Worth applying?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>My school limits the number of applications to 6, so I have to pick schools wisely. I have decided to apply to schools where I have a chance because I don't want to end up being rejected from all schools. Do I have a decent enough shot to warrant applying?</p>

<p>2280 SAT (800M, 740CR, 740W)
800 Math II, 800 Physics, 800 Chemistry
IB: 43/45 Predicted, Full Candidate
No GPA/Rank/APs offered at my school</p>

<p>8 International Math Competition Awards (nothing amazing, average AIME qualifier level (6 points at AIME))
1 National Award for Business
7 School Awards</p>

<p>President/Founder of 3 Clubs in School
Run successful business
Internship at Barclays
Organized 3 science projects
Student Council
2000 hours of community service
Varsity Basketball
10 Major leadership roles</p>

<p>4 Languages</p>

<p>Chinese
No Financial Aid
Great recommendations/essays.
International Applicant.</p>

2

<p>I think you have a good chance. Definitely do apply!</p>

3

<p>^ Thanks. I hear that the acceptance rate for OOS/international applicants is increasing because of the recession.</p>

4

<p>You have a great shot, definitely apply if you’re interested in Berkeley.</p>

5

<p>i think the “you have a shot” posts are understatements. apply, you’ll get in</p>

6

<p>How is your school allowed to limit the number of apps you submit? Is that legal?</p>

<p>Regardless, you have a great shot at Berkeley.</p>

7

<p>I’ve learnt that UCB doesn’t super-score the SAT, so I thought it would be worth mentioning that my highest in one sitting is actually 2170 (800M, 670CR, 700W). My super-score is 2280.</p>

8

<p>How can your high school limit the amount of schools you’re applying to? They have nothing to do with your college applications.</p>

9

<p>We don’t get to see our recommendations, though our teachers informally tell us what they will write. The school puts the recommendations in and the applications go through the school - they have to attach the transcript and recommendations. So, in that way, they can limit the applications.</p>

10

<p>So in order to apply to schools in the US, you require teacher recommendations?</p>

11

<p>Doesn’t everyone?</p>

12

<p>No, only some schools in the US require letters of recommendation. The UC system does not require letters at the undergraduate level. According to this, you can apply yourself through their online system.</p>

<p>[University</a> of California - Admissions](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/intl/intl_apply.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/intl/intl_apply.html)</p>

<p>The only way your school needs to be involved in the process is that once you are admitted, your high school needs to send an official transcript to the university. Therefore, I think you should apply for as many UCs as you want.</p>

<p>I expect that for most other schools in the United States, you don’t need to apply “through your school,” but can do so through an online application. Your school would need to send letters and transcript when required.</p>

13

<p>Thus, when it comes to sending letters and transcript, the school can track how many schools I have applied to and not send the letters once I have applied to over 6 schools.</p>

14

<p>Well for UC’s, I believe you only have to send transcripts if you are going to enroll. Will you enroll if you get in? It can be pretty expensive.</p>

15

<p>At least for the UCs, you only need to send transcript to the schools you were accepted to. Therefore, you can assume you only need 1 transcript for the UC schools combined and have another 5 open for other schools.</p>

16

<p>and isn’t there any way how to flout that rule? Limiting your college choice to six sounds totally absurd especially given that any school wants their students to get accepted to as many good colleges as possible and this rule basically goes against it (especially if you were seeking financial aid…). Perhaps they might give you an exception… (if you paid some administrative fee so that the school would have no rationale for doing this except for the fact that they are just plainly mean). Otherwise as was already stated, all UC’s according to your school’s system should count as only one school.</p>

17

<p>You only need to send a transcript for the UCs if you attend one - it is sent over the summer to the campus you will attend. Any other UCs that offer you admissions can be ignored, since you are not accepting their offer.</p>

18

<p>How do they judge my course rigor, grades etc. if I do not send them a transcript?</p>

19

<p>When you fill out the UC application, you enter all the classes you have taken to date with their grades, then list your planned coursework for senior year. From that they calculate a UC GPA and assess rigor. It is not the same as you HS GPA, because they look only at academic courses (the a-g categories that are listed on the application), they ignore + or - on grades, and they calculate weighting for honors/AP with a limit on extra credit. </p>

<p>The purpose of the transcript, once you are definitely going to attend, is to verify that the self-reported information is correct and to verify that you met the conditions of admission that come with your offer from the campus. For Cal, those conditions are that you maintain a 3.0 UW average for each semester of senior year and have no D or F grades.</p>

20

<p>The limit is strange but I think with those stats, you can put Berkeley as your safety and apply to even more prestigious schools.</p>