Berkeley: less selective this year?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>(***note I posted this under College Admissions and realized it should be here)</p>

<p>Berkeley has always been my top choice and one of the reasons is that it’s full of a very high level of intellectuals…or so I thought…</p>

<p>Today I just found out that TONS of people from my school got in–at least 20. Keep in mind, however, that only 3 or 4 people got into UCLA (including me), each of whom had very good (relative) stats with SATs in the 1400s. (My high school isn’t the best; the highest SAT score this year was 1450, and I got the second highest–1420).</p>

<p>I know that each year from my school there are very few students who get into UCLA, possibly because my school is in the Bay Area (a university in SoCal might not want to admit many students from far away because it is not likely that those so far away would move across CA for college)… And I know that there are usually more admits from Berkeley, but this went sort of …far.</p>

<p>I’ll explain the type of people who got in…</p>

<p>People with SATs in the 1200s, people with OK grades (3.80 - 4.00), and people with little to no ECs.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>SAT I: 1420
SAT II: 770/710/690
UC GPA: 4.09 (my weak point, but only because of my low soph grades–most likely countered by junior GPA of 4.33)
ELC: Yes
Essays: Excellent
ECs: Plenty
Other: First-generation Lebanese-American</p>

<p>I mean, I’m happy that they got in, and I like most of them, but I’m just sort of shocked that Berkeley let in so many people–it sort of takes away the special feeling I had when I first read those wonderful words of admission. Even though it’s a shallow way to feel, I can’t help but feeling as just…normal. When I think about it, it all boils down to the same exact “prize” for a wide spectrum of effort and intelligence.</p>

<p>I understand that fair colleges admit student in the context of their school; knowing this, the top few of every school, regardless of their stats, should usually be admitted. But I honestly don’t see why this multitude of people from my school were admitted while there were TONS out there who scored in the 1400s and up and had well over 4.0 + stellar ECs and were rejected.</p>

<p>Any thoughts?</p>

<p>(p.s. I honestly don’t have control of my feelings so don’t hate on me! =P)</p>

2

<p>Congratulations to you and your friends. I think a lot of applicants were enrolled in spring as well. Perhaps because of budget cuts, Public universities must enroll more students. There are also, of course, other factors such as major u choose, etc.</p>

<p>Again, great job.</p>

3

<p>look at what i wrote under the College Admissions.......it will really knock you out.........
but honestly, you should know that Cal is a public school and they are required to admit as many students as possible by law. That is why so many UC's are overcrowded. If you get into Cal, well more glory to you! Cal only really becomes "selective" when it comes to the College of Engineering and the HAAS School of Business. It is here where you should feel prided. Most of the other "less qualified" accepts were probably admits to L&S which probably surprised you.</p>

4

<p>There's somebody in Socal saying the exact same thing you are, only with Berkeley and UCLA switched. Both schools end up admitting lots of students from nearby high schools, though pretty much any college will end up doing that. </p>

<p>But overall, it's very unlikely that either Cal or UCLA is less selective this year than they were the year before.</p>

5

<p>mosharma:</p>

<p>I read that thread... that is nuts. What's going on here... lol</p>

<p>I'm trying to get over the fact that I don't know anyone from my school who didn't go in (at this point anyhow--I haven't spoken to everyone about it, and the people i do speak to aren't ... dumb)</p>

<p>Well, I find out about Stanford today. I'll let you guys know if i get in =P</p>

6

<p>I'll let you guys on a little secret. While there are a lot smart people here at Berkeley, you will find out when you get here that there are a lot of people that will make you wonder how they even got accepted. You have to remember that Berkeley accepts people from all over California, and some of the public high schools in California are crap.</p>

7

<p>Wow. This just made my rejection all that much worse.</p>

8

<p>I dont know how many people Berkeley accepted this year, but they got about 38,000 apps this year, 1000 more than last year. If they accept 9000 again, it's 23%.</p>

<p>Even so, both flaghip campuses are forced to accept a certain number of students that harms the schools. Last year, at least 300 people at both UCLA and Berkeley were accepted with SAT's of less than 1000! </p>

<p>I'm not certain what the situation is this year, but last year, I chose Berkeley over UCLA, UCSD, USC, and never regretted it. Most people at my HS (#5 in state) choose Berkeley over every other school except HYPMS. Not a single person decided to go to even Caltech over Berkeley.</p>

9

<p>"I'll explain the type of people who got in...</p>

<p>"People with SATs in the 1200s, people with OK grades (3.80 - 4.00), and people with little to no ECs."</p>

<p>Apparently, and this surprised me too, Berkeley <em>is</em> subjective and does pay attention to your essays. I know this because, due to circumstances I explained on my application, my GPA is a full point below their average—3.19, if I remember correctly. I had good—but not stellar—SAT scores and dropped out of high school, also elaborated upon in my application, in favor of Independent Study and community college last year. I did, however, accumulate a number of ECs before I left and remained very involved in equal rights activism afterwards. I got several stories published this past year (I really think that helped, especially since I applied for English), and learned more in the past year of independent study than in all my previous years in high school.</p>

<p>I guess what I'm trying to say in a roundabout approach is 1) don't make snap judgments about a person's aptitude to succeed in college based solely on what numbers he or she has; 2) perhaps rather than being less selective, Berkeley is being more thorough in its comprehensive review.</p>

10

<p>hey, i believe it, i got in w/ a 1260. u can all hate me now. but im pretty damn happy :)</p>

11

<p>no one will hate you...</p>

<p>it's just that we will lose trust in this world.</p>

12

<p>The acceptance letter said something about setting a new record for selectivity, so I doubt this is true.</p>

<p>I go to 2 schools. I haven't heard of anyone else in my main school who has gotten into Berkeley. Either they're not bragging, like me, or they just didn't get in. Most talk about Davis and the better ones about SD. The class I take in the other school has probably the smartest people in that school, and it's a very good school. The only people who talked about Berkeley were the ones who were rejected, and they were very smart people. I'm sure quite a few were accepted as well, but not as many as you'd think. Berkeley IS very selective.</p>

13

<p>You know what, I'm getting tired of people claiming I'm saying they're dumb or that I hate them if they get in with low stats, or if I'm claiming that low stats = dumb person. The reason I'm ASSOCIATING stats with admittance is for a very good reason: THAT'S WHAT COLLEGES DO. As well as the reason that colleges even bother SUPPLYING people with the average stats for the admits--THEY MATTER. Even though it isn't everything, it certainly is a lot. I don't know why people are getting so ****y about this issue. I'm not calling you dumb if you didn't get a 1400, or if you don't have above a 4.0--all that means is that you didn't get a 1400, and you didn't get a 4.0-- but I'm just wondering why, at least locally, there is a large scale of exceptions with regard to the averages and if this reflects a change in selectivity.</p>

<p>"snap judgements" wt* are you talking about? </p>

<p>For people accomplished and mature enough to be admitted to Cal, I'm surprised at how easily some of you take offense to things and the lack of insight with which you attempt to repudiate my <em>judgemental</em> attitude. You shouldn't jump at every possible attempt to voice offense and to whine.</p>

<p>Instead of assuming that I am a negative person, why not actually READ what I wrote and think before speaking?</p>

<p>"I'm happy that they got in, and I like most of them"</p>

<p>I don't know why I bother justifying what I write. Not like you guys care.</p>

<p>BTW most of you are cool I'm just talking about the whining kids.</p>

14

<p>Simmer. I wasn't accusing you.</p>

15

<p>mrlemongo </p>

<p>at first, I thought Wow!, this person must be jealous! then you closed </p>

<p>"(p.s. I honestly don't have control of my feelings so don't hate on me! =P)"</p>

<p>that made me giggle. You got into two of the hardest schools in the UC system, Congratulations! A co-worker's daughter got into berkeley a couple of years ago and I was excited because at that time my daughter had decided that is where she would like to go. I kept tabs on the daughter with her mom and was disheartened when I learned her daughter was encountering academic problems and left after the first year! She is at a community college now, trying to get the grades back up. what is sad for me as a parent is her mom has a big loan she is paying back even though the daughter isn't there anymore!! </p>

<p>I think that is what may happen many of the the large number of kids that were let in - many won't get to far, especially when they find themselves competing with top notch students. It will be the shining stars, like you, who will succeed. so gather up the not totally controlled feelings (that so many of the HS seniors are experiencing right now) and enjoy your success for those acceptances. --thanks for the giggle--</p>

16

<p>see, more competetion is good, because graduate schools, lets say they rate a berkeley student and a stanford student, in some schools, a stanford A is actually only worth like 3.8 while a berkeley A is 4.0, cuz the people know you actually had to work for that grade........</p>