Dear Mr. Bradshaw,
My father believes that the University of California, Berkeley, is a safety school because Berkeley student’s SAT scores are 150 points lower compared to other top colleges like Stanford, U of Chicago, Northwestern and Harvard. Is my father right? You are a Berkeley graduate, I believe. What do I do to increase my chances of getting into a top college?
Sincerely,
High School Junior
Dear High School Junior,
Well, he is sort of right and sort of wrong. Berkeley does lead most top colleges by admitting more students from “underserved” communities than comparable schools. Their goal is to increase equity and inclusion by selecting more students from diverse populations. This is something that was largely ignored in the past when test scores were the decisive factor in admission.
Berkeley has dropped the SAT requirement for admission, but it may still be used to decide if the applicant is qualified for majoring in certain subjects. For that reason, I encourage my clients to take the SAT and/or ACT.
Berkeley tends to be a trend setter and several colleges have followed suit. Colleges are increasingly willing to place less weight on test scores and are experimenting with a broader more holistic approach to admissions. They feel that grades and extracurricular activities are better predictors of academic success and will better represent the broader community they serve.
While Berkeley is one of the few top colleges not to use test scores for admission purposes, I do not believe for one minute college rankings are not going to go crazy trying to figure out how to measure “holistic” admissions. I look forward to seeing how next year’s U. S. News and World Report — the bible of college rankings — handles it. No matter what they say, test scores are the backbone of the rankings algorithm and college administrators live in fear of losing their place.
Because Berkeley is Berkeley, love it or hate it, graduates are highly sought after by grad schools and businesses. It has unique qualities that few other schools can touch. Brilliant students and radical politics seem to go hand in hand.
I was a veteran paratrooper as an undergraduate and a moderate but enjoyed every minute of my classes. The intellectual tension is high which means you are never bored. You have to think constantly and not always regurgitate the partly line as sometimes depicted in the media. Of course you don’t wear your politics on your sleeve — like in any organization. Professors are liberal, but they treated me with respect. And they taught me how to get my point across without alienating other students.
As for your high school career, I highly recommend not taking cookie cutter extracurriculars. Debate and swimming are fun but not to top colleges unless your team is number one in the nation. Don’t expect points in that box to differentiate you from 10,000 other applicants with similar activities.
How do you stand out? Here is one suggestion — take journalism. I highly recommend writing on your high school newspaper. The skills you learn in journalism will impress the admissions staff and stay with you throughout college. I had a press pass from The Daily Californian. It got me in the door of many important VIP functions, rock concerts and more than a few free meals at top restaurants in San Francisco.
Gerald Bradshaw is an international college admissions consultant with Bradshaw College Consulting in Crown Point.
