USC, UC Berkeley, Colgate

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I am a white, jewish, female junior this year about to go into my senior year. I'm wondering what my chances are at USC, UC Berkeley, Colgate?</p>

<p>My superscored SAT is a 2120
Math: 650
Reading: 730
Writing: 740 (With an essay score of 11)</p>

<p>My dry score is a 2110
Math: 650
Reading: 730
Writing: 730 (With an essay score of 10)</p>

<p>I have taken the SAT II in American history and I got a 690. I took it again today (hoping to get above a 700) and am planning on taking the Math 2 test in the fall as soon as it's available.</p>

<p>My GPA at the beginning of this year was a 91.1% (roughly a 3.6), but considering my schedule this year was harder, i'm expecting it to drop to about an 88 (roughly a 3.3) My school does not weight GPAs.</p>

<p>As far as APs go, this year i took APUSH and currently have an A average, and AP English Language and i have an A in that as well.
Next year i will be taking:
AP studio art
AP Environmental
AP Calc AB
AP Spanish</p>

<p>I would have also enrolled in AP English Lit and AP Government, but my school offers Senior Seminar Programs, and so for English, Soc, and Drama credit i will be taking a 3 period class called Stages, in which students write, produce, direct, and perform their own original musical. It's a really unique thing to have on a resumé and im really excited to take it.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
4 years of Girls Varsity Soccer (including 1 All-County award and 1 All-Class award)
10 years of out of school Travel Soccer (I don't know if that makes a difference but i'll just put it down)
3 years of Girls Varsity Fencing
1 year of Girls Varsity Lacrosse
4 years of Athletic Leadership Club (including an officer's position)
2 years of Peer Drug Education and Peer Leadership Clubs/Programs
2 years of Model UN (including an officer's position)
2 year member of my school's Congress
Ample community service hours, mostly working with mentally handicapped adults and kids (e.g. Special Olympics)</p>

<p>I pride myself on my writing and think that my essays for my application will be pretty strong.</p>

<p>Letters of recommendation will also include a letter from my vice principle if that makes a difference.</p>

<p>I would also apply early decision most likely</p>

<p>Do I have a chance?!?</p>

<p>-sorry this is so long-</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

2

<p>USC is a high match, and Cal is a low reach. Sorry I don’t know enough about Cogate to chance you on that one. Your SAT is about average, but your gpa is on the lower end. All those varsity sports in your ECs are great! Make sure you get a good LoR (though the UCs do not accept those, so don’t send one to Cal), and of course, write great essays. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Are you OOS? Cost will be a factor.</p>

4

<p>Yeah i’m OOS for USC and Berkeley</p>

5

<p>Some notes about UC Berkeley and USC. No info on on Colgate - sorry.</p>

<p>BERKELEY:
-No early decision or early action at UC Berkeley.</p>

<p>-Financial aid will NOT apply to the $22,878 OOS supplement at a UC. Add that amount to your FAFSA EFC - that amount will be the MINIMUM you will pay at a UC. FAFSA forecaster: <a href=“https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1”>https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>-No recommendations letters accepted for UC Berkeley.</p>

<p>-The UC does NOT super score the SAT <a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/examination-requirement/”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/examination-requirement/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>-OOS applicants to the UC must have a UC GPA of 3.4 or higher to be considered. Calculate your UC GPA here: <a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU; For OOS, ONLY AP/IB courses are given an extra GPA point - in no case is an honors or accelerated course granted extra GPA points. A maximum of 8 semesters of AP/IB (or 4 year-long courses) are granted an extra GPA point.Your SAT is within range however your GPA is significantly below the 4.18 AVERAGE UC GPA. Berkeley=reach. <a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/berkeley/freshman-profile/”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/berkeley/freshman-profile/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>USC:
-No early decision or early action at USC. The scholarship deadline is December 1st, but only those selected to interview are notified early - all others hear at the end of March and are considered equally.</p>

<p>-OOS doesn’t matter for USC because USC is private - not affiliated with the UC system in any way.</p>

<p>-USC uses the CSS/Profile in addition to the FAFSA to calculate your USC-determined need and considers assets the FAFSA does not, including home equity. Therefore the amount your family is expected to contribute may be more than your FAFSA EFC.</p>

<p>-For USC: your single-sitting SAT as reported is within the 2013 middle 50% of 2030-2250 (however this year was even higher and you may no longer be in the middle 50%), but your 3.3 GPA is significantly below the 3.8 UNweighted average of accepted applicants. In addition, USC does NOT superscore the SAT. USC=reach. <a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/docs/USCFreshmanProfile2013.pdf”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/docs/USCFreshmanProfile2013.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Good luck.</p>

6

<p>You should definitely go for Colgate!!! It ranks higher academically than USC and is also a small D1 school. So if you were interested in playing sports you definitely have a good chance of either being recruited or walking on. Your stats are perfect for a school like Colgate. </p>

7

<p>USC and Colgate are apples and oranges. This is ALL about course offerings, outcomes and campus suitability/programs. The reason I mention this is that there is no point in comparing them; maybe you would do so if the schools had a lot in common which they obviously don’t. Further, the point about rankings is moot. Whose ranking? USN&WR? Please! And what do such lists deliver to its students, faculty and staff on its own terms? Nothing. Surely no one on university faculties or executive staffs find them useful or relevant.</p>

<p>Applicants might as well visit these schools- or if this is difficult at least review their websites thoroughly- and see for themselves how well they might participate in their specific offerings. The same point applies to eligibility for the schools’ D1 teams. Assessment is done by the coach for your skills and potential for whatever needs he/she may have.</p>

<p>Good luck with your college search!</p>

8

<p>Thank you!! And yeah i know i’m not so much trying to compare the schools as i am just trying to know whether or not i can get in. Right now i don’t know what kind of school i want to go to, whether it be big or small or liberal arts or big 10 or anything like that, im just exploring my options. thanks for the feedback!</p>

9

<p>sspec1004,</p>

<p>Best of luck with your application! While no one knows his/her chances for admission precisely, your essays, high school’s reputation, trends for challenging coursework in high school and references are very important to the process at Colgate. </p>

<p>The stats from colgate.edu for the incoming class are at <a href=“Admission & Aid | Colgate University”>http://www.colgate.edu/admission-financial-aid/class-of-2018-profile&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Fortunately, and in terms of some large universities, there is only one undergraduate admissions program at Colgate. So you can overlay your stats etc to what you find above and see if you have met its criteria. </p>

<p>I hope you engage in thorough evaluation of what Colgate, in its setting of Hamilton NY, have to offer. The campus thrives on the enthusiasm of the self-selected who by definition have indicated a clear desire to attend.</p>