Volunteer Application - Berkeley Public Library: Fill & Download for Free

I got into UC Berkeley just this year and will be graduating ‘22.Only applied to California public colleges (Cal Polys and UCs) as well as University of Washington.Started my application the day before it was due and finished my very last essay 20 minutes before 11:59 PM. (For the UC Application)GPA:3.75 (UW) 4.02 (W)SAT:1450I’ve taken tons of AP Classes and tests. Gotten only 4s and 3s although:/ lack of an excellent work ethic catches up. Took 2 classes as a sophomore, took 4 classes and an extra test as a junior and as a senior I’m taking 7 classes and 8 tests for a total of 13 classes and 15 AP tests. There was no way I was going to torture myself in a regularly paced class. Some of these already feel slow…Extracurriculars:*Academic Decathlon (3yrs): went from member to Vice President to President.*Computer Volunteer at Public Library (3yrs): always loved reading, was a great fit*Architectural Design class at local community college and a few of my own designs I helped my teacher/mentor with*Volunteering for an Indian cultural organization (since 5th grade basically): Although I’ve really lived a majority of my life in America (born and raised for the most part) being Indian has played an integral part in my upbringing thanks to my parents immigrant status and adherence to traditional norms.*= wrote an essay onKey Club, Link Crew, a HS programming competition, etc etc. a few small things here and there.If I had to pick out any one thing that got me into Berkeley somehow it would be my essays. Although they were all rushed and had tons of grammatical errors, I was able to convey my passion for each of these individual activities I did and how they truly shaped me into who I am as a person.I don’t think Berkeley accepted the number “Dhaval”, rather I think they took the real life person “Dhaval”

Hi Quora! Here are the results of my college applications. Hopefully this helps someone!About MeDemographics - Female Asian American attending a public high school in CaliforniaStats - 1540 SAT, 800 math II subject test, 780 literature subject test, 4.3 GPAClasses - 11 AP classes (all 5s on the 6 exams I’ve taken so far), dual-enrollment multivariable calculus and linear algebra starting junior yearIntended major - EconomicsFinancial aid - Applied for but didn’t receive anyExtracurriculars - Volunteered as a peer tutor, worked as a math tutor, editor in chief of my school paper, president of a fairly active school club, president of a library volunteer group, 3 months of high school teaching experience (long story), attended a few summer workshops, taught at a national convention, volunteered at a summer camp, served on a school district committeeAwards - Published in a few reputable newspapers, National Merit Finalist, honors roll, writing awards on the national level, National AP ScholarSafety SchoolsUC Irvine - AcceptedUC Santa Cruz - AcceptedUC San Diego - AcceptedUC Santa Barbara - AcceptedCal Poly SLO - AcceptedMatch SchoolsBarnard College - AcceptedUC Berkeley - AcceptedUC Los Angeles - AcceptedReach SchoolsColumbia - Rejected (applied early decision)UChicago - Rejected (applied early action)Stanford - WaitlistedNorthwestern - AcceptedFinal ThoughtsMy college list was pretty heavy on the safety schools (I really didn’t need 5 of them). If I applied again, I would probably apply to just 2 or 3 safeties and a few more reach schools. After being rejected early from my top two choices, I thought I didn’t have much of a chance, so I only applied to two more reaches. I was surprised to be accepted by Northwestern and waitlisted by Stanford! I accepted Stanford’s waitlist offer and am hoping for good news in May, but I know their waitlist acceptance rate isn’t high. I’m definitely excited about my Northwestern acceptance and will likely be a Wildcat in the fall! Congrats to the class of 2020, and good luck to the class of 2021!

I’m currently a Berkeley class of 2023 student. Even though most people will tell you that it’s a very competitive school and that only top students with 1500+ SATs and near 4.0 GPAs get in, I want you to know that it’s not the full story and ordinary people can get in. I was one of those people.My grades in high school were good, though if I try to compare it to the stereotypical Berkeley student, it was nowhere as good. I had a 3.8 GPA and got an 1400 on the SAT. Of course, this might be higher than the typical score and GPA of average high schoolers, however, whenever I researched the school during application season, I was hit with the same response over and over again:“Berkeley is a super competitive school. You need at least an 1500, 4.0 GPA, take 10 AP tests and get mostly 4’s and 5’s.”On College Confidential, there was a Berkeley page where people posted stats and achievements so others could tell them if they were likely to get in. Whenever I scrolled through the stats of other students that were applying, I felt overwhelmed and hopeless. Nearly EVERYONE had 1500+ SAT scores and outstanding achievements. There were valedictorians and people that took nearly every AP/IB test imaginable.My volunteering consisted of working at an animal shelter, shelving books at a library, being a Chinese school TA. I only had an AP scholars with honors and a state violin competition award. I didn’t have a 4.0 GPA nor any outstanding thing that stood out from these people I saw posting on the forum.Because of that, I felt that I had no advantage whatsoever. Even though I felt discouraged, I had already written up almost all of my application so I decided to submit it anyways.You can imagine my shock and surprise when the decisions came out later that year. Somehow, I was able to surpass many of those people that were posting on college confidential and make it into Berkeley - one of the hardest public schools to get into. I spent a lot of time puzzling over why I got in. The only reason I could think of was Berkeley’s more holistic review of applications. I wrote a very heartfelt essay that I had hoped would make up for my stats. And maybe it did.Many of the same people that I saw get perfect scores went on and wrote that they didn’t get in. This was when I realized that the reason why people tell you it’s so hard to get in is because they see that there are all these smart people that were rejected. They completely forget that there are others that are like me - not as accomplished as those people - yet manage to get in because we put more into our application than just our stats and achievements.I’ll never know the real reason why I got in. In the end, I know I would’ve been happy had I chose another college. But instead, I chose Berkeley and I’ve never been happier about my choice. Even if I’m not the brightest of the bunch.EDIT:Okay, so I’ve been getting a ton of questions about my essay and what I wrote that got me in. Let me do a bit of explaining for those who wish to know:Based on my essays, I think there was only one essay that really stood out and it was to the hardships prompt. In the essay, I wrote about this one time in my life when I went to school in Taiwan for a semester in 4th grade. I knew very basic Chinese and going into school in a new place was really hard for me. Also, because I was very different from my classmates, the class bully would sometimes see me as a target. However, instead of giving in to my inability to communicate, I started self-studying Chinese in my free time and during class times when I couldn’t understand what we were learning. While I couldn’t understand anything in class, I decided to spend the time learning simple words from the textbook. Even though I was never at the level of my classmates, I didn’t care since I made so much improvement that it was something I was proud about. Even after I came back to the US, I continued to learn Chinese at a local Chinese school and even after I graduated from the highest class level in the school, I went on to tutor little kids in the Chinese class as a TA.I think the main point here is that I had a very unique hardship and instead of just saying how I overcame it, I acknowledge that I won’t ever be the best and that’s okay. I’m happy about where I am so far, and even though I was never as good as my classmates, I still retained my passion for learning later on in life. I also used the extracurriculars section of my application to prove that I did do the Chinese school TA, that way the admissions officer knew that I wasn’t lying or making it up.Of course, this is my personal story and everyone has their own hardships and ways they overcame that hardship. I think what admissions officers want to see is YOUR own personality shine through. They want students that can show a different side. My story also showed them that my grades and test scores, though they may not be the best, are also something that I am proud of myself for.Hope that answers everyone’s questions and good luck!