I am currently a junior in HS. For a while, I’ve been wanting to go to UC Berkeley, its an amazing school, love the campus, the atmosphere, the academic opportunities, pretty much everything about it. However, I’ve also been looking into UC Davis because Berkeley is pretty competitive to get into, so I want to have an alternate school that I’ll be happy to go to. Recently I found out about the Regents scholarship offered by the UC campuses. The one offered by Davis is just exceptional; you get tons of financial aid along with many other perks and benefits. In the event that I get accepted to UC Berkeley, and UC Davis w/ Regents, I’m pretty sure I’ll choose Davis, unless Berkeley offers a comparable financial aid package.
The financial aid is what really matters most for me. Due to familial situations, I don’t think I’ll be living in dorms. My father left me and my mother couple years back, and we’ve really been struggling to make ends meet. My mother really lives for me, she has no one else to look to, and its becoming harder and harder for her to find jobs, as her lack of education limits her primarily to manual labor, which is increasingly difficult for her as she ages and develops different medical issues. We currently have living arrangements with my uncle, but I don’t want to burden them too much longer. I’m planning on renting an apartment close to campus or in a nearby town or city when I go to college, so that my mother can have a place to stay. I prefer the privacy of apartments anyway, and I’m sure that even if I didn’t have the responsibility that I currently have, I would’ve still opted for an apartment.
My grades have been decent. I’ve gotten all A’s so far in high school, taking 5 AP classes right now, and I plan to take 5 next year (my senior yr) as well. I’ve also taken a summer class at a local community college last summer, and I plan to do the same this summer. My ACT scores based on practice tests are in the low 30’s, and I’ll definitely be trying to bring those up, I’m sure I could get a 33 or 34 at the very least. Been dedicated to several extras curricular for the past 3 yrs, but nothing super out of the ordinary. I have been working on developing an app for almost year, I do it for the fun of it, I hope to be done by it and be able to publish it in a couple months. Does that count as an extra curricular?
So my questions are:
1: Based on my financial situation and residence arrangements, which school would be more reasonable, assuming that I DONT get regents at any school, UC Davis, or UC Berkeley?
2: What SPECIFICALLY do I have to do to be a good candidate for the UC Davis regents scholarship. I know it says top 5% of the admitted class, but that’s pretty vague. Top 5% by what? SATs, GPAs, Class Ranks, Extra Curricular Hours???
3: Based on my current credentials, am I on the right track to be a good candidate for admittance into UC Davis with regents, or UC Berkeley in general?
4: In the event that I get into Davis WITH Regents and Berkeley WITHOUT Regents, should Berkeley’s prestige outweigh the perks and financial benefits of Regents? (I do plan on being Pre-Med, but I’m thinking of majoring in Bio or Chemical Engineering with Pre-Med emphasis, so that I can get a good job right out of college in case I don’t get into Med School)
Thank You