JexteLox

got in, deferred admission, 2100 SAT, crap gpa, 9 AP classes by senior year, 3 more in senior year, crap extracurriculars, almost no leadership, mediocre essays, got in!

Slorg

yeah, essays matter. My SAT scores were pretty good - 2270 - but I didn't get into many colleges, I think, cuz my essays were not very good. I stressed out so much that I couldn't write a good one, and when the deadlines came, I just spewed out a couple stories.

My point being, write good essays, have TEACHERS(!!!) edit them, many times, and that'll probably be just as good or better than great SAT scores.

So no, you don't have to be a high achiever to get into Berkeley. I did, but btw you don't have to be a high achiever to get high SAT scores.

cookie4you

no i know i bunch of people who have gotten sat's below 2000, most below 1800...but they all have characteristics that made them cal-worthy