@bruin2020 I know one applicant who got 2350 SAT and very high GPA with many AP/Honors classes (NMSF also) and ran Cross Country for 4 years (this is very time consuming activity) and got denied from Comp Sci at UCLA and UC Berkeley. He’s getting all As at another UC. Yeah, he wasn’t a genius or anything but he was a smart kid in science. He’s exactly the type of kid who should get accepted from engineering schools at UCLA and UC Berkeley.
My problem with the admission process is that colleges don’t care about how respectful, courteous, kind and compassionate a person is but just wants to know the obstacles and passion. IMO, every hard working student is passionate about his or her area.