Chances at these 6 schools?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello all!</p>

<p>I recently applied to Harvard University, USC, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine, and the University of Miami. It is the end of January and I am really really nervous about my chances. What do you guys think?</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 4.348
Unweighted GPA: 3.87
Class Rank: 8 out of 427
I am part of ELC (UC schools only)</p>

<p>I’ve taken every core Honors and AP class my school has to offer… however instead of AP Calculus, I am taking Statistics at a local Community College.</p>

<p>Best SAT Score total: 1650 :[
Best SAT Score in one sitting: 1580 :[</p>

<p>Extra Curricular Activities/Length/Position:
*ASB (3 years) - President (This year) and Representative (Last 2 years)
*Camp LEAD (2 years) - Student Staff
*Class Activities (1 year) - Junior Class President
*Kiwins Club (1 year) - Member
*Eco Club (2 years) - Member
*Interact Club (2 years) - Member
*KPBS Teen Movie Critic (1 year) - Published Writer
*Peer Mediation (1 year) - Member
*Freshman and JV Football (2 years) - Wide Receiver
*JV Baseball (1 year) - 2nd Baseman</p>

<p>Volunteer:
Middle School AVID Tutor
American Red Cross
St. Vincent De Paul (Homeless Shelter)</p>

<p>Employment:
I work at Reading Cinemas (Movie theater). I am an associate, but I am allowed to train new people.
About 10-12 hours a week during the school year
About 20-25 hours a week during summer, winter, spring break</p>

<p>Area/Family/Misc:
I go to a low to mid income school. My family makes about 26k a year. I am a first generation college student. I am half Chinese and half Vietnamese. In my own time, I create short films and rap. I wrote a novel based on my experiences earlier in high school. It hasn’t been published though. I am very productive when I have a lot of free time.</p>

<p>Awards:
-Principals Honor Roll
-California Scholastic Federation</p>

<p>I have been criticized, by others, for having a “stacked” resume. But my personal statements have said otherwise.</p>

<p>I know Harvard is a leap of faith for me, but I wanted to try. I did well on my interview. I hope to get into USC, Berkeley, and UCLA.</p>

2

<p>I must ask if that is just Math/Reading or your composite score. If the latter, your chances anywhere competitive are very very slim</p>

3

<p>agreed with previous comment. But if your instate aim for 1800 or up higher, and I’ll see you here at Berkeley. Seems like berkeley and other UCs are very generous to their in-state when it comes to standardized testing.</p>

4

<p>My honest assessment:</p>

<p>Harvard: You attended an average/lousy school. Your SATs are probably outside even their Athlete allowance. You are not URM. 1% chance based only on low income and 1st generation. You ducked AP Calculus for the much easier Stats. Where is the evidence that you have the basic preparation & clock speed necessary to keep up at the very fast paced courses at H.</p>

<p>Miami: Grades are great against weakish competition, so adcom will look to SATs to find your native clock speed… Oh, not good there. 30%</p>

<p>UCLA/Berkeley: You will get life-challenges points for sure. They don’t care about ethnicity. GPA will put you in the upper half of admitted students, but SAT will put you into the Recruited Athlete band… 30% for each</p>

<p>Irvine: Does Irvine take ELC students this year? If so, you’re in. If not… 50%. </p>

<p>Did you apply to Santa Barbara, Davis, Santa Cruz and Riverside? Which ones will automatically take ELC this year?</p>

5

<p>OP, regarding ELC, I found this regarding 2011 entering class … don’t know how accurate it is, but seems so:</p>

<hr>

<p>" The UC campuses guaranteeing acceptance to ELC students are:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Davis (provided applicants satisfactorily complete the Subject and Examination requirements)</p></li>
<li><p>Irvine (provided applicants satisfactorily complete the Subject and Examination requirements; does not apply to Dance, Music, Nursing Science, Business Administration, Business Economics and all majors in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences - in these majors, ELC status is given consideration in the comprehensive review process)</p></li>
<li><p>Merced (provided applicants satisfac-torily complete the Subject and Examination requirements)</p></li>
<li><p>Riverside (provided applicants satisfac-torily complete the Subject and Examination requirements)</p></li>
<li><p>Santa Barbara (provided applicants satisfac-torily complete the Subject and Examination requirements)
Source: <a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/files/cc10_frosh_matrix_web_final.pdf[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/files/cc10_frosh_matrix_web_final.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
</ul>

<p>For campuses not guaranteeing ELC, here’s some additional information:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Berkeley - while ELC is considered, the general applicant population is so qualified that the readers are somewhat immune to the effects of ELC.</p></li>
<li><p>UCLA - as of two years ago, UCLA did not consider ELC. However, as of this year, the story changed to “we’ve always considered ELC.” I’m suspicious … that’s all I’m saying.</p></li>
<li><p>UCSD - the campus is on a point-system and there is a category for ELC (300 points) so there is tangible advantage to be ELC. "</p></li>
</ul>

6

<p>So far, I’ve been accepted to UCLA and UMiami. I am still waiting to hear from the other 4 colleges.</p>