CHANCE ME for UC Berkeley!

PikachuRocks15
Fri, 07 Aug 2020 04:18:54 +0000

Disclaimer: I am an incoming First-Year at Brown who declined his admission to UC Berkeley, but my advice should still apply.

I had similar stats when I applied this year so you are good there. However, Berkeley, and most other similar colleges, utilize your academics (grades/GPA/test scores) to assess your capability to cope with the coursework at their school, after this, it’s up to your extracurricular activities and essays to demonstrate how Berkeley (or any other college) is the right place for you due to specific opportunities the school has and how you decided on your major by taking advantage of the resources in your high school. Also, applying for a less competitive major like Public Health, which I did, instead of Bio/CS makes admission to Berkeley easier, and you can always choose to double major later if you would like. Unfortunately, I am not very familiar with UC Berkeley’s Environmental Design program, but if it is a more niche program, it can be easier if you have extracurricular activities that show a strong interest in the field. At the end of the day however, make sure you are applying for a major that supports the “story” your application is telling, as I applied to Public Health only because I had extracurricular activities and courses (public health education work, courses at the local community college etc.) that clearly showed that I was truly interested in Public Health.

Also, as other posters on this thread have noted, Berkeley offers few scholarship to out of state applicants (primarily regents, which is only for 100-200 students every year,) and financial aid. Plan on being full-pay at Berkeley if you decide to attend, or move to California to establish residency (your parents will likely have to do this, however, as residency for undergraduate students is usually determined by where your parents live.)

Hope this helps! Good luck with admissions!