What to focus on for admission?!

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Does anyone know what impresses Berkeley? My GPA and SAT 1 are borderline to get in, (4.18 weighted, 2020) but I'm wondering what other things they like to see and that I should work on to have a chance to get in. Please tell me how much they emphasize the following in admissions:</p>

<p>Clubs/Sports/Other EC (i heard theyre not that important for Cal..?)
Volunteer/Community Service
SAT2
Working a Paid Job
Essay</p>

<p>Is there anything I didn't include that is important to have? Also, what is considered the most important/determining factor for admission there? Thanks.</p>

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<p>Edit: Never mind... there is an AznChiBoi8 on an Urban Planning board I frequent.</p>

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<p>oh, ok. </p>

<p>need to fill up space to make this 10 characters...</p>

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<p>Edit: Okay, I see you saw.</p>

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<p>i guess EC's are pretty important, but not much, at least not from my experience. GPA and SAT are the most important. You should focus on getting your SATs higher. After that, I believe, from my experience, that essays are the next in line in importance.</p>

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<p>thanks...do you know if SAT2s are very important? Im retaking my SAT1 and shooting for 2100+ but by SAT2s are 680 for Bio and 740 on MathIIC (retaking math tomorrow). Will that hurt my chances?</p>

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<p>I'm from Illinois and don't understand this unweighted stuff. Can someone please explain how it works?</p>

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<p>i think they are pretty good. Just do well on your math tomm. I guess it wouldn't hurt to take bio one more time. But i think your SAT 2s are fine for berkeley.</p>

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<p>cool..i cant really retake bio because i took it a year ago...kind of forgot everything...also, do you know if they care about your total sat or if they look individually at math/cr/writing</p>

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<p>i believe individual</p>

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<p>where else are you applying</p>

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<p>i will apply to a lot of the UCs...UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD... I've only visited UCB, UCLA, and UCSB so I need to visit the rest as well as other colleges this summer to get more options. However, UC Berkeley is my top choice and definitely where I would go if I could...but I need to think of some back-ups since getting into Cal is going to be tough.</p>

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<p>Oh, and desertfox, in terms of the weighted/unweighted thing. Unweighted is your GPA based on the idea that A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0. For the UC schools, however, extra points are given for AP and honors classes you take. (1 point extra for AP classes, 0.5 for honors). So an A in an AP class is a 5, 4.5 in an honors. UC schools look at your weighted GPA for sophomore and junior years.</p>

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<p>it's not .5 for honors...it's still 1. at least in my school.</p>