Hi! I hope someone can help me with a few questions I have about Cal. I’m really curious about my chances of gaining acceptance for the fall of 2016. First, I’ll tell a little bit about myself. I am a current junior in high school, and my cumulative weighted GPA is a 4.3. I hope to continue the upward trend for the remainder of this year and into next year. I just took my SATs for the first time – didn’t do as well as I hoped – 1310/1600; 1900/2400. I am really involved in my schools extracurriculars. I am a part of the Science Olympiad, Academic Bowl, and Spanish Club. I am also a part of a nationally-ranked “TEAMS” (Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science) team (3rd & 9th in nation). I am a member of my school’s chapter of the National Honor Society. I recently won an art award from the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition. It earned significant recognition - 2 Gold Keys, 2 American Vision Awards, an article in Scholastic’s magazine, etc. I have also taken 5 APs/7 honors courses up to this point, and am scheduled for 4 more APs for next year (senior year). I also won the National Spanish Exam’s Junior Travel Award, an award in which recipients travel to a Spanish-speaking country for 1 week, all expenses paid. I was one of 24 in the nation. Also, I am a two-sport varsity athlete: football and basketball. I volunteer at two organizations in my free time. I think that covers most of it. I am seeking any insight from current/past students, or simply anyone who has some sort of knowledge of the admissions criteria. Any tips? How do I stand based on my current grades/scores/extracurriculars? I am not a resident of California.
Raise SAT scores by a lot and I think you’ll have a good shot especially since you’re OOS. But be prepared for that tuition tho haha but seriously I know someone from my school who’s going to cal and she can’t get anything because we don’t live in California
And comparing her stats to yours I’d say you’d have a good shot just raise SAT scores by a lot I’d say
Oh I’m HS class of 16 too! Hah sorry for all this spam
Can you give me a realistic score I should aim for? Do you happen to know your friend’s?
It looks like you’re on the right track! It’s very hard to chance a person; Berkeley takes a holistic approach when looking at applications. You could be getting the best test scores/GPA and still not get in. I got accepted this year but honestly, you’ve earned much more prestigious awards than I ever have, and you have a higher SAT score (I got 1870 and 32 on my ACT). You might have a good chance of getting in, but admissions are very unpredictable.
I recommend that you focus on your personal statements to show them what kind of individual you are, make them get to know you on a personal level. 
I’m not very good at “chancing” people, but imo, you’re all set! Improving your SAT score would help you the most at this point. Also make sure you start your application early (I think the portal opens in august??? take advantage of that) I didn’t have nearly as many awards/activities as you but I had a few that I committed all four years during high school, so focus/commitment definitely helps!
I think what really helped me get in was my personal statements, so here’re a few advices. I’m not an expert but I can speak from my experiences…
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start EARLY
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write what you really want to write about. By that, I mean: I spent a long time writing numerous drafts trying to show off my achievements and life stories to impress the readers, but I didn’t enjoy writing them and it became very tedious. Finally, I decided to start over and focused on making an essay that spoke for things I love and it evolved into a work that I was very proud of. So take a risk when you write your statement, don’t be pressured by expectations but rather focus on yourself and what you want to say, it’ll all work out in the end.
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Use your personal statement to add to a “theme” to the application. Your essay should provide a glimpse of yourself, and you should show (if not, hint at) why you want to study “insert major here”. Connect your current self to the future self that you envision at Berkeley.
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Study Berkeley’s website. They have a great page on how to write personal statements, and it tells you what they look for in an applicant. Also look for important values they state throughout their pages. One thing I remember is that they’re looking for people who are passionate about contributing to their community, so my second essay talks about how I got involved in city government, etc.
Lastly, one website I wish I would’ve know before applying is “Ask Ms. Sun” (google it). She has lots of insider info on UC admissions, especially Berkeley. Here’s one of her posts on Berkeley admissions: http://■■■■■■■■■■■■/home/berkeley-fall-2015-freshman-admission-update/
and this website helps a lot too: http://www.collegeessayguy.com/
Will be attending Berkeley as CS major for class of 2019 this fall. Don’t listen to chelmein; you are not set (yet!). Currently, if you were to apply right now, I don’t think you’ll get in. But there’s hope!
I did some statistical analysis on admission stats and although this is a small sample size, out of like 150 kids who scored 2300+ on their SAT or 35+ on their ACT, about 75% got in. Generally a high SAT correlates with a good GPA, solid EC’s, and a solid essay. Raise your SAT to like a 2250, but it’s highly preferable that it’s a 2300+.
Here’s a document regarding Berkeley admissions in 2005. Although it’s been ten years, the general process is still the same. http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/05/16_houtreport.pdf
Recalculate your weighted GPA according to UC standards. (Look up UC GPA) A 4.6 UC GPA is around like top 2% of all applicants.
Your EC’s are fine. Grades and test scores are by far the most important to Berkeley. Essays are only important if you are a borderline applicant.
Update: Just received most recent SATs – 1410/1600 & 2130/2400. Does this change anything?