*WILL CHANCE BACK* Chance me for Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Anxious senior trying to see how his peers would rank him in the grand scheme of UC admissions. Any and all feedback is appreciated, I can chance you back too. Thanks! </p>

<p>Berkeley: Applying for Comp Sci, Letters and Science (not EECS)
UCLA: Comp Sci
UCSD: Comp Sci</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2000
ACT: N/A
SAT II: Regrettably taken at the last second, so I didn't do well. 670 math II and 650 english. I didn't include these at all on my UC app, how do you think this affects my chances?
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): UC 3.86 (and that's UC weighed, so maybe 3.7 UC unweighed if they take that into consideration?)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn't rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (4), English Lang (4), APES (4), World History (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Comp Sci, AP English Lit, History 4 Honors, Calculus, Physics, Intermediate Dance
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, a few honors awards at school, 1st place large group hip hop in national dance competition (non-academic)</p>

<p>Coursework Other Than A-G:
(I'm very uncertain as to how much value they will place on this section.)
*Persian school for 9 years. Fluent and literate in Farsi.<br>
*Algorithms: Design and Analysis, Part 1
Online course offered by Stanford University through Coursera, from July 1 August 12 2013.
*Algorithms: Design and Analysis, Part 2
Online course offered by Stanford University through Coursera, from September 2 October 14 2013
*Introduction to Logic
Online course offered by Stanford University through Coursera, from September 30 November 25.
*Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship
University of Maryland, College Park, via Coursera, Sept 30 Nov 10. </p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): </p>

<p>*Competitive studio dancer, many hours a week, along with competitions. Throughout all of high school
*Founder of Guy's Dance Crew at school, goal is to promote male participation in dance
*Co-Founder of Persan Cultural Club
*Co-Leader of Civic Leadership Council, school government group that manages community service activities
(Am I really stupid for not including programming apps and a personal website as my fifth extracurricular? I thought my internships and coursework other than A-G were enough to explain my programming experience, but I now that I think about it I shouldn't have left the fifth spot blank here.)</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: </p>

<p>*Legacy Fndn paid internship
Designed, programmed, tested, and installed 3 custom built solar water heaters onto homes in Madre Salve, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
*NextBio Software Dev Intern
Part of a 5 person team tasked with implementing company's database onto iOS platform using Xcode SDK and knowledge of ObjectiveC computer language.
* Local dry cleaner, shop worker
My job consisted of scanning clothing, organizing route deliveries, sweeping floors, etc.</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service:</p>

<p>*Food Not Bombs
Serving food to underserved people on the streets of San Francisco.
*Pledge To Humanity
I am a student ambassador. Manage and promote both local and international scale projects for the nonprofit.<br>
*St. Anthony Padua Dining Hall
Volunteer, Cleaning, preparing, and serving meals to underserved community members.
*Second Harvest Food Bank
Volunteer, organizing food products.<br>
*Peru Immersion Program
Attended high school immersion service trip to Peru. Built homes, worked at an all girls orphanage, ran a food drive for the Mission we stayed at.</p>

<p>Summer Activities: Internships and jobs listed above</p>

<p>Essays:
*For the second prompt I wrote about my Tourette Syndrome, essentially metaphorically referring to it as the bull within me, has been destructive, but ultimately drives me to push past my comfort zone and take on challenges and opportunities I wouldn't have been able to achieve without it. Teachers and counselor liked it, so I guess 9/10
*First prompt I wrote about how people search their whole lives for goals and ideal life with socioeconomic status, but are really just chasing a mirage. How I realize my life is really a mirage, although many people would stive to have my life, and how I pursuit an oasis/truth through social justice and using code to do this. Also a lot of metaphor. 8/10
Teacher Recommendation: N/A for UCs since they don't consider them.
Counselor Rec: Again, N/A
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Small, competitive private
Ethnicity: Iranian. Although it goes under White.
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None that I know of</p>

<p>Reflection:</p>

<p>My only hope is that they find my app unique. Male dancer, are impressed my experience with computer science and internships, having Tourette Syndrome, leadership positions. Other than that, my grades and test scores will kill my chances.</p>

<p>Strengths: Coursework other than A-G (if they value this really), Extracurriculars, essays, internships/jobs
Weaknesses: GPA and test scores are the bane of my application. For a top UC, they just aren't at that level</p>

<p>Thank you in advance!</p>

2

<p>

</p>

<p>The UC schools have opted out of Score Choice, so you had to include them on your application. Fortunately, they no longer consider SAT II scores.</p>

<p>As for your chances: while it’s true that the UC schools are becoming more holistic when reviewing applications, they still value the “numbers” a little more than other schools do. That being said, your SAT score could possibly hurt your chances a little more than it usually would, especially for Berkeley. I would say that Berkeley is a reach, UCLA is a high match, and UCSD is a match. But then again, UC schools are pretty hard to chance for, because their admissions are pretty unpredictable.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1590503-chance-me-uchicago.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1590503-chance-me-uchicago.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>I honestly think you’re going to get into all the UCs. Chance me back: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1589633-chance-me-low-act-superb-unique-ecs-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1589633-chance-me-low-act-superb-unique-ecs-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Thank you for your answers. I will chance you back right now. Careful, thank you for mentioning Score Choice; I am aware that they don’t require the SAT II anymore, however, it seems most applicants who get in have taken them and received good scores. So I’m guessing it would have helped if I had done well on the SAT IIs. Also thank you for being honest about the “numbers.” I know that grades and SAT/ACT scores are the driving determinant of an application, so like you said, I will keep it in mind. </p>

<p>Im curious however as to why you consider UCLA a high match. I did another post where people understandably thought Berkeley would be a reach, yet people seem to think UCLA is a match for me. From what I know, UCLA is even more GPA/SAT focused, so I though UCLA would be my biggest reach. Maybe there is another factor that I’m not aware of. Anyone care to explain?</p>

5

<p>Again, will chance back. Bump!</p>

6

<p>Please remember UC’s won’t include Freshman year in your combined GPA.
You have a “solid” shot in both these schools
Chance back
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1590536-will-freshman-year-ruin-my-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1590536-will-freshman-year-ruin-my-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>I personally think UCLA is a reach/low reach for you, and UCSD could be a low match, even a safety. Chance me back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1589963-chance-me-bowdoin-ed2-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1589963-chance-me-bowdoin-ed2-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>Your ECs and Essays push you over the edge and you get in, in my opinion</p>

<p>Chance me back please! <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1590671-will-chance-back-chance-ucb-ucla.html#post16704435[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1590671-will-chance-back-chance-ucb-ucla.html#post16704435&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>Thank you for your opinions, helps me form a more accurate idea of where I stand. I chanced you all back btw.</p>

<p>Bump, anyone else?</p>

10

<p>You will def get into UCSD. But the others are up in the air.</p>

11

<p>Wow you think so? That’s reassuring thank you. I also feel like the other 2 are up in the air. </p>

<p>Anyone else have input to give me a more accurate and informed opinion?
I will chance back if you leave your thread in your comment.</p>

12

<p>bump because I’m eager to get your opinions :)</p>

13

<p>bumping again lol</p>

14

<p>Wow I think you are easily in UCLA and UCSD. Berkely is the hardest UC school to get into, and is always very random in their selection process. But, I think you will get in there too :)</p>

<p>Chance me back! <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1591026-chance-me-university-washington.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1591026-chance-me-university-washington.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

15

<p>Yes, I will keep in mind that Berkeley is definitely the most unpredictable and. I can’t believe how many of you think I will get into UCLA, this is great! Maybe I overestimated how hard it is to get into UCLA. Or maybe it seems other factors of my app are able overshadow mediocre grades and SAT in a way. </p>

<p>Thank you for all your opinions, I have chanced everyone back. If anyone else has input, criticism, anything, I would love to hear it! :)</p>

16

<p>Bump bump!</p>