Please chance a scared student for UMich EA and UC Berkeley! Californian interested in Ecology+Animals [3.93 UWGPA, 1550 SAT, NMSF]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Demographics

  • US citizen
  • Location of residency: California (Bay Area)
  • Private high school
  • First generation to college
  • Asian
  • Female

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • No major cost constraints

Intended Major(s)

  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.93
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.41 (4pt scale)
  • Class Rank: School does not rank
  • SAT 1550 (760 eng/790 math)

HS coursework

  • APs: 10 by the end of HS
  • Taken so far: Chem, Bio, Lang, Env Science, Calc AB
  • Senior year: Microeconomics, Gov, Calc BC, Physics 1, Lit
  • Recieved a 5 on Bio + Calc AB; 4 on Chem + Lang + Env Science

Everything else I took in HS was mostly honors classes and electives like Band.

Awards

  1. National Merit Semi-finalist
  2. [Redacted] International Music Competition; First Place in Solo Category
  3. Scholastic Writing Gold Key
  4. National Finalist in Annual World Marching Competition (4 yrs)
  5. Presidential Volunteer Service Award (PVSA), Gold 2x

Extracurriculars

  1. Started restoration initiative at a coastal preserve to conserve banana slugs and diminish invasive species.
  2. A Marine Mammal Hospital: was a volunteer to care for seals/sea lions in hospice; repurposed mussel shells to regrow coral on bleached reefs.
  3. Salon Assistant (Family Business): Created reservation website for my family (around 11k bookings as of date), trained staff, served diverse clientele, translated for parents
  4. Pre-Vet Club: Founder and President; Launched new workshops like dissections, Donated 250+ necessities to local animal shelter.
  5. Marching Band: Section Leader and Soloist; Won/placed at 20+ competitions regionally and nationally. 5-year involvement (year-round, not only in fall)
  6. Veterinary Clinic Intern: Interned at [Redacted] Vet Clinic for a couple years; streamlined efficiency; recorded patient behaviors
  7. Beekeeper at [Redacted] Zoo: Launched program enabling teens to care for 3 on-site bee colonies
  8. Worked at [Redacted] Aquarium: Educated 1.5k guests on ocean conservation
  9. Asian American Orchestra: Not the actual name of it, but this is just a cultural organization for my ethnic group. Principal and scholarship recipient; promoted cross-cultural appreciation through traditional performances.
  10. All State Band: Selected as 1 of the top 2% of musicians statewide (4 years)

Essays/LORs/Other
Probably one of the better parts of my application IMO

Umich:

  1. Personal Statement: reconciliation with a friend through a musical duet and how I grew from it (hard to explain kinda).
  2. Supp about leadership: growing up in a hair salon and how it taught me valuable lessons in my passion in working in animals (like when I worked at the aquarium, zoo, etc).
  3. Supp about Why UMich: includes a lot of information about ecology courses, labs, biological stations, museum of zoology, program in the environment. Which all ties back to the experiences I have already been a part of.

Berkeley:

  1. Shortened version of personal statement
  2. Supp that is about helping school community through starting a dissection program + other things
  3. Intellectual curiosity regarding animals
  4. Greatest talent of being dependable through working at family business.

LOR
Counselor: 8/10 Would write about my first-gen experience and give context, as well as talk about my passions for animals.
AP Calc Teacher: 7/10 I am a TA for him; pretty close but not quite sure what he would say exactly.
Foreign Language Teacher: 8/10 Very close!
Marching Band Teacher: 10/10!! I have known him since 4th grade and we have an extremely deep relationship. He knows me very well and he’s known for writing the best rec letters at our school.

Questions

  1. Is this a unique enough profile for the T-20s? I haven’t seen too many animal-related apps but I still feel pretty sub-par.
  2. UMich EA and UC Berkeley? They are 2 of my top schools.

I am feeling pretty nervous but BE HONEST!

2

What are your GPAs for UC as recalculated by GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub ?

For UCs, you can compare the weighted-capped GPA to the ranges shown for a recent previous class at Freshman admission by discipline | University of California

3

You look like a great candidate to me! I volunteered as a docent at an aquarium in the Bay Area for a number of years - curious if it’s the same one lol. And I suppose I can guess the Marine Mammal hospital :wink:

4

I recalculated and it is a 3.95 UW!

5

Oh hey no way!! Haha I’m pretty sure it is the same—Monterey Bay? And thank you so much, I appreciate you for responding to this post!

6

Actually, no - Aquarium of the Bay in SF for me. But I LOVE the Monterey Bay Aquarium - I’ve been many times. Wonderful place.

Are you applying to Rausser for UC Berkeley?

7

What are your long term plans after getting a bachelor’s degree? Are either medical school or veterinary school (DVM) a possibility? One daughter got her DVM this past spring and so we do have some experience in this area.

For top ranked schools, my recommendation is that in terms of ECs you do what is right for you, and you do it very well. This seems like pretty much exactly what you have been doing. I like your ECs.

However, admissions to any “top 20” university is very hard to predict.

Also, if you are interested in either medical school or a DVM program, there are hundreds of universities that would be very good for your bachelor’s degree. You really do not need to attend a top 20 university to go on to attend a very good MD, DO, or DVM program.

I think that my daughter’s applications to DVM programs was helped quite a bit by her having both large and small animal experience. However it never occurred to me that small animal experience might involve slugs, and large animal experience might involve sea lions. Now I am wondering whether dealing with sea lions is any safer than dealing with bison (which she has dealt with, and you do need to be very careful with them).

To me it looks like you have done very well in high school, and have a very interesting set of ECs. I think that you are likely to do very well regardless of where you go for your bachelor’s degree.

1 Like
8

UC won’t see your test.

UM is over $80k and more expensive the final two years.

You say this - does it mean none - ie you have $350k plus grad school ?

NMSF and impending NMF will get you as low as $5k a year ((NMSF is Tulsa - you’d pay for food. NMF other schools with Alabama likely most aggressive at 5 years tuition, 4 years room and $4k a year so can include grad school). But UTD is aggressive. Others would give free tuition.

I think you’d have a decent (better than average) shot at UM. But you’ll have grad school too. Is that worth it at $300k more and not sure it changes where you go to grad school ?

It may be but I’d have that discussion with mom and dad given what you’ve accomplished by being National Merit. Not many are this lucky.

I’d also talk to your private school counselor - where do kids like me go ?? They’ll know best.

Hoping others give you good news on the UC schools.

Good luck.