Should I even bother applying to Berkeley?

sak09
Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:44:07 +0000

I’m having second thoughts. Don’t get me wrong, I really loved the school when I visited. Plus the area was great. I’m just not sure with the stats that I have I will even have a chance at getting in. I’m OOS so…yeah. Anyway, what do you think?

Female
Asian (Indian)
MA
Competitive public high school (sends many to top schools including Ivys)

Cumulative GPA: 3.8 unweighted. No idea what the UC GPA is. I’m thinking around a 4.1?

All Honors and/or AP classes…and this means 3 AP classes total. I know that’s a shocker to some of you, but my school doesn’t offer very many at all. This won’t hurt me, right?

Rank: Top 5%

SAT (superscore):
CR-640
M- 660
W- 740 with a 12 on the essay
---->2040
I’m not the strongest test-taker, but hopefull they’ll look past this?

SAT IIs: Bio-630…Math II-taking in Nov.

ECs: Please note that I moved and therefore switched schools after my freshman year. There many seem a slight inconsistency in some activities because of this.

Speech& Debate Team (9th)
-Went to many competitions and won numerous awards even on the state level. Could not continue because it was not available at my new school.
Violin
-Have been playing for 8 years, and freshman year played in the Symphony Orchestra.
Model UN (10th-12th)
-Delegate
Yearbook (10th-12th)
-Editor Senior year.
Science Club (11th-12th)
-Vice President
-Serve as a mentor for elementary school kids and help them conduct research at the vernal pool.
-Also set up many other fundraisers and events.
PEER Leaders (11th-12th)
-Community leaders from the school.
-We do various community service and help around the school.

Community Service (about 200+ hours):
-Elks Lodge (over 50 hours)
-Pediatric Doctors Office (about 30 hours)
-Local Hospital (about 50+ hours)
-Various other events including Special Olympics, Soup Kitchens, Church…etc

Other Stuff:
-Did some research in a Genetics Lab at URI. Did everything from PCR to Extracting DNA to helping with a primer design. Research wasn’t published or anything, but spent 6 continuous weeks with countless amount of hours.

-Internined at InCube for a few weeks at the end of this summer. It’s a biomedical research company in northern CA. Worked with a cell biologist and chemical engineer to help design and test a device that would be implanted in the spine to reduce pain. Paid internship…if that matters.

-In summer 2006, I went to India and for about 2 weeks and did some community service there. My grandfather lives in a small (rather poor) village, and he also works in a nearby clinic which treats patients from that area. I worked/volunteered at that clinic.

I will major in biology (or something bio-related) and my main passion/focus is medical research.