I’ve been to every forum and this year’s decisions seemed hard.
I am currently a junior and i wanted to know what my chances were so i could improve before apps come this fall.
Grades: 3.9 unweighted, 4.67 UC weighted
(2 b’s total from sophomore and junior yr)
I’ve taken all honors and AP’s except for apush.
AP/weighted courses:
AP Statistics (sophomore) (score 5)
AP Physics 1 (current)
AP Comspci (current)
AP Calc BC (current)
AP Bio (current)
AP Physics C (senior)
AP English (senior)
Multivariable calc (senior)
intro to engineering design (senior)
Test scores
SAT composite: 1560 (800 math, 760 english, 23/24 essay)
ACT composite: 35
SAT II bio: 770
SAT II math 2: 790
SAT II chem: 740 (idk if i should report this one)
Extracurriculars:
girls golf: 3 varsity letters
2 time robotics captain FTC (i’ve done workshops encouraging girls to explore stem as part of outreach)
3d printing club vp/future president
i’m making an android app set to release soon with a few friends (it’s supposed to help disadvantaged kids get into college)
summer intern at ucb’s hart lab (eecs)
i have learned indian classical dance for 12 years and performed at a lot of fundraisers. i just recently had my debut solo “graduation” performance
Your resume looks great, but college admissions are complicated. If you are a Caucasian or Chinese female, you are highly undesirable and will be denied admissions when your other race/gender peers are accepted with lower credentials. My college adviser told me that Chinese is worse than Caucasian for girls wanting a top tier college, so if you are mixed race, think carefully about what you declare as your ethnicity. All you can do is apply and keep your fingers crossed. Make your essays amazing, and apply to 2-3 stretch schools (Cal, Stanford, Harvard), 2-3 should-get-in schools (but don’t be surprised if you don’t), and 2-3 safety schools. You’ll see how ridiculous the process is when you start seeing acceptances come in. My best friend got into Cal, denied from Stanford, denied from UCLA, waitlisted by American University, etc. My results look the same. It’s totally random, so don’t take it personally. Lots of life is luck.
hey PNW thank you so much for your advice! I will def keep that in mind when applying.
As a side note, I had been planning to start a nonprofit/program to introduce girls to different parts of stem like robotics and coding or 3d printing, so would that boost my chances at least a tiny amount? Also as a club officer the other officers and I organize a hackathon every year so if I talk about leadership in the process will that help my essays?
Thanks again and sorry if i’m asking so many newbie questions!
also follow up question do colleges expect you to have awards in stuff? b/c i’m not a big fan of competition so i only have a few awards, and besides that i got published for poetry.
if so, then if i compete and win some dance competitions this summer will it help?
thanks
aaand i heard if you intern at berkeley in the department you’re aiming for you’ll have good chances.
since i’m doing that will my chances improve?
thanks again!!!
And I’ve been told that race isn’t supposed to be a factor in admissions decisions at Berkeley…and yet people are still under that impression. You are who you are - you cannot be anything or anyone else. I think your stats are great, and you are showing real demonstrated interest in your desired major. I think you are doing fine. Just make sure your essays are good, and if you are asked to submit LOR’s, do it. College admissions are seemingly random sometimes, so apply to similar schools and don’t get too crushed if you don’t get in where you thought you would.
