Extreme Reach...

Colleges & Universities University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I am going to be a senior next year, I am worried about where I might end up. So please help me out to get an idea of where I stand. Well here it is…</p>

<p>Ethnicity/Sex: Indian Male</p>

<p>State: CA</p>

<p>Parent’s Income: My parents BOTH lost their jobs this year, most of my junior year was on my parents savings and unemployment. My mom recently got her job back, my dad just got his as well; he works in Boston now, and now I am living with my mom and my brother. But, as I said before, they both lost their jobs this year; which was my worst year GPA wise (If that helps at all). When they both have a job, I think they make around 100k-130k.</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.417
UC GPA: 3.65ish
W GPA: 3.7ish</p>

<p>=( My Ultimate downfall. </p>

<p>Class Rank: 70-80/ 515 Top 20% for sure, UC wise, maybe top 10%?</p>

<p>SAT: 2050
Math: 680 =/
Writing: 680
Reading: 690</p>

<p>SAT 2:
Math: 670. (Retaking aiming for 750+, 800)
History: 630
Chem: In Oct. (Going for 750+, 800)</p>

<p>AP/HON:</p>

<p>My courses have been very rigorous. I have taken 3 or 4 Hon/AP out of 6 classes every year. We cant take AP classes till our Junior year… So, One AP Junior year, 4 next year. Total Hon/ AP classes: 14</p>

<p>USH: 3
Calc AB or BC: Next Year
Stats: Next Year
Gov: Next Year
Ecom: Next Year</p>

<p>EC’S:</p>

<p>Summer Classes:</p>

<p>Took Psychology at a CC my Sophomore summer and got an A</p>

<p>This Summer, I am taking Chem 1A at UC Berkeley through the pre-collegiate program. It is a Undergrad class offered for High school students with a better then a B average. My parents had to bust out a lot of money for this, they insisted I go here, instead of a CC. Its basically a Berkeley class, you get 4 UC credits, a Letter of Recommendation and so on. Hoping to do well in this and get an 800 on Chem SAT.</p>

<p>Clubs:</p>

<p>Mediocre here… CSF 3 years.</p>

<p>Volunteering:</p>

<p>I have worked at a local community center for a program called Teen Leadership Academy. They say working there is as good as being on ASB, Boy Scouts,etc…</p>

<p>Freshman Summer: 88 hours
Sophomore Summer: 80 Hours
Junior Summer: I hope to do 40+ hours, will have to try to do this with my summer class.</p>

<p>I tutored math at my school for 30 hours my Junior year, 2 hours a week through the course of the year.</p>

<p>Total: Before summer: 198. After Summer: Prob will have 235-250.</p>

<p>Major: Engineering, any of these three will suffice: Electrical, Chemical, Bio.</p>

<p>I would like to go to a mid tier or high tier UC if possible. </p>

<p><strong><em>Special for Cal</em></strong></p>

<p>I absolutely LOVED Berkeley over the summer summer. As far as my success in Chem 1A, I ended up getting a solid B, was 6 points (1.2%) from a B+. I got a 67.5% on my 1st midterm, due to pressure. I followed it up by getting a 89% (2nd Mid Term), and a 95% (Third Midterm) and ended in with a 92% on the final. Most Cal students were struggling in this class as well, and other high school students received C’s as their final grades. </p>

<p>Anyway, I felt like this class was a life changing event, is it a good idea to write about it for my Personal statement?</p>

2

<p>The first mt was a *****. I dropped the class after that.</p>

3

<p>^Yeah it was pretty hard, but my grade should have been better. What did you get? </p>

<p>Chance me people! And answer my personal statement question. Thanks!</p>

4

<p>Do you go to a really competitive school?
Well I think your SAT scores are decent, and maybe take on some type of leadership role may help (think what might make you stand out…). I don’t think you’re an extreme reach, but you’ll still have to put more work into it if you want to get into berkeley. </p>

<p>I’d actually recommend not overemphasizing your experience of Chem 1A in berkeley, you can still mention it, but your source of inspiration should be from some where else… I think they’d look for something more personal and caused you to realize something (sort of like an epiphany)… but you can get more opinions on that from others.</p>

5

<p>My school is competitive I guess, we sent around 13 people to Cal last year and around 55 went to UC’S. One went to Harvard. </p>

<p>Is it not too late to do anymore leadership? I was a leader to little kids for three summers, not sure if it will stand out; camp counselor type thing. </p>

<p>I am still thinking about my personal statement, the class was just one idea. Would it really look that bad to talk about it? </p>

<p>Also, what about my chances to other UC’S?</p>

<p>Thank You!</p>

<p>Oh yeah for major: I know I kind have no shot for Engineering, so I will probably apply undecided.</p>

6

<p>No, I wasn’t talking about leadership the class, I meant taking some leadership role… for instance, creating an organization, a club or something in your school. But talk about your summer camp counselor role in your app as well. </p>

<p>I don’t think it’s a bad idea to talk about the class, I was suggesting that you shouldn’t keep this as the main part of the essay, but you could definitely still mention it and elaborate on how it affected you.</p>

7

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<p>You may or may not be able to make it work, but in general, it sort of defeats the purpose of the personal statement. They have your transcript, your scores, your resume, they know more about your record than anyone could possibly care to, but they don’t know you, and that’s what they want to know, and they’re looking for it in the personal statement. </p>

<p>What have you learned that couldn’t be taught in classroom? What do you know better than the best students in your class? What experiences have you had that were too profound to be adequately expressed as a line on a bullet-list? You want admissions to think your awesome, you’re working hard to show them that you’re awesome, and the personal statement is your chance to tell them why you’re awesome.</p>

8

<p>Hey there. My honest opinion of your stats is that you’re higher echelon average. I can’t say that my GPA was much better than yours, but honestly, put yourself out there as much as possible before you apply! For example, in my senior year alone, I became a club officer for 2 clubs, had a large role on our high school’s nationwide known robotics team, raised my SAT about 100 points, got two >700 SAT II scores, etc. Before November/December, just try to make yourself look as good as possible. Which means you can even start writing your college essay now-- great job on thinking of ideas already. Good tip for the essay? Instead of thinking that your topic has to be something extraordinary, write an extraordinary essay on any topic-- for example, my friend that got into MIT wrote an awesome essay about baking cakes. Good luck!</p>

9

<p>Thanks for all the replies!</p>

<p>I am not sure if I can become officers of many clubs, at my school they are just popularity contests. Lots of people that deserve positions never get them, but I will try my best. </p>

<p>I just feel like this summer was an experience that I never had. I never really used to care much about money until my parents lost their jobs, this was all through the end of my Junior Year. Then fortunately at the start of the summer, they both got their jobs back; at the same time my dad had to move to Boston. I had no help with transportation, academics, food, etc… I was already signed up for the class and the community service, and I did not want to fail. So, I found ways to commute to Bart and to Berkeley and back. Then even in Cal, I faced my academic challenge with that first test. I was shell shocked and I felt like I was useless. I was about to give up, very close to. But I did not want to throw away my first taste of college experience, so I kept working and I finished strong and completed 40 hours of CS. Other things happened along the way, etc… In the end, I really felt that I used this summer to the fullest. </p>

<p>btw, there are some wonderful people at Berkeley. It was a nice exchange for the people at my high school. =)</p>

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<p>I bet that writing about your experience at Berkeley will help a lot for the UCs. Being able to say that you’ve tested the waters and came out loving it will give you credibility (especially over people who visited the campus once and saw just the buildings) and show your love for the college atmosphere. Since you don’t want to pigeonhole yourself into Cal, you might want to just mention Berkeley once in your essay, and then focus on things that are general to the UCs/college (e.g. being able to meet lots of students from all over California and the US in general, being appreciative of other motivated students, etc.).</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the opinions guys! They mean a lot! </p>

<p>More would be appreciated!</p>

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<p>Another thing about the clubs… start your own! Sounds like a lot of work, but it isn’t really. Senior year (actually like the last month of Junior year) I started my own club-- the Society of Introspective Thinkers-- which sounds awesomely terrible but was actually one of my best high school experiences. My friend and I spent a day thinking about it, got it approved at the next student council meeting, and had about 50 people in our club through word of mouth in two meetings-- and all we did was talk about cool **** like metaphysics, sex, drugs, the election, etc. Great experience that you might even be able to talk about in a college essay ;)</p>

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<p>good chance undeclared, but switching into the CoE, especially ME and EECS, because you compete against everyone else transferring into the major. CE you only need to keep a 3.0 UC Gpa and you’re in. Good luck dude, hope it all works out.</p>

14

<p>Thank You for the info!</p>

<p>I have a question: Is College Consulting a rip off? They charge like 2,500. I am betting they give me everything that I could just get online at CC.</p>

15

<p>^ I wouldn’t waste money on that. $2500 is a lot of money…especially when your parents are getting back on their feet.</p>

<p>You may want to address the financial/family stress somehow creatively in your essays as impacting your grades… the Chem1A experience showed you have great determination and are a good student.</p>

16

<p>Thank You for the response. There are a few people I know that are going to it, so I was wondering how helpful it might be. Yeah, I doubt my parents could pay.</p>