Hey, board,
I know that people hate the “what are my chances” threads, especially when people are talking about selective schools, but I’d just like to get a second opinion on what my chances should be for Berkeley this coming cycle.
Intended Major - Sociology
Some Biographical Details - First Generation College Student, Economically Disadvantaged (see Questbridge. My school has never had someone go to a college with less than 20% acceptance rate, I have a number of recommenders
Testing
ACT - 32 November, taking again in September (expecting 34)
SAT - none
SAT II - USH (expecting 780-800) Bio (expecting 760-800)
AP - APUSH (5), AP Human Geography (5), AP Biology (expecting 5), AP Comparative Government (self-studied, expecting 4 or 5)
Academics
1st in my class out of 270
4.0 out of 4.0 GPA
4.65 (approx.) weighted GPA
5.597/6.00 on my school’s scale
A+ in every course ever taken, all PAP and AP plus 3 Dual-Credit courses (English, Sociology, and Psychology at local community college).
My UC GPA is probably around a 4.3
Distinctions and Awards
National Speech and Debate Association, 2016, 2017, 2018
• Special Distinction in Speech and Debate
• Honorary Degree in National Forensics League
• Competed two times in International Extemporaneous Speech at the National Tournament
Texas Forensic League, 2018
• Three-time TFA tournament champion and state qualifier in Foreign Extemporaneous Speech
• Two-time TFA tournament champion and state qualifier in Cross-Examination Debate
Sherpa Learning 2017 APUSH DBQ Contest Finalist and Recognized Essay
Outstanding Student – UIL Current Issues and Events, UIL Informative Speech, 2016, 2017, 2018
Texas Music Scholar, 2018
Yale Young Global Scholar – Politics, Law, and Economics, 2018
Questbridge College Prep Scholar, 2018
Published Author, “A Minute in the Mind of the Mustangs,” a school-wide novel published my junior year that I edited and wrote the foreword for.
ECs
Speech and Debate
Captain junior year, regional champion in speech sophomore and junior year, lead community outreaching funding programs
AP for Success
Founded and presided over a campus-wide academic program focused on improving student AP scores, college admission access, and also conducted research with my school’s administration in analyzing student performance and college aspirations.
Millennial Progressive
Founded and was Editor-in-Chief of a student-led, independent newspaper that writes articles on social progress and news, and published a monthly journal on social philosophy. Submitted cited papers to both the Journal of Social Philosophy and the Nous Journal
One Act Play
Acted in and student directed One Act Play shows
National Honor Society
Vice president, led community program to raise money for economically disadvantaged youth, presided over community service outreach
Community Service
Mustangs Help Mustangs
Tutored middle school students in English, science and history weekly with my school’s “Mustangs Help Mustangs” program, assisting students in homework, grade-improving strategy, and skill building.
Beto O’Rourke Senate Campaign
Lead community canvassing efforts and grassroots organization, both taking calls, texting, and leading door-knocking efforts in June of my junior year.
Why Berkeley?
- I am planning to write about how Berkeley sociology was first introduced to me by a friend at Yale, which made me change my perspective on it from a series of numbers and arbitrary data to something impactful and critical for change. I am going to compare Berkeley itself to this realization - a school that once was just numbers and high-ranking statistics that I thought I could never achieve that I realized was at the center of what I loved in life and could be critical for contributing to society and creating the commentary the world needs today.
Personal Essay -
This essay is going to be a story about how I grew up, I don’t want to spoil a lot of it, but the premise follows as such: when I was young, I used to make my own faux nation-states, with drafted constitutions and regimes and militaries and languages, and creating societies and organizing them was ironically my escape from my own social status - I grew up harsh, with little money, moving house to house, always insecure. I will discuss how creating societies in my mind, organizing them, and making myself “king” helped me to realize that I was not the product of what I was born into, but was rather capable of moving my dreams of constitutions, parliamentary sessions, and sovereign status to actual goals for a future that didn’t have to be limited.