Stanford University WILL reject you if you’re not a well rounded student, which was evidenced in that episode of True Life: I’m a genius. Basically, this kids was insanely smart and he gets a rejection letter saying, sorry, you’re purely academic.

So, how can you set yourself apart from the rest? Contrary to popular belief, community service will not do it for you. Of course, it will help, and I highly advice that you complete the 260 hours for the merit award, but you still need more. Leadership is very important, no matter how much you may hate it. Since you are shy, try something with your friends, like organizing a date where you all get together and make sandwiches for the homeless. Consistency is also important, so if you did this once a year or so, that would not go unnoticed.

It’s okay that you don’t like sports, but you’ll need to compensate for it. Your humanitarian work seems very impressive, so work on that through out high school- maybe create a project based around helping the children of Darfur.

You don’t have much control of this, but be on the look out for awards such as “Who’s Who Amoung High School Students”. This will make you stand out. What you do have control of is forming good relationships with your teachers. That way, when you’re applying for SU and UC Berkely, you’re reccomendations are very personal.

As far as your schedule, it seems like you are on the right track, however as you get older, make sure you take AP/IB/honor classes. The rigor of your schedule is important to colleges.

Sorry, I just babble on way too much. I hope some of this has helped, and I wish you the best of luck!

Your community service DOES set you apart from the rest of your students. If you do a lot of community service that might give you the edge over other students with the same GPA. If you’re GPA is mediocre, a good way to get a good shot into these two universities is to get a high SAT or ACT score. Try both up to three times. On average, the third time is the best you do on the test. Afterwards, it doesn’t improve very much.

If all else fails, go to a junior varsity college or a community college for two years. After that, you get PRIORITY into getting into these colleges and you save a BUNCH of money ($25,000 at least) and the student teacher ratio is typically smaller too in JVC or community colleges which may mean better education. This is what I’m doing.

Just remember if you get into a UC, make sure that’s the UC you want to get into because UC to UC transfers are frowned upon by the UC.

i think of you have a competent shot at UCLA and u.s. and something of the decrease UC’s. i’m uncertain approximately the different colleges you in basic terms indexed. Even valedictorians get rejected from colleges like Berkeley, Stanford, Cornell, and MIT, so that’s not ordinary to assert..

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 ) 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.

if you want to be smart then go to stanford,if you don’t want to pay a lot of money then go to berkeley p.s. if you think my answer is too short,it’s because i’m only a kid