Which UC do I belong to???

RML
Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:22:11 +0000

Your claims are baseless and completely unfounded. Let’s dig up some statistics for both schools for us to have some bases.

Berkeley requires that admitted students must be in the top 12.5% of their high school class. Anyone who did not belong to the upper 12.5% is out. That explains why 99% of Berkeley students come from the top 10 in HS and the average GPA for the admitted students is 3.93 (UW). In contrast, Cornell’s students has 88% from top 10%, and the average GPA is 3.87. So, regardless of how high your test scores are, your chances of getting into Berkeley is bleak. last year alone, I have seen 14 kids with perfect SAT scores that were turned down at Berkeley. I doubt if Cornell would turn down applicants with a perfect SAT score.

Berkeley’s combined SAT scores for 25%-75% is 1290-1520. Cornell’s is only 1280-1490. Not a big gap when you look at it that way. But considering that Berkeley does not superscore SATs and Cornell does, the gap should have been wider that what was published. If you would superscore SATs, you would normally add 20 points for each subject test. The average 25%-75% for Berkeley would become 1310-1540. That would then become a substantial difference.

Here’s the summary:

Top 10% of their HS Class:
Berkeley - 99%
Cornell - 88%

Average HS GPA (UW)
Berkeley - 3.93
Cornell - 3.88

Average SATs:
Berkeley - 1290-1520 (not superscored. If superscored 1310-1540)
Cornell - 1280-1490 (superscored)

So, in short, Berkeley has higher GPA, has more students from the top 10% of their graduating class and higher test scores. Therefore, Berkeley is harder to get into than Cornell. Even USNews ranks Berkeley higher than Cornell for Selectivity.

Soures:
http://students.berkeley.edu/admissions/freshmen.asp
[Cornell University | Admissions Facts and Statistics](http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/college/cornell.asp#cornell_admissions)