Hey all,
I submitted my application Saturday 11/18 and I received request for a letter of recommendation letter today, 11/20. My stats are pretty low for berkeley, 1230
SAT and 3.8 uc gpa. I’m URM and have excellent EC’s but there’s no way they could’ve reviewed that already. Anyone else get this/know what this means?
It means that they want more information about you before the continue reviewing your application. Submit the LOR’s since it can only help you in the end.
http://admissions.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/docs/Tools%20for%20Recommenders.pdf
YES! Definitely submit. They wouldn’t ask if you weren’t in the “maybe” pile. Are they only asking for 1? My D was asked for 2 (the first year they started this whole LOR thing) - one from a teacher, one from her mock trial coach. She’s a sophomore now. FYI, URM status technically should not have been part of the decision process for Cal, but if that part of you resulted in unique EC’s and really good essays, those things do matter to them.
@Undercrackers yeah, they asked for two. they can be from anyone, I’m submitting one from my counselor that she wrote just for berekely, and one from my ap computer science teacher that has watched me land internships at google and meet with district officials. I wrote one of my essays on being an URM, and how African American studies is an elective while US history is required. I honestly don’t remember, but I have basic leadership (team captain, club president) like everyone else. lets cross our fingers!
It always makes me scratch my head when someone posts and asks if they should submit LOR’s when offered that option. Why would you not, unless you realized you shouldn’t have applied in the first place? Get those LOR’s submitted and let the chips fall where they may. Even if it’s a rejection in the end, you know you did everything you could. Good luck to you!
I got the same request, but my stats are not low (1520, 800 math, 800 chem, 800 math level2 and one B in an AP class. So the wording was “Thank you for applying to UC Berkeley. You are required to submit a letter of recommendation to add to your admission application. This involves asking a teacher or instructor, in a core academic subject from 11th grade or 12th grade, to submit a letter of recommendation on your behalf.” For some reason, I thought that Berkeley LOR were optional in the past. “Starting in fall 2015, some applicants to UC Berkeley are invited to submit two letters of recommendation. Submission is voluntary and not required for full consideration of the application for admission.” So, did the “voluntary” thing change?
Was the request “optional” or “required” ???
That’s odd. Mine says “After initial review of your application we would like to invite you to submit letters of recommendation to add to your admission application. This is optional and not required“
I’ve just stolen this from @Gumbymom , but
Here are the five specific conditions under which an applicant might be selected
for an augmented/supplemental review (quoted from the augmented review policy linked above):
Evidence of focus on an area of special talent which may have limited a student’s
time to participate in a broader range of activities.
Evidence of character traits that imply a strong likelihood of making a significant
contribution to campus life.
Evidence of significant academic achievement or the potential for academic
achievement at the University in spite of extraordinary or compound
disadvantage or learning difference, or physical disability or other unusual
circumstances.
Evidence of significant improvement in the academic record accompanied by one
or both of the following: reasons for the initial poor performance; and/or sustained
and in-depth participation in educational outreach programs, which demonstrate
the applicant’s commitment to succeed academically within a challenging
environment.
Evidence of relative lack of access to, counseling about, or support to take
college preparatory, honors, Advanced Placement (AP) or International
Baccalaureate (IB) classes or required college entrance examinations.
I fall into the fourth one, as I’ve participated in UCR Early Academic Outreach all four years of high school. That’s why I can think of that I was asked for one
Might depend on your desired major. Some high stat students applying for, say, engineering, might get requests.
@ihopeigetintbh: I actually copied the LOR information from another UCB thread so I stole it from the original poster @rocket88 whom should be acknowledged for that helpful information.
Thanks for the correction, @Gumbymom ! I’m an average stats instate student applying for cognitive science, which (from the threads on here) doesn’t seem to be all that popular. It appears some students are required to submit them, while my submissions were optional. Interesting how this worked out!