Hello College Confidential, newcomer here. I am a rising senior who is shooting for the top UCs, specifically Berkeley. I just took my SAT on June 1 and am confident that I will receive at least a 1450. I ran the numbers and my UC unweighted GPA is a 3.8 and my UC weighted GPA is a 4.4. I am ranked 1st in my class, however I come from a low income, underrepresented school in California. There are a handful of competitive students slightly below me in stats, but overall it is a very low-performing school. As far as I am aware, we have not sent any students to UC Berkeley in at least 2 years, although I know of two graduating seniors who were accepted but chose not to attend. Our graduating valedictorian was also rejected with an impressive profile albeit accepted into UCLA. My extra curriculars are rather personal so I will not discuss in detail, but I am confident that they are unique and relevant (leadership, helping people, passion demonstrated over time). If any of you could “chance” me or provide feedback I would greatly appreciate it 
Also, forgot to mention my classes. I took trig last summer so I could take Calc AB/BC junior year. I’ve taken AP CSP, Chem, World History, US History, Language, Physics. I have only passed CSP with a 4 and I will likely do well on Calc but otherwise not looking good. I would also be applying to L&S for Berkeley.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-general/2127392-faq-uc-historical-frosh-admit-rates-by-hs-gpa-2018.html (note: the GPAs are the UC weighted capped version, so you need to calculate that)
My UC capped GPA is a 4.1. Does UCLA or Berkeley weigh this heavier than the uncapped version?
Admission readers will see all of your UC-recalculated GPAs (unweighted, weighted-capped, fully weighted). How they consider them relative to each other is up to them. A weighted-capped GPA of 4.1 puts UCB and UCLA into the “reach” category for you. Your fully weighted GPA will be higher if you took more than 8 semesters of honors courses in 10th-11th grade, but so will the fully weighted GPAs of other applicants you are competing against.
I was hoping considering I’ve taken 8 APs and 1 honors in 10th/11th that they would overlook the few non A’s I’ve received. I read somewhere that Berkeley mainly focuses on uncapped and that capped is primarily used for ELC (which I would have) and eligibility to be considered, but not admission once considered. Your responses have been very helpful btw
Are you taking any subject tests?
Being in an underrepresented area and school might help you a bit. A weighted capped of 4.1 puts you behind the eight ball, but can be compensated for with great test scores, rigor and essays. You might need to get your SAT over 1500+ to compensate for the GPA (average capped weighted is around 4.25).
I plan on taking math 2. Other than that I don’t think there are any that I would do well on other than English perhaps.
So it is to my understanding that the weighted capped GPA is going to hurt me despite having an uncapped GPA well within their averages? My capped would have been higher had I taken less APs, but I figured they would rather see the course rigor.
The weighted capped will “hurt” more applicants at Berkeley than at most of the other UCs because there probably will be a higher percentage of students who have taken way more than 4 AP/honor/CC classes. So it winds up not hurting you because everyone else gets short-changed as well.
You’re in the ballpark. If the 50% straw man is a 3.92 unweighted and 1450 SAT (this assumes L&S) in your case you’ll probably need to have an SAT that approaches 1500 to even things out. Rigor always helps.
I appreciate your replies :). Hopefully my SAT will be high enough such that I don’t have to retake it (waiting July 10). Also hoping Berkeley is truly as holistic as they say