100% of our students got into UC Berkeley, UCLA or UCSD
34 offers to UC Berkeley, UCLA or UCSD
only 4% of International applicants get in. Make it count.

We help you get into as current Berkeley students.

Essays? Activities? Tuition? We help with it all. We’ve just been through it ourselves, so we know it better than any counselor.

Our past students come fromNext — Activities

Anglo-Chinese School (International)
Raffles Institution
UWC South East Asia
Singapore American School
Tanglin Trust School
St. Joseph's Institution International

Step 01 of 04

One application9 UCs

BB

One form, read by all nine UCs, so doing it well pays off nine times over. We find your spike, then build your activities, PIQs and campus list around it.

— Berkeley Bound

From the desk of

Berkeley Bound

College admissions counsel

Your spike: We find the one thing you're known for and build every section around it.
Activities & awards: All 20 entries, 350 characters each, written for impact and leadership.
Personal insight questions: We pick your strongest 4 of 8 and coach every draft to 350 words.
Academics: A-G courses, honors and a senior year that shows you're still climbing.
Campuses & majors: Which UCs and majors to pick, so your application fits each one.
Additional comments: We use this space to explain anything a reader might question.

9 campuses, 1 form4 of 8 PIQsUp to 20 activitiesDue November 30

[email protected]

How we help you

Watercolor of a trail winding up Grizzly Peak through oaks and wildflower meadows

You are here01 Application

Pick your UCs and majors
Plan your A-G courses
File by November 30

02 Activities

Find your spike
Choose and rank all 20
Make 350 characters count

03 Essays

Pick your best 4 of 8
Brainstorm to final draft
Line edits to 350 words

04 Book

Free 30-minute 1:1
A review of your profile
A plan for every UC

Grizzly Peak, Berkeley Hills

Next — Write Your Essays

Step 02 of 04 · Make every line count

Activities

A real UC activity entry, rewritten with us.

Weak titleQualified, but with what score? Lead with it.
Vague contextHow many take it? How few qualify?
Opens on feelingsStart with what you did, not how you felt.
No numbersHow many hours, weeks, exams?

The student’s first draft

Circled: what held it back

Kelvin Jiang — Kelvin’s real entryUC Berkeley · Regents’ Scholar

after

Name of the award or honor: 11/15 in AIME & 139.5/150 in AMC 12 (top 1%)
Award requirements: The American Mathematics Competitions attract about 300,000 participants each year. Roughly the top 5% on the AMC 12 and top 2.5% on the AMC 10 qualify for the AIME, where the average score is around 5 out of 15.
What you did to earn award: Spent 2 years mastering 14 Olympiad topics (inequalities, logarithms, trigonometry, complex numbers, geometry and more) through weekly 6-hr seminars and 10+ mock AMC/AIME exams; then about 7 hr/week AMC prep for 12 weeks plus 3 hr/week discussions. After qualifying for AIME, studied 8 hr/week for a month reviewing a decade of past papers.

before

Name of the award or honor: AIME Qualifier
Award requirements: The AIME is an invitation-only math competition for top scorers on the AMC 10 and 12. I scored 139.5 on the AMC 12 and 11 on the AIME.
What you did to earn award: I have loved math since middle school, so I prepared for two years by attending weekly seminars, taking mock exams and working through past papers. This dedication greatly improved my problem-solving skills.

Weak title · 1/4Qualified, but with what score? Lead with it.

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Last stop — Your free consultation

Step 03 of 04 · Essay season, summer to fall

Write Your Essays

A real UC essay, rewritten with us.

Circled: what holds it back

A long, sunlit library hall lined with bookshelves — written in the library

after

UC PIQ 1 · Leadership · Admitted, UC Berkeley

But leading the club wasn’t easy. Over two years, we nearly shut down five times due to supervisor turnover. Each time, I emailed every business, economics and humanities teacher and set up meetings in person to keep us running.

In the process we were moved through five different rooms, including music corridors and library podiums, none of them ideal for a club meeting. I noticed engagement slipping, not from disinterest, but because the environment worked against us.

One day a last-minute room change brought us into a small economics classroom. The impact was immediate: discussion flourished and students were excited. I met with our supervisor the same week to make the switch permanent. What began as a small experiment turned into a close-knit community. I watched shy sixth graders lead their first presentations, and returning members mentor newer ones.

before

UC PIQ 1 · Leadership · First draft

But leading the club wasn’t easy. We faced many challenges because our supervisors kept changing, but I never gave up and kept the club going.

We also had to move rooms a lot, which was frustrating. Some members stopped coming because they lost interest.

Eventually we found a better room and I took action to make it permanent. The club grew a lot after that. This experience taught me the true meaning of leadership.

Vague · 1/4“Many challenges” could be anyone. How many? What happened?

How we help

Vague“Many challenges” could be anyone. How many? What happened?
Blames othersIt sounds like an excuse, not like someone thinking.
Claims, no proof“Took action” how? Readers want the actual step.
Cliché endingEvery reader has seen this line. Show what changed.

Next stop, Berkeley.

Book your free consultation

In a 30-minute 1:1, our team reviews your profile, activities and essays, then gives you the advice and positioning to get in.