UC Berkeley Chances?

State Forums
1

<p>Hey, guys. I'm going into my Senior year of high school and have been wanting to go to Cal since I can remember. I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on what they think my chances are for Berkeley.</p>

<p>-I am not a resident of California.
-My unweighted GPA is 3.84
-My weighted GPA is 4.5 as well as my UC GPA
-I will be taking 7 AP's in total
-I will also have 3 community college classes that were taken through the Dual Enrollment program
-I took the ACT once and got a 23, but I am re-taking them again. (I am a horrible test taker)
-Subject Tests will be taken at the beginning of the school year during my Senior year</p>

<p>-Been very active in my environmental club and have acquired the President position. (Leader of Wildlife Care Center program, Humane Society, Project Perch, Dolphins in Taiji)</p>

<p>-Helped get a grant for our school to get money to sponsor environmental projects around the school and build a garden</p>

<p>-Will be in NHS for two years, obtaining the award of most community service hours in the club, and holding a leadership postion to collect goods for Flamingo Gardens which is a nonprofit center to help animals and the environment</p>

<p>-Volunteered with Flamingo Gardens and have gotten a couple hundred service hours from there</p>

<p>-President of a tutoring club that helps Elementary school children</p>

<p>-Media Chair for Opeartion Smile in Key Club</p>

<p>-Got two Underclassmen Awards for AP Environmental and Photography</p>

<p>-I am currently in the process of forming a walk for a diease one of my friend's has, EDS. We are hoping to raise a couple thousand.</p>

<p>-Newspaper staff writer in 11th grade</p>

<p>-Clubs in all: Environmental club, Tutoring club, NHS, Key Club, and UNYA.</p>

<p>-Talents: Guitar, writing, piano, and photography.</p>

<p>My only worry is that I'm horrible at math, I have been in regular classes since High School, but think I have made up for that through my other AP classes and club leaderships.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>Everything looks good except for that 23 on the ACT which I think is probably low even though I am not very familiar with the ACT. I believe Berkeley prefers the SAT and you would probably need at minimum a 600 in CR and a 650 in Math to be at all competitive there, even with a strong GPA and ECs.</p>

3

<p>Yeah, my ACT is a little above average. Just…those tests are horrible for me. It’s my only weak point. It gets sort of disappointing after a while. I went to Berkeley’s orientation during my spring break and the admission officer told the group that test scores were not the deciding factor nor are they a crucial point in the admission process. I don’t know how true that is. But, thank you for your input! It means a lot.</p>

4

<p>You have likely mis-calculated your UC GPA. The UC GPA:</p>

<p>-10th and 11th grade only
-A-G courses only
-An extra GPA point for **AP courses only **- not honors - up to a total of four year-long courses only. No more than two courses receive weight in 10th grade.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/scholarship_reqs.html[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/scholarship_reqs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The average ACT score of accepted students for Berkeley is 30. <a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles/camp_profiles_ucb.html[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles/camp_profiles_ucb.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>I fully understand how to calculate UC’s GPA. I’m well aware of that. I’ve done it a couple of times and it came out to that. I will re-check it, and about the ACT scores, I am also aware that Cal’s average is a 30. I was talking about an average for the nation, not Berkeley when referring to my score.</p>

6

<p>

I still think you may have mis-calculated. If, for example, a student had a sophomore and junior year schedule of 7 classes each, all of those classes were A-G requirements, had 6 AP classes and 4 honors classes and an unweighted GPA of 4.0. The UC GPA would be:</p>

<p>7 classes X 4.0 Sophomore year = 28 GPA pts
7 classes X 4.0 Junior year = 28 GPA points
Maximum weighted GPA pts for 4 year-long AP classes (OOS are not granted extra weight for honors, and a maximum of four AP courses - and only two in sophomore year - are granted extra weight.) = 4 GPA points
Total GPA pts = 28+28+4 = 60
60 GPA points divided by 14 classes = 4.29 UC GPA</p>

<p>So if an OOS student with a perfect 4.0 unweighted and the maximum AP credit can only achieve a 4.29 UC GPA, it is unlikely that a student with a lower unweighted GPA would have a 4.5 UC GPA. You do not have to worry about it though, because the UC will calculate your GPA for you correctly. You will not do the calculation for them.</p>

<p>Again, the maximum number of courses granted extra weight is 4 year-long courses (8 semesters).</p>

<p>Yes, I understand you were referring to ACT averages, and yes - your score is above average for the nation. I posted the Berkeley ACT average for Lemaitre1, who stated they were not familiar with Berkeley’s ACT information. Also, Berkeley is fine with either the SAT or the ACT with writing - they do not have a preference.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

7

<p>Thank you for your time and the information. On the other hand, I have already researched the criteria and how Berkeley works. I already knew that many of colleges re-calculate your GPA without the student doing the calculations. That is a given no matter what college you are applying to, at least to the majority.</p>

8

<p>You are welcome. Since you already know everything there is to know about how UC Berkeley works, I will not bother you with any further information.</p>

9

<p>If you really want to get in apply for a useless major. I knew one kid who had less than a 3.0 but really wanted to go to berkeley. He got rejected as undeclared then he appealed as african american studies and got in. This ****ed off so many people at my school though because he never worked hard but got into a really good school.</p>

10

<p>Really? That’s insane. Do you know if the guy had anything spectacular on his resume or had amazing essays? I was thinking about applying to the college of Letters and Science to study Rhetoric. I heard they have a really good program for that. Also, I heard that it’s really easy to change majors. Do you know if that’s true?</p>

11

<p>The guy did absolutely nothing, excepted partied. Yes, it is very easy to change majors I knew one guy who went in for engineering buy then switched to business. All he had to do was go the the admissions office and tell him that he wanted to switch. You should also consider other schools besides Berkeley also. Just because someone goes there doesn’t mean they’re going to be better off than someone at a csu. Many people want to go to Berkeley for the pride and the ability to tell others that they went there.</p>

12

<p>My son got rejected from Berkeley this year. He used his ACT score to apply there. He had 4.0 unweighted, 4.22 GPA weighted. Was tenth in his high school class. Had ACT composite of 31, had ACT math score of 35. Had SATII Subject test in Math of 800. Was applying to Mechanical Engineering and got rejected. But did get into UCLA School of Engineering for aerospace engineering. Decided not to go to UCLA though and is going somewhere that was his first choice. Had good extracurriculars too and community service. If this helps.</p>

13

<p>Fandan, I definitley have other schools in mind, but…Berkeley is absolutely amazing…excluding the whole pride and the ability to gloat. It’s just everything I’m looking for within a school and its location.</p>

<p>Rousse54, that just makes me even more nervous to tell you the truth. :confused: It was probably the fact that he was applying for the engineering program which is incredibly hard to get accepted into. The essay was probably the key also, right? Honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t get in.</p>

<p>On the other hand, any adivce on what I should do to make myself more competitive? As time goes by, I feel as though I have a slime chance.</p>

14

<p>Rousse54 was your son in-state or OOS?</p>