Ask Questions about UC Berkeley

Colleges & Universities University of California - Berkeley
1

Hey everyone!

I’m a UC Berkeley graduate with two degree in Public Health and Neurobiology. I’m currently applying to medical school, but I absolutely love answering questions that students have about UC Berkeley and college in general.

College is an intense time for everyone and it’s important to have accurate information before you start! Let me know if I can lend you a hand at any time :slight_smile:

MODERATOR’S NOTE: Anyone is free to ask or answer question sin this thread.

2

Hello.
I am currently a freshman at high school. I have average of 3.58 GPA. I am planning to take honors next year because there was none offered this year. I am not involved in any clubs as of now. Although I have done volunteer hours. I am planning to start a history bowl next year and join the tennis team. I am taking sat prep courses. What would you reccomend. I also know that my GPA is a bit low although what screwed me over was Health and Art. My Math grade was a B plus and my English and Science were As.

3

Hey Jem12345,

Definitely don’t freak out about the GPA. I have tons of friends that got into Cal with a 3.5 (albeit, it is not too common).

With that being said, the first thing I would recommend is to NOT overload on the honors classes for the sake of your GPA. I got into Cal, and I had only taken 3-4 AP Classes. That’s because I took the AP classes I was interested in, and ultimately, that helped me do well. Unfortunately, if I had overloaded on too many honors/APs, I probably would have screwed myself over simply because it can get overwhelming. So, in the end, I would recommend maybe taking 1-2 honors classes and building yourself UP from there. Colleges want to see that you know how to pick yourself up from failure/hardships. In your case, even though you started with a 3.5 GPA, if you end HS with a 3.7 (cumulative), that will LOOK REALLY GOOD. Because it’ll show that you took more and more challenging classes and picked yourself up from a rough start.

Also, what are you planning to do in college? If you have a rough idea, you want to cater your AP/honors classes toward that goal. For example, I wanted to do biology in college, so I took most of my honors/AP classes related to science.

Let me know if you have more Qs!

4

thanks. I am planning to go to the medical field. I mean my parents want me to go to India/Pakistan for medical school. Cheap/less time. However this is more like a back up. However I don’t want to put all my hopes into one thing. The problem with what I have is for Pakistani medical colleges need physics, science, and chemistry. The problem is that doesn’t leave any room to take AP classes. Should I take community college classes. I really plan to to do better in the sophomore year. In 9th grade I had a lot of problems and also suffered from cancer earlier. Will colleges take that in consideration. How important is the SAT. What about the clubs and volunteer work. Thanks for all your help.

5

Also how did your friends do it. I am reading that it’s so competitive that people with 4.0s are being rejected.

6

Cool, I’m going into medicine too! I just finished the medical application process (and it’s pretty brutal).

If you are worried about not having enough time to take classes, I recommend the following:

  1. I think it would be in your best interest to take AP classes during high school (in other words, don't worry about not having finished as the pre-med requirements to Pakistani medical schools). That way, you leave the door open to get into a great undergraduate college in the US (if you end up wanting to go that route after four years).
  2. On the other hand, if, in four years, you decide you want to go to medical school in Pakistan, you can easily fulfill the prerequisites in 6 months at a community college. It is getting more and more common for high school students to take a year off after high school and use it to fulfill requirements that meet whatever you seek to do next in life :)

To answer your questions about the SAT:

  1. Personally, I don’t value the SAT very much. Once you’re in college, no one even talks about the SAT. I think the fundamentals of the SAT just judge whether you have the knowledge and skill-set to succeed in college. With that being said, I personally got a 2060 on the SAT and then a 2190 the second time I took it. I think anything above a 2000 is fairly competitive (though for ivy leagues, I think 2200+ is the norm). Nevertheless, don’t think the SAT is everything. There is so much more to life than the SAT and I personally think it says nothing about your ability to eventually succeed in college and life thereafter. Friends of mine that got 2300+ on their SATs barely graduated from Cal.

How important are ECs?

  • Fairly important. This does not mean go out and do 1239012839 activities so colleges know you are super involved. Rather, it means find your PASSIONS. What are you passionate about? What do you enjoy? For example, one of my friends was very into applying science so his main EC was this club called Science Bowl. And that was pretty much his only EC. However, he was SO involved in that EC that he went to nationals and won 3rd place. He later became my roommate in college. This just goes to show that it’s quality - not quantity - of your ECs that matter. College don’t care if you did 50 billion things. They’d rather have you do 5-10 things that shaped you as a person and defined your life goals.

I’m so sorry to hear about your health issues. That’s definitely something colleges will consider. However, you want to show college how this impacted you and what you learned from it. Remember, colleges (rightfully so) are seeking students that know how to OVERCOME challenges. So, in your regard, you want to talk about what your health taught you and how you learned from it. That will go a long way.

I hope that answered your questions!

7

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.

8

Don’t know if people are just shy, but I’m still here to help guys! I’m sure college app season isn’t entirely underway yet, but you should get a LEG UP by starting early and researching colleges now!

9

Is it possible to get into UC Berkeley OOS without taking an art course?

10

@leaguemaster420: A year long VPA course is required for all UC’s. UCB will review your application, but if you do not meet the a-g course requirements, then mostly likely you will be rejected. You can take an approved on-line course such as Computer Graphic design or 1 semester of an Art course at a local community college to fulfill the requirement. You could also take the AP Art History exam to fulfill the requirement. All CA HS students are required to take a VPA course, why should OOS applicants be an exception?

Here are ways of meeting the requirement:
F) Visual and performing arts

UC-approved high school courses

One yearlong course of visual and performing arts chosen from the following: dance, drama/theater, music or visual art

AP or IB examination

Score of 3, 4 or 5 on the AP History of Art, Studio Art or Music Theory Exam;

score of 5, 6 or 7 on any one IB HL exam in Dance, Film, Music, Theatre Arts or Visual Arts

College courses

Grade of C or better in any transferable course of 3 semester (4 quarter) units that clearly falls within one of four visual/performing arts disciplines: dance, drama/theater, music or visual art