was just working on this project to help a friend and because it was back when I still had the option of being a doctor open. Around December I ruled it out because its just not something I want to do. I would probably want to do something like Mechanical, CEE, Civil, or Industrial. Do you have your stats for comparison, or anyone else who got in?

7

Looking to get into L&S for CS

U/W GPA: 3.65
Weighted GPA: 4.28
UC GPA: 3.93
Rank: Top 5% out of 700 kids
2280 SAT
35 ACT

Grades:
Sophomore - Sem1/Sem2
Eng = A/A
Honors Chem = B/B-
Honors Precal = A-/B
APWH = B+/A-
PE = A/A
Spanish 2 = A/A

Junior - Sem1/Sem2
AP Com Sci = A/A
AP Chem = C/B
Spanish 3 = A/A
AP Calc BC = C/B
Journalism = A/A
Honors English = A-/A

I took US History, Python, AP Physics C, and Psychology at CC over the summer (counts as weighted)
Senior Course Load: AP Physics, AP Gov, AP Stats, Photography, Journalism, and TA (w/ concurrent CC course)

ECs: - Debate (4 years that has led to regional and national level success), team captain

  • 100+ Hours coaching middle school debate (and some HS kids) that led to late elim rounds
  • Interned at a software engineering startup over the summer
  • I’ve been coding for 8+ years, made a couple of apps for people
  • 50+ other hours volunteering for a comm. serv. organization
  • News Editor for School Newspaper
  • Tech/Business News Analyst for an online newspaper (which is based in the east coast)

I guess I’m aiming for upwards trend after 1st semester of junior year, and will probably have to emphasize my ECs.
I also have about 100+ unreported hours at a youth group, will the schools still consider those?

8

I really want to get into the College of Chemistry or L and S for Chem
CA competitive public
UW School GPA: 3.75
W School GPA: 4.1
Rank:N/A but around top 30% ish
UC UW GPA: 3.59 oops
UC GPA (capped+weighted)= 3.95
UC GPA (uncapped +weighted)= 4.14 (for use with UCLA and UCB ONLY)
SAT
Oct 2014= 2140 (690CR/800M/650W/9E)
Jan 2015= 2210 (680CR/800M/730W/10E) (retaking in Nov, hoping for at least 2250+)
SAT 2 Chem (Jun 2014)= 770, SAT 2 Math 2= >760 (haven’t gotten it yet, if I don’t get an 800, I am retaking both Chem and Math in October)

Courses a-g for Sophomore+Junior year with semester grades (CA resident, competitive school)
Sophomore (bad year with personal problems. what a mess.)
Chem Honors (B/B) (appealing in the fall to get an A in second semester)
AP Chinese (A/B/5)
Lit 10 (B/A)
Dance (A/A)
World History (B/A)
Alg 2/Trig (B/B)
Junior
Business (A/A)
APUSH (B/A/4 and above hopefully…)
AP Chem (A/A/I think a 5?)
Honors Lit (took APLAC for this) (A/A/most likely 4…)
Pre-Calc H (B/A)

Senior (planned courseload)
AP Calc AB (maybe BC?)
Physics Honors
Lab Aide (not a-g)
AP Gov
AP Econ
AP Lit

ECs
Volunteering (3 years)- going to get about 100 hours by the end of summer, will get more as the school year starts
Science Olympiad (1 year)- to be VP of Events the coming school year, I hold 3 gold medals (regional+invitational) and 1 silver (state level) all for Chemistry related events
Chemistry Olympiad (1 year)- will continue for next year; ended up being top 2 in my school for this, but couldn’t go to USNCO exam due to regional cutoffs.
Member of the Chinese Honor Society
DECA (1 year)- won 1 6th place award at a regional competition
Sports- Tennis (1 year) and Track (1 year) had to leave both due to personal reasons
Misc.- taking physics at a local CC this summer (the course is not UC applicable)

Work Experience
Will start an internship for a finance sector of a tech company soon
Unpaid tutoring + test writing for other students (Chem related things)

9

Actually…Cal is now accepting up to 2 letters of recommendation starting this year

10

@Musa42 For what it’s worth, one of my good friends who is attending Berkeley with me this fall was admitted to the CoE as a Regents Scholar with (as far as I know) fairly little strictly science/math/engineering related EC’s. She was secretary-treasurer of our section FBLA, president of Economics club, and secretary of our Academic Decathlon team (with involvement in Science Olympiad… I think?). No rocket club, no science fair, no research, no engineering clubs, and no science competitions (because really, our Science Olympiad team never placed in anything).

The challenge that arises for you is your status as an out-of-state student, which makes it harder to predict in general if you will be accepted… but you already know that. :slight_smile:

11

UC GPA: 4.04
Unweighted GPA: 3.75
Weighted (Uncapped) UC GPA: 4.18

Took:
Sophomore Year: Honors Chem, Honors English, Honors Precalc, Honors Euro History
Junior Year: AP Chem, AP English, AP Calc BC, APUSH, Spanish 3, and Econ+Psych 101 @ Community College
Senior Year: AP Statistics, AP Gov, AP English, AP Physics C, Multivariable Calc, and probably a community college class

BTW, I got a few Bs sophomore year, but only 1 B in AP Chem Junior year (really good upward trend)

California Resident

SAT Reasoning Scores: 2110 (will retake, and hopefully do better cause the June curve was messed up, and I am practicing more for the writing section); 710 CR, 670 W; 730 M

Will apply Letters and Science; Most likely under Education or Policy Making, etc.
Schools:
UCB
UCLA
UCSD
UCD
UCSB
UCI
Cal Poly SLO
(Any other suggestions for schools?)

ECs:
Eagle Scout
Scout of the Year
Dr. Bernard Harris STEM award
Library Intern (Organized Summer Reading Program)
Math Tutor (50+ volunteer hours)
Volunteered at a nonprofit childcare (50+ hours)
Member of a few clubs at school
Summer classes at UC Berkeley for the last two years
Community College Classes
Most likely NM commended
Piano
Blah, blah, blah a few other things

12

Ok I’m going to ask people to chance me in two ways. With my current SAT score and my goal SAT Score (I’m prepping a lot this Summer, 2050 is my goal SAT score) My desired major is economics and I am in-state.)

UC UW GPA: 3.82
UC W Capped GPA: 4.18
UC W Uncapped GPA: 4.36

SAT I: 1870, (560 CR, 690 M, 620 W) (I think I will bring it up though because I am prepping hardcore, hopefully I can get 2050+)
SAT II: (I thought you didn’t have to take this test if you weren’t an engineering major, but this thread is making me think otherwise on that. I would probably do good on the Math level 2 but I would probably not do good on any of the other tests.)

Freshman Courses
English I Honors
Spanish I
World History Honors
Biology
Algebra II/Trig
General PE

Sophomore Year
English II Honors
Spanish II
AP European History
Chemistry
Pre Calc Honors
Digital Photography

Junior Year
AP English Language
Spanish III
AP US History
AP Chemistry
AP Calculus (AB)
Weight Training

Senior Year
AP English Literature
AP Macro
Physics
AP Calculus (BC)
AP Statistics

My admissions essay could be pretty good because I could talk about overcoming a learning disability and difficulties that I had growing up with Asperger’s syndrome and overcoming those difficulties. My EC’s aren’t great but I have community service hours and an internship at a law firm. If they are actually letting you submit letters of rec this year I believe that would help me.

Other schools I am applying too

UCLA
UCD
UCI
UCSD
UCSC
UCR
Tulane
NYU
University of Wisconsin Madison

13

Oh and just to continue from my last post. They apparently look at the courses students have taken in the context of how many AP’s are offered in HS. The only AP classes at my high school that I wouldn’t have taken are AP Gov, AP Art History, AP Spanish Language, AP Biology and APES. My school offers 14 AP Courses and I will have taken 9 of them.

14

Copied over from my Cornell chances post. Applying to Arts and Sciences.

Academics:

Unweighted GPA: 4.0 (school doesn’t do weighted) UC GPA: I believe around 4.4, might not be accurate though
Unweighted Rank: 1st

5 APs so far:
AP European History: 5
AP US History: 5
AP Calculus AB: 5
AP English Lang & Comp: 5
AP Chemistry: 4 (meh)

Awards: AP Scholar With Distinction, National Merit Semifinalist (at least), National History Day-Regional, 3rd Place.

SAT I: Math: 760 Writing: 800 Reading: 800
SAT IIs: US History: 800 World History: 800 Math II: 800

Possibly 4 or 5 next year, depending on whether I can cram APES in there. If not: AP Calculus BC, AP US Gov, AP Computer Science, AP Lit.

Extracurriculars:

International internship at the Suzhou Institute of Nano-Technology and Nano-Bionics, doing research into AI in medical applications
President and founder of our school’s History Club
Vice-President of school’s Chess Club
Varsity chess player
Played in pit orchestra for school musical three years
Member of school-district wide advanced orchestra for three years
Solo & Ensemble 3 years, ratings: II, I, I
Member of JROTC for 2 years, Petty Officer 3rd Class, Supply Officer.
Member of JSA (Junior State of America): two years
Community Service: Played at various retirement centers, volunteered at local YMCA and local festivals like Salmon Days.
Self-published several plays and novellas/short stories and classical music essays/guides

Location and Demographics:

Gender: Male
State: Washington (no, not DC)
Race: Asian-American (Chinese)
Both parents attended college and both have grad degrees
Income Bracket:150,000-200,000
Public school
Hook: none.

15

If your SAT score is below a low-mid 2100, or your UW GPA is below the Berkeley average of 3.92, I’d say it is a reach for you.

16

Current student here:

@RHSclassof16 You are still a reach. Even with your goal of a 2050 SAT, it is still below the average of 2140 for Berkeley.

@SwissAlps17 You are a reach. Berkeley’s average GPA is a 3.92 for the unweighted GPA. Your SAT score is below average as well. Your EC’s are good; I wouldn’t change much about them.

@throdisting Berkeley does not take major into account. I am an intended L&S CS major so here is something I want you to know before you apply here: Berkeley is raising the minimum GPA required in the CS prerequisites in order to attain the CS major. This means that out of the 3 prereqs you must take (CS 61A, 61B, 70), you must maintain at least a 3.3 GPA. A 3.3 is difficult, and that’s only for my class. It may go higher next year because of the tech boom and Berkeley only wants to churn out the best and brightest.

Anyhow, I do think you are a match because your GPA and UC GPA are way, WAY, WAAYY below average. The average GPA is a 3.92. However, your EC’s are good, and if you write good essays, I think you will be good to go.
However, if you are out-of-state, note that Berkeley is capping the number of out of staters from now on. And yes, Berkeley should still take those hours.

@michelle426 I do think the school is a reach for you. It seems that the general trend on this thread is that people are struggling with their GPA. Berkeley’s UC UW GPA on average is a 3.92. Another problem I have is that your EC’s are very short-lived. Only one or two activities are listed at more than one year of participation.

17

@2019goldenbear What GPA does UCB look at? UW, UC Capped or UC Uncapped?

18

@2019goldenbear, I’ve been getting around 2250 on my most recent practice tests, would that help me out at all? What about subject tests, even though I want to do L&S? Thanks

19

@RHSclassof16 They mainly look at the UC uncapped GPA. They also look at the UC unweighted GPA.

@SwissAlps17 A 2250 is a bit below the 75th percentile. It is a good score, but it is not a guarantee. If you really want a very, very strong chance of getting in, score in the 2300s. Note that Berkeley does not see senior year grades. Subject tests are good if you do well, but if you don’t, it’s not going to hurt you. Berkeley this year has the option to submit 2 letters of recommendations.

20

@2019goldenbear If I can get 2100 on the SAT would my 4.36 UC Uncapped GPA be enough to make me a high match or low reach? I’m currently scoring 2000ish on practice tests and have until October to continue raising my score.