Major: Currently History but will change to Rhetoric or Middle Eastern Studies, whichever is less competitive.
GPA: 3.7
Major GPA: 4.0 for history
EC: President of chess club, History 7 honors, member of Muslim student association, Psych club, Alpha Gamma Sigma honors society,
Volunteer: 200 in a hospital, 200 at local mosques, 50 at democratic headquarters, volunteered at the Afghanistan Embassy under the Ambassador of Afghanistan in Spain
Hooks: First generation college student, poor, minority (Afghan), been working since I was 14, a very rough life with experiences of racism, homelessness, poverty, death in family, moving often, identity crisis, etc
Bad: I got a B in religious studies nature of islam, ENG 1A and Eng 4. I got a W in math 55, and a NP in math 55. I got a P in 65, and currently working towards a P in 55. Will take math for liberal arts majors when I am done.
Good: I can write a a very good personal statement. My great grandparents and grandparents were servants in Afghanistan and my parents are illiterate. I am the only one to ever attend High School. Would writing that I am only interested in CAL help? My parents are in poor health and I can’t move out, I need to be there for them. I live close enough to UCB to live at home and commute. I also play a lot of basketball but I got injured during try outs for my local jc. Had I made it, I would have been the shortest Afghan American to every play college basketball. Would this be good to mention or is it irrelevant because I did not make the team? I also intend on going to law school at Cal, does this make me look better?
Please chance me for all three majors, if I don’t get in I will probably have to commute to Davis, or wait a year and reapply.
Also, what classes are recommended for Rhetoric and MES? Should I take as many English classes as possible to get into Rhetoric? Should I take an Eastern history course for MES?
By the way, I am in college. I will be transferring from JC.
For rhetoric, complete the transfer requirements for L&S, since the usual prerequisites Rhetoric 10 and 20 are not generally available at CCs and must be taken after transfer.
http://www.assist.org/web-assist/reportOnly.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&rinst=left&EM=1&sia=SCC&ia=SCC&ria=UCB&oia=UCB&ay=15-16&dora=RHETOR
For Middle Eastern studies, there are some history and social issues courses that can be taken before transfer, if available:
http://www.assist.org/web-assist/reportOnly.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&rinst=left&EM=1&sia=SCC&ia=SCC&ria=UCB&oia=UCB&ay=15-16&dora=M=E=STU
http://www.assist.org can be used to look up courses based on your intended major, UC/CSU campus, and CC.
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Law school admissions is mainly based on GPA and LSAT score:
http://lawschoolnumbers.com
Note that GPA for law school admissions is based on all college courses, and is recalculated as described at:
http://www.lsac.org/aboutlsac/policies/transcript-summarization
Note that the LSAT includes a logic puzzle section, so the kind of logical thinking found in math, or logic in philosophy, can be helpful.
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I appreciate that, but can you chance me?
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfer-admissions-summary indicates that 36% of transfer applicants to Berkeley for fall 2014 with GPA of 3.60-4.00 were admitted (41% if considering only those from California CCs). It does not have any differentiation by major, though.
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