How hard it is to get in to Berkeley's COE

Colleges & Universities University of California - Berkeley
1

Hey there! I am currently a HS Junior in a Bay Area Public high school. I want to a fishy question. I want to know if I have a good chance to get in to Berkeley’s COE

I haven’t took the official SAT yet, but my score range for now(based on practice ones from College Board and Princeton Review) is around 1460/1600 and 5-6/5-6/5-6 for essay (some one graded my Essay, so it is hard to say what it will be like on the real one). My goal is 1500/1600 and 7/7/7 for essat

In my freshman year, I did alright with a few Bs and mostly As (I know UC don’t really care about freshman year grade, and I don’t have any notable courses there)

In my sophomore year, I got a B in English and As for everything else. I completed AP Calculus BC with an A that year with an AP Score of 5. In addition, I also took 2 general physics at a CC (comparable to Berkeley’s 8A and 8B, just w/o Calculus)

In the summer after my sophomore year, I took Calculus Based Physics I at a CC (directly transferable to Berkeley’s 7A) with a grade of A.

I joint a different HS program my junior year offered by my district (I basically take all college classes with the exceptions of HS English and US History). Last semester (fall of Junior year), I took Calculus Based Physics II and III (apparently they can be taken concurrently, directly transferable to Berkeley’s 7B and 7C) with a grade of A and A-; Multivariable Calculus (directly transferable to Berkeley’s 53) with a grade of A; Linear Algebra and Differential Equation (directly transferable to Berkeley’s 54) with a grade of A. But I got a B in both HS History and English (it was only a CP class but the teachers had like AP standard, there are students who aced advanced english&history their sophomore year and barely got B in their class).

This semester, I am taking a Circuit and Device class (directly transferable to Berkeley’s EE 40), and I got a 95.5% on my first test; Material Science class (directly transferable to Berkeley’s E 45/45L), and I was one of the few students who got A on the first Exam (only 5 out of 40 people); Discrete Math (directly transferable to Berkeley’s 55), and my lowest test/quiz score is 96%; and General Chemistry II (directly transferable to Berkeley’s 1B), I score the second highest test score in the class (I got 93ish%). I could possible get A in both History and English (a bit of a stretch here)

In the summer, I plan to take berkeley’s solid mechanics (MECENG C85/CIVENG C30) and possibly quantum mechanics (PHYS 137A, which is an upper division class (isn’t offered to HS students in the summer), bhe student service directer of berkeley physics is trying to figure it out for me)

If everything goes alright for me, what is my chance of getting into a less competitive (in respect to EECS) program like MSE? And what about EECS? What you think is my chance for getting into a school like MIT, Stanford or Caltech?

Thank You!

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*I want to ask a fishy question

3

From our experience, I would concentrate on SAT/ACT and subject tests. My son was accepted into UCB CS major (he was notified a month early in February) with a 1570/1600 (800 math) and 34 ACT (combined 35). 35s in math and science. He also had a 3.345 GPA and 5s on AP Calc and AP Bio tests. His math 2 subject was 780 and bio(m) was 750. He had a ton of science/tech community service that he did all 4 years.

He also got into CalTech CS. Waitlisted at Harvey Mudd. Regents scholar at UCD, UCSB, and possibly UCSD (haven’t heard yet?).

Rejected from Stanford EA and MIT.
No extra college courses but did reach out for informational interviews at Apple and another start up (showed incentive). You’re obviously reaching out and making connections. So it’s sounds like with good test scores and GPA you’ve got a good chance. Good luck.

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Congratulation! He got in yo UCB CS early! CalTech is also an amazing school. His SAT was really a plus. One question, is it the case that his English and History grades brought his GPA down?

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Hey, I’m an EECS student at Berkeley currently. I would say your chances are as good as any other qualified student. It’s hard to say that your chances are high because no one’s chances are high in terms of getting into the EECS program, but you definitely seem to be on the right path and have a very legitimate shot at getting in. In terms of applying EECS or MSE, both are hard to get into (EECS is def a bit harder), but I would ultimately choose whichever one you’re more passionate about this matters much more. In terms of trying to clear out a lot of the Berkeley lower div courses in CC, I would say that’s a good idea, but definitely consider retaking them at Cal if you do come, as the level of rigor in these courses at Cal is definitely on another level compared to CC, and many of the courses you mentioned (EE40, Math 53, Math 54) are essential to upper div EECS courses.