What are my chances of getting into Berkeley or Johns Hopkins?

Question

For the first two years of hs i got all 4.0 unweighted 4.7 weighted courses/doubling classes junior/senior level and some college mainly honors and 1 ap etc .The next two years i entered the ib program and got mostly a's and b's.Also many community hours in one place throughout high school and dedicated participation in a few clubs for 2 of my interests .Also got a 3rd place in a competition regarding one of these interest(note:my interest regards medicine)and i entered a science fair.I also became a member of two different types of honor societies.But the only downer is the sats are like around a 690 for math 560 for reading and a 600 for writing.Is there anyway i can improve?

Answer 1

Retake your SATs and write a d**n good essay. Those schools are very competitve so have a back up plan. Talk with your school counselor about anything else you can do and maybe even contact an admissions couselor at UC Berkeley or Hopkins. Take your SAT subject tests too...at least two...they're very important. Good luck!

Answer 2

I don't really know about Berkeley, but I go to Hopkins, and except for your SAT, I think it sounds great.  

I'm assuming you're a senior in high school, so if you retake the SATs, you should be fine.  Your Math score is pretty good, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.  For English, I would take a few practice tests and just be familiar with the sorts of questions they ask you.  See if you make good guesses or if you should skip questions you're not sure about.  Your English teacher can probably help you, too.  Most people's scores usually improve the more they take the test anyway.

Subject tests aren't mandatory (for Hopkins, at least- but they are recommended) but they're probably not a bad idea, especially if you feel like you're on the bubble.  But other than that, just write a good essay, get good recommendations, etc.  SAT scores are not the most important thing.