I'm kinda in a dilemma with AP's...

Shubham92 · 05-11-2008, 06:07 PM

Acceptees at berkeley have taken an upwards of 10 AP classes...
I looked at the stats of people accepted at berkeley and very few people who have taken 4 or less AP classes get accepted.

I'm a junior right now.

Ok so, I have the GPA, I the SAT scores within 50-70% of Cal's range, but I have taken ONLY 3 AP classes.

Should I give up all hope right now?

Is there something I can do? Can I got to a community over summer before senior year before applications and get maybe 2 classes in?

Do I even have a slight chance? What can I do? help me...

Chairman Meow · 05-11-2008, 06:12 PM

ONLY 3? Nah, don't worry about it. I never took any APs until 2 junior year (Chem + Calc BC) and 3 senior year (Stats,Gov,CS) but I somehow got into Berkeley. It's fine, just keep up your workload senior year so they don't think you're a slacker.

shadow2 · 05-11-2008, 06:12 PM

You have a good chance. Not everyone at Berkeley was the top in their high school class. If you know someone who currently attends Berkeley, they can attest to Berkeley accepting people who "don't deserve it."

My sister was in an English class her freshman year where half the people were Chinese and couldn't speak a word of English....

cal_diva · 05-11-2008, 06:14 PM

Honestly, when the time came around to apply for Cal, I had only completed 3 AP classes and passed one of the AP tests. It helps to have had a rigorous class schedule for all 4 years and a high weighted GPA/UC GPA, but don't worry yourself about it too much because much depends on how many AP classes your school offers. They just want to see if you've taken advantage of the opportunities available at your school.

Shubham92 · 05-11-2008, 06:19 PM

Thanks, you guys all give me hope

BTW, what year did you guys apply to Berkeley?

QuixoticRick · 05-11-2008, 06:23 PM

I'm a recent 2012 admittee and I "only" took four APs.

Chairman Meow · 05-11-2008, 06:30 PM

I'm a recent 2012 admittee as well.

cal_diva · 05-11-2008, 06:33 PM

I start in the fall!

Shubham92 · 05-11-2008, 06:48 PM

Here's my deal:
I guess I can say that I've had a rigorous schedule, I completed normal physics and chemistry the end of sophomore year and then did Precalculus over the summer at community college in one month and got straight A's in AP calc

My current plan is to do Calc BC over the summer at a community college
I'm also sighed up for 4 AP classes senior year.

I'm sure that doesnt stand out between other applicants but does that make up for the lack of APs?

shadow2 · 05-11-2008, 07:09 PM

What are you ECs?

Shubham92 · 05-11-2008, 07:18 PM

I've played tennis 9, 10, 11 grades (10 and 11 were varsity). This was my primary sport and did kind of an all year thing: I went to clinics and stuff.

I'm also in NHS (National Honor Society) and have done 50 hours through it
I've also done another 40 or so hours of tutoring

I also played soccer in 10 and swam in 9.

I've also had random awards for having straight As (I doubt this counts though).

I guess thats about it...not much...

Questions:
I plan on quitting tennis after this year, will that affect my app?

I'm also going to participate in various clubs next year, but I've heard that colleges don't care about clubs unless you are a founder or have a leadership position. Is this true?

In that case, I plan to start a SAT Club next year for people who want to raise their scores.

Will any of this help?

shadow2 · 05-11-2008, 07:33 PM

The tennis won't really help you if you're not like the top athlete. It's just another EC...

The NHS is again, nothing spectacular. There's nowhere to put that on the UC application, and also, probably a good majority of Berkeley applicants are a member (it's so easy to be a member; also, you are required to do NOTHING as a member).

The community service hours that you have (i hope more than 50) are not really that noteworthy... I've done 1000+, and the average at my school is probably between 300-700 (believe it or not).

The soccer and swimming for 1 year probably aren't anything noteworthy.

Quitting tennis won't affect your app, nor will starting the SAT club. The essays in my honest opinion, is where the decision is made. WORK HARD AND SPEND LOTS OF TIME WRITING YOUR ESSAY!

Shah Rukh Khan · 05-11-2008, 08:07 PM

Shubham beti, fikar na karo, sirf mere filmas deko or ash karo...

If you have pushed yourself to the limit than you diffenitly have a chance, Cal isn't a private university in where they constantly reject seemingly perfect apps. If you have high SATs, high GPa, and a high rank, than you really have less stress.

But that isnt just it. You gotta look at the meanings of your extra-currics, why do you do them? how have they changed you? how have you been a leader and tried to change your community for the better? I personally think extra-curriculars are for oneself, to put oneself in a crucible to make one a better person.
Make your essays meaningful, from what you have told I would say you have a good chance
'12 (uhh how do you chant that? 1 2 !)

Shubham92 · 05-11-2008, 08:10 PM

Whaoh, that's really impressive...1000+
Guess that means I have little to none to put on my ECs...

Thanks very much for the advise.

I'll work extra super hard on my essay.

Shubham92 · 05-11-2008, 08:18 PM

haha thanks khan (that would be "beta" not "beti" :P). I enjoyed the hindi.

Now I truly understand what ECs are for.
Unfortunately, I haven't really done any ECs in which I have to put myself in a leadership position...
But I have this dream that I can come up with a solution to rid the world of poverty...I think this can be a powerful core to my essay.
After living in India for half my life, I have seen plenty that I can relate to.

I read on some other thread that talking about a passion can be an alternative to talking about leadership that you did.

What do you guys think?