<p>Hi everyone. I'm a high school junior who has a 4.5 GPA weighted. i took English Language and Composition AP, Chemistry AP, and Calculus AB AP, 2 electives, and a foreign language (mandarin). I got straight A's this year, so unweighted would be 4.0 i think. My SAT scores are not that great. My SAT reasoning test my highest score was a 1900, 600 in reading, 600 in writing, and a 700 in math. My SAT subject tests i took Chemistry and Math lvl 2. I scored a 670 on both tests. I know my test scores are not the greatest which is why im looking for some advice. Thanks.</p>
<p>I'm heading towards the Bioengineering or a pharmacy major at a UC, private, or University of the Pacific. My goal is now UC Berkely, UC San Diego, UC Davis, or some college that offers a good Bioengineering program or a good pharmacy program like UOP. I want to know what are my chances into getting into the colleges i mentioned. Or maybe some suggestions at any colleges if u think that they are a stretch. I never got a chance to play some sports. But i am an active member in my school's math club, an active member of CSF, and i am thinking about applying to National Honors Society, but i don't know how much that would improve my chance of getting in. I plan on doing some kinda of volunteering during the summer too, either at the local boys and Girls Club, or at a local hospital. Please and Thank you.</p>
<p>Can you list your SAT scores or ACT scores? Your extra curricular? And your unweighted GPA and if there was grade deflation? Et cetera? Most people won’t be able to give good feedback unless they know more about you.</p>
<p>Oh sry i just edited that in. but i’ll repeat again. My unweighted GPA is 4.0. grade deflation. i have no idea what that means sorry. My SAT reasoning test my highest score was a 1900, 600 in reading, 600 in writing, and a 700 in math. My SAT subject tests i took Chemistry and Math lvl 2. I scored a 670 on both tests. No extracurriculars, other than some volunteering from time to time. i did about 20 hours of service my sophmore year. I don’t know if this has anything to do wiht anything, but most of my high school are asians, like i am. So grades are kind of hard to get. two of my classes for APs did curve but by less than one letter. I have not taken ACT. I plan on taking Physics next year. I have a few teachers im going to ask to do my recommendation letters for me. Any other info i can input? this is my first time doing this. Thank you synny201.</p>
<p>Haha, no problem at all. I’m procrastinating away 3 research papers, so I’m more than willing to help.</p>
<p>A 1900/670 seems low for a few of those schools. The fact you lack EC is really going to hurt you, however. UCB looks like it will be a high reach or out of your reach, with UCLA being a reach as it stands. You have a very good GPA, but SAT is definitely lacking, along with ec’s. See if you can get some leadership somewhere, or start a club if you can’t! The volunteering will help.</p>
<p>‘Grade deflation’ refers to a school that has very hard courses, meaning that the highest grade in the class was an A-. Schools like this will rarely see students above a 3.8 UW, but they may still be some of the best students out there.</p>
<p>Asian doesn’t help or harm that much. A large portion of UC students are Asian, so it won’t help, but race never truly harms (it just doesnt stand to increase your chances).</p>
<p>For privates, I would recommend (with your current SAT) Looking into RPI, WPI, and similar schools.</p>
<p>Thank you synny201. I am worried about the my extracurriculars, i planned to join a sport for my senior year, but CIF is cancelling badminton, so my school due to its budget cuts is cutting badminton. Do you know any Ucs that might not be too high of a reach for me but has a pretty good bioengineering undergraduate program? Or maybe some UCs that can be my safety net. </p>
<p>Oh i forgot to mention that i’ve been taking Piano outside of school since the 3rd grade. Im currently preparing for the Level 10 (advanced) test. there are only ten levels. i plan on doing a committee member on my school’s math club, hopefully i get the position ;]. Uhm my brother went to Cal state Pomona in Engineering, and my Sister to UCR for Bio major (Pharmacy). Cal states might be good too. but im the last kid thats suppose to go to some amazing UC. At the moment though, im willing to go anywhere that has a good Bioengineering program. Preferrably on the west coast too. i heard about rennselaer but i don’t ahve much information about their programs. Thanks again synny201 ;]</p>
<p>The other UC are not as rigorous - I don’t know the exact states, but it wouldn’t be too hard.</p>
<p>And yes. Definitely get some EC’s in! UCLA could definitely be your reach. The piano thing is major! Don’t forget to add that. And a leadership position in math club would help as well. :)</p>
<p>RPI is considered one of the better tech schools on the east coast (not comparable to GeorgiaTech, VATech, MIT, etc., but still nothing to scoff at).</p>
<p>I see. I see. Hmm its a private college im presuming? here’s the connecting problem. Acts…I heard that it is more of a speed test and some of my friends ahve scored higher on ACTs than SATs, but i guess with the testing season over its too late. UCLA would be nice. but does it have a bioengineering undergraduate thing? I’m not completely sure on how UCs and Colleges do their programs.</p>
<p>Should of listened to my parents and started early. My thoughts of the future came in this gigantic wave when APs we’re over.</p>
<p>The 1900 on my SATs i received on my first try. I’ve taken it once afterwards but scored a 1870. i have one more “chance” but i don’t want ot take the risk and score lower.
Do you think i should try to join the National Honors Society? Its a formal club that seems to have many members, and its a nation wide thing i think.</p>
<p>Im actually an officer in my chapter of NHS. It never hurts to have on a transcript, especially if your school’s chapter actually does stuff.</p>
<p>And if you dont, then study your arse off for the SAT and retake it. I studied for about 5 months heavily and managed to bring up my practice test score of 1910 to a 2260 on the actual test. And try the ACT. It is a little bit more of a speed test, but the questions tend to be easier as well.</p>
<p>hmm. sadly synny201 im a really big procrastinator. How do you study for the SATs? I can probably take one last SAT in my senior year. So if i can work out a study plan that i cna commit to i’ll study. I’ve gone to tutoring classes from Princeton Review for the SATs which ended last October, and i quickly took the November SAt, which would explain my oddly high to me score. Are there any study materials or mechanisms that you used that you can suggest to me? Thanks.</p>
<p>Two things that really helped were vocab words. I bought the Princeton Review’s 500 most used vocab word flashcards (probably on Amazon) and bought a BUNCH of practice tests with explanations. The best practice for the SAT is doing practice sections, correcting it, and looking at the explanation for your mistakes. I believe Kaplan has a 12-practice test book on Amazon for around $15 which I used heavily.</p>
<p>Ohs. I still have my 12 practice test book from Princeton. Alot of which i’ve alreayd written on. So there are maybe 3-4 practice tests that i haven’t written on. I’ve also go a couple college boards books, one for the new Sat and one from the Old. (the joys of having siblings). I also have this vocab book, but its pretty old. I have this seperate Princeton Review book that has vocab words in the back. And a Kaplan 2400 book. </p>
<p>When you were studying, did u do full length practice tests from the books?</p>
<p>No. I ended up doing about 1 section of each per week for a couple months. Again – the SAT is very unusual in its qualms and quirks. The more you practice, the more you get used to them. There’s a certain mindset for the CR readings, and the writing really is just grammar (I had my mother tutor me in grammar, I was very bad at it). The essays they want ARENT grade 10,11,12, or college level papers. They want essays that have a 4 line intro, basic examples for each(Historial/Personal/etc), and a basic conclusion. </p>
<p>The May prompt for the essay was “Can small decisions have large consequence?”. I wrote a short 4 to 5 line intro, and then used my dad fishing, Hitler falling asleep during WW2, and my dad speeding as examples for small decisions having large consequences. The essays are really just the ability to write at a 6th grade level very well.</p>
<p>Ohs ok. Thanks Synny201 you’ve been a really big help ;] I took the March SAT which is where i scored the 1870. Essays i usually score a 8, reading and writing are definitely not my strong suits despite being in English AP.</p>
<p>BBB… Big Blue Book. If you don’t have it, get it and make really good friends with it! :)</p>
<p>You will def bring up your CR by taking the practice tests, identifying where your problem areas are, and studying the test taking skills. The SAT is full of double negatives. It is not always what you know, but do you know what they are asking you? You have to learn to speak their language. For some students it seems to be their native tongue, for others it takes studying. For the written, make sure you understand exactly what you are being ‘graded’ on. How many concrete details are you supposed to have? It’s not enough to simply write about the prompt. There is actually a formula to it.</p>
<p>I’m sure you can bring up the SAT. It is not the end all and be all of college admissions. It is simply a box to check off your application and say ‘yes, WJrG meets the criteria for standardized scores, let’s see what makes her really stand out’. Can you get in with lower scores? Absolutely! However you’d rather not start with application process with ‘hmmm, scores are a bit below our criteria but let’s see what else WJrG has going on’. In the second example you are behind the curve starting out.</p>
<p>Good luck! Prepare for the test as much as you do one of your writing competitions. It’s dry and boring, but the payoff is a great relief! :)</p>
<p>WorriedJrGirl, just a quick word on R.P.I… It’s a bit more selective than synny201 may realize. For the class of 2013 the mean SAT was about 1354/1600 and about 1985/2400. Based upon current data the class of 2014 should be about 1370/1600 and 2000/2400. That’s the same range as GaTech and certianly higher than VaTech.</p>
<p>The CR 600 is probably going to put you out of the running at UC Berkeley and even the 700 in math is not going to be exceptional by U.C. Berkeley engineering standards. You probably would be competitive at the other UCs except for UCLA and you would definitely be accepted at any of the CSUs with the possible exception of Cal Poly SLO where even a 700 in math is not uncommon for that school’s Engineering majors.</p>