I wanna apply computer science at Berkeley but I’m not very confident I can get it. I would be willing to apply under a different major if I have no chance at computer science. Please help me have an idea if I have a chance.
-California resident
-Race: Black
ACT: Composite - 33, English - 35, Math - 27, Reading - 34, Science - 34 (I retook the ACT and hope to improve my math score by a fair amount)
-SAT Subject Tests: Chemistry - 640, Math II - 580 (I was really disappointed with these and don’t know if I should submit them but, oh well)
-Unweighted UC GPA: 3.97
-Weighted UC GPA: 4.17
Class Rank: 4/395
Freshman:
English Language Arts 9 Honors
World Geography/Healthy Living
Geometry
Biology
French 1
Sophomore:
English Language Arts 10 Honors
AP European History (3)
Algebra 2/Trig Honors
Chem Honors
French 2
Junior:
AP Language/Comp (4)
AP US History (4)
AP Art History
Pre-Calc
AP Chemistry (4)
French 3 Honors
Senior:
AP Biology
AP Psychology
AP Literature/Comp
AP Government
AP Calc AB
Physics
Economics
Work Experience: Referee for the youth soccer league, Tutor for elementary school students
Volunteering: Volunteer for Public Library - 400 hours from 8th to 12th grade, Key Club - 25 hours
Extracurriculars:
-Treasurer of French Club (10-12)
-Key Club
-Traveling soccer team (8-12)
-Varsity tennis team (11-12)
-National Science Bowl (12)
Honors/Awards:
-Member of the Honorary Society of French
-AP Scholar with Honor
-Principal’s Scholar Honor Roll
Admission into the college of letters and science isn’t major dependent, so you’re chances are the same as any other major outside of the college of engineering and chemistry, and you do stack up pretty well. I wouldn’t submit the math subject test score though.
I would not submit your math 2 score. Since you are applying for CS, it would come up as a huge red flag, especially in conjunction with your act math subscore.
ok. also, i took the act and scored another 33 but my math went up to a 32 this time. would it be better to submit this one instead even though my english and reading went down? cause ucs don’t superscore.
At Berkeley there is EECS in the college of engineering, and CS in the college of letters and science. To get into EECS/engineering, you have to apply directly as a freshman. It is very competitive, and if you don’t get in there is no second chance to get into a different major. Furthermore, college of engineering applicants are required to submit SAT Math II subject test score, along with a science SAT II score. This is true for most CS programs at the UCs (maybe not for Santa Cruz?). You should check here:
With your scores, I would suggest that you apply to Letters and Science at Berkeley (major doesn’t matter for admissions to that college). And if your goal is to get into Berkeley, I think you have a shot at L&S, but I wouldn’t submit the SAT II scores at all. The trouble is that if you’re set on doing CS somewhere in the UC system, then not submitting the SAT II scores would take you out of the running for CS at several campuses. Still, since these are very competitive as well, I think your best overall strategy is to not submit the SAT II scores. You would have a shot at admission to CS at Santa Cruz, Davis, and maybe Irvine.
If you do get into Berkeley L&S, then you can try to get into the CS major after your sophomore year. If you don’t make it, you can still major in math or a related field.
Regarding your ACT, the UCs claim that they look at just your highest combined score, but I would send both of them. They might notice that you did better on math the second time.
I’m pretty sure if you want to send any SAT score, you have to send all. And same with ACT. So you are not supposed to pick which scores are sent. However, what you do nobody will know.
All SAT I and/or ACT scores need to be sent. Since SAT II tests are recommended not required, you can choose which tests to send. Remember Recommended tests usually means required for competitive majors and schools.