TL;DR
I’m very worried about my grades and my test scores if they don’t go up after this latest sitting, but I think my essays recommendation letters and essays may bring me up, as well as my extracurriculars if they shine as much as I hope they will.
I’ve tried to tell myself that Berkeley may be out of my reach, but I can’t help but feel that I should apply anyways since I want to major in physics and math and Berkeley is pretty much the best school for this major. Except for maybe MIT. Here are my stats so far:
Highest ACT Single Sitting: 31
Highest SAT Single Sitting: 1410 (But I think I did a little better the last time I took it, maybe between a 1450-1500).
Projected SAT Subject Tests: Math 2 (800) Physics (780ish)
GPA Weighted out of 6.0: 4.79
GPA Unweighted out of 4.0: 3.61
AP Human Geography (3)
AP Psychology (5)
AP Macroeconomics
AP United States History
AP Calculus AB/BC (5… almost positive)
AP Language and Composition
Senior Course Load:
AP Physics 1
AP Computer Science Principles
AP Environmental Science
AP Statistics
AP Comparative Government
Extracurricular:
Volunteering: like 40 hours (blegh, we all know volunteering is meaningless to most of us)
Clubs: TSA 10th 11th and soon to be 12th (Vice President), Mu Alpha Theta 10th 11th 12th, Rho Kappa 11th.
Other:
I’m working through several online courses from RiceX and other big institutions on edX on Electricity and Magnetism and Plasma Physics. I will soon begin doing some research at Queens. Hopefully I can gather some more volunteer hours throughout the summer. Two solid recommendations from teachers that loved me and saw me as a hard worker. My essays will be phenomenal, I’m confident of that. I am a good writer and it is something I started very early on.
Your SAT is better than your ACT- submit it instead.Your UW GPA is a bit low for Berkeley, but not bad. Is your UW GPA your UC GPA? Or just an UW GPA?
Definitely put the EdX courses on your application. I think you have a chance!
calculate your UC GPA. Its really different. That will tell you your chances
Hey newkidnewtrix, my unweighted GPA is calculated the same as my UC GPA unweighted. My UC GPA Weighted is a 4.0 flat I believe, which from my research is very low for UC Berkeley - however UC GPAs are a little lower for out of state students I believe, because only AP classes are counted as “honors” courses. Either way, a 4.0 is quite low for a UC Berkeley applicant.
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19:
UCB: 14%
UCLA: 14%
UCSD: 44%
UCSB: 54%
UCD: 58%
UCI: 65%
UCSC: 85%
UCR: 94%
UCM: 96%
Are your parents OK with paying full fees at $60K/year to attend? Little to no financial aid available to out of state students.
Thanks @Gumbymom for the stats, those help a lot. I will be looking at scholarships that I can apply for to try and reduce the cost, but I also want to know if its worth applying considering that my GPA is much lower than the usual applicants’ GPA. My parents will be able to contribute about half, and the rest is something I need to think about myself.
The best scholarships come from the school itself. Based on your stats, you would not qualify, usually top 1-2% of applicants. Run the Net price calculator on the website to check for affordability. Trying to get scholarships that will cover 4 years for 1/2 of the COA will be very tough.
http://financialaid.berkeley.edu/tags/net-price-calculator
@Gumbymom yeah that is something I need to keep in mind. I may be willing to pay loans worst case but I eventually want to get my doctorate, which will bring up more financial issues, so it’ll be rough.