In general, to prepare for Berkeley, you should complete the a-g requirements (ask your counselor for the approved courses at your high school or check online at http://www.ucop.edu/doorways/ ), study and do well in your high school courses and standardized tests (SAT and/or ACT, and SAT II), take as many honors and/or AP courses as you can handle (or take community college courses in the a-g subject areas that are UC-transferable), participate in educational preparation programs available at your high school (see a list on my blog), and commit to one or two extracurricular activities in which you develop leadership skills (more is not better, quality is better than quantity).

Berkeley will weigh the following components of your application (in the order of importance): 1) your essay (new personal statement prompts will start for the Fall 2008 application cycle: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/apply/how_apply/personal_statement.html#fall08 ) about your background, personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution, aspiration and/or experience that highlight your motivation, dedication, and/or initiative to achieve, and any special circumstances like hardship; 2) your grades and any grade trends (improvements are better than just maintaining a high GPA); 3) your test scores, including SAT and/or ACT, SAT II; and 4) number of AP courses completed compared to the number of AP courses offered at your high school. Other factors are taken into consideration, but to a lesser extent.