For the sake of straightforwardness I’m going to borrow the format used in CC result threads.
SAT: 2230 - 750 R, 770 M, 710 W
ACT: 34 composite, 34 english, 35 math, 33 reading, 33 science, 21 writing (I know my writing score sucks, I did zero preparation and was unfamiliar with the format, received an 8/12, which translates into a 21)
SAT II: 790 Bio, 750 Math, 740 US History, 730 Chem (taken as a soph, unsure of whether to send). I also plan on taking the physics subject test this fall
GPA: 3.8 UW, 4.7 W
UC GPA: 3.93 UW, 4.29 W, 4.21 Weighted and Capped
APs: 5s on AP Lang, APUSH, Bio, 4 on comp sci
Senior Year Courseload: AP Lit, AP Euro, AP Econ, AP Calc AB, AP Chem, AP Physics C, AP French
Awards: an article I wrote for the school paper was selected and featured on Best Of SNO, Silver on the National Latin Exam, National Honors Society, Language Honors Society, school recognition for valuable contribution to biology league and gymnastics team. Probably only going to include the first award on this list because the rest of them are kinda dumb.
ECs: editor for school newspaper, founder/president of a creative writing club that collaborates with the english department to hold an annual open mic night and raise money for child literacy charities, student govt VP and former secretary. Less meaningful ECs include varsity track, varsity gymnastics, math league, bio league, CFO for my school’s literary magazine, founder of psych club, founder of fishing club. I plan on joining robotics this year just for fun.
Job/Work: Medical office assistant every summer at my grandfathers practice, volunteer/intern at Asian Women In Business, $$$ from gigs shredding the bass in my band
Volunteer: see above, also I go with interact club to the old people home
Summer Activities: job/work + rotary short term youth exchange program to japan the summer before senior year
Out-of-state, asian female
One of my weaknesses is that I had no idea that I wanted to go into engineering until taking physics junior year. Because of this, I have no STEM related ECs to show for. Just a bunch of humanities stuff. Also I was placed into Calc AB instead of BC, though I am trying to waive up. I know I may not have an outstanding background in STEM, but I am more than eager to pour my heart and soul into learning and growing and becoming.
Another big issue is that I have a traffic misdemeanor, and I’m still going to be 17 while applying so my record will not yet be sealed. I’m probably going to lose character points or whatnot… I don’t know. Would it help or hurt to write an essay/supplement/explanation about what I’ve learned from the mistake and how I’ve matured into a better person since?
A few questions,
On the UC application, there is only room for 5 ECs. Which one’s would benefit my application the most?
Are there certain engineering majors at Berkeley that are easier to get into than others? For example, I remember reading that engineering undeclared is harder to get into because of the large volume of applicants. Ideally I would like to apply for EECS+Business because I enjoyed AP comp sci and my teacher truly inspired me to continue programming, but I would also be happy doing mechanical, civil, and maybe chem.
Should I mention my band anywhere in my application? I know the first thing that comes to mind when someone says “high school band” is a bunch of teens noisemaking in someone’s garage, but we take ourselves seriously and I put a lot of time into my instrument. We have a makeshift studio and produce/master our own tracks and have a few originals.
I also plan on applying to UCLA, Carnegie Mellon, Harvey Mudd, UPenn, Cornell, Cooper Union. I realize that these are all probably high matches and reaches, so what would be some other good options in terms of match and safety schools?