Getting into UC Berkeley. Or Engineering school

Colleges & Universities University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>So I’m a Sophmore, going into Junior year at my school. As I write this out, please bear in mind that I have a chronic illness in my stomach, (I forgot what it is called. Causes immense pain and swelling of the intestine lines, I believe) so my grades suffered because of this. So, lets get started</p>

<p>Major: Civil Engineering</p>

<p>UC GPA: 2.86 (Horrible, I know. If you read above, you’ll see my illness. This caused me to miss half my freshman year, and then parts of my sophmore year)
Unweighted GPA: 3.05</p>

<p>California Resident/Caucasian and Peruvian</p>

<p>SAT: Waiting to take it next year. Currently studying from private tutor/Kaplan SAT book/ College board book.
SAT II: Planning on taking Mathematics level 1 & 2, possibly physics with enough studying, and Spanish possibly</p>

<p>AP classes I’m taking my junior year will be Ap Biology, AP English, AP US History, and AP Calculus AB</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Band… I could use some help as to what i can fill in here.</p>

<p>Volunteer: I volunteer for a softball organization, and tutor kindergarten - 3rd graders. Free, of course. Have about 32 hours so far.</p>

<p>So, I really want anyones criticism. Bad, good, I want it. Advice on how to do better as well. Anything I can do to help a career in civil engineering? Thanks!</p>

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<p>Theres just too little information to judge you accurately. Assuming you got all A’s your junior year, you could bring your UW GPA to a 3.3. Even with your health issues (which could be used as a good “hook” on essays), its gonna be a stretch for the college of Engineering, which is more competitive than the other colleges. If your in-state, that would help though.</p>

<p>You’re going to need to do excellent on your SAT to offset your GPA some. A good turn-around in your junior year in addition to some good standardized test scores could show your committment to your academics and your ability to overcome adversity. Both of which are excellent for applications.
Don’t take Math I and II. Its redundant to take both, and Berkeley doesn’t even accept Math I.
The bright spot of your EC’s seems to be the tutoring. If its your junior year though, its a little late to develop a convincing list of passionate EC’s. One thing your could try to do though would be to found a club of some sort at your school. This will give you leadership positions (founder and president) which are very desirable in applicants.</p>

<p>Right now i’d characterize you as a high reach for UCB, but that could improve depending on your junior year.</p>