<p>woah
you guys are right
47000
that's much more manageable</p>
<p>47000 long essays at 600 words each
let's say it takes 1 minute to review each, along with a minute for the rest of the application (2 short essays, activities)
and another minute to make some sort of decision</p>
<p>that's 24000 hours of work for UCLA, and between 16000 and 24000 hours of work for each of the other UCs
of course, nobody gets to discuss anything or do anything else during any of those hours</p>
<p>feasable? anybody? logical? i'm saying no
go ahead guys, spend more time on your essays than your GPA
see what cal thinks of that</p>
<p>this possible regents' and chancellors' scholar says SATs and GPA are a hell of a lot more important than those essays
a big hell of a lot</p>
<p>Sorry pvodenski, you're really bad at math.
47000 applications at 3 minutes per application (you say 1 minute for long essay, 1 for rest, and 1 for decision) gives you 141000 minutes. Divide that by 60, and you get 2350 hours. That's 10 times less than what you said, and MUCH more manageable.</p>
<p>so i added a 0 :)
i just wish that i could find a copy of the article that described the numerical system that cal uses (at least, used a few years ago)
i'm recalling a formula that multiplies GPA by an amount, adds it to SAT Is and IIs and ranks students, where they accept a certain percentage without ever looking at their application, reject a certain percentage (and we're talking over 20 percent for both of those) without looking at the app, and then leave a middle section for review
if the app essay was the most important part, would that really be the case?
no math involved in that one, that's simply how the article explained the process; of course, it may have changed, but considering the increased number of applicants over the last few years, i doubt it</p>
<p>Cal supposedly uses no point system, as far as I've heard, while UCLA (and UCSD) does. Cal supposedly has two readers, one main and one secondary, and UCLA has three people who have difference sections of the application, and award points for stuff.</p>
<p>pvodenski: the system you are describing in your last post is what the CSU's use for admissions, it is definitely not what any of the UC's use, and UCLA and UCB have specific descriptions of their admissions process on their websites in their freshman letters. you are grossly misquoting the procedures at Berkeley.
Berkeley does not base their decisions on GPA's and SAT's alone. They are looking for a particular type of student. The essay and EC's are extremely important. The essay is the only way the readers have to "know" and judge the applicant and determine if the person is the type of student UCB wants.
Perhaps you should take the time to call the Admissions Office and ask their procedure for each application and read the Freshman letter so you better understand.</p>
<p>In response to UCBUCB's post, posted on 03-21-2006, at 09:01 PM.</p>
<p>I did not say that there is no negative pressure in "better" schools. I stated there is alot more in "lower" schools.</p>
<p>Colleges like UCB see that there are (let's assume there's 2000 people in your high school; I have 3000 in mine) 80+ people better than you in your high school. They'll probably grab a good number of these guys and leave the rest as maybes. You say this is unfair. Well, they worked EVEN HARDER THAN YOU, and you had the same resources they had, so how is it unfair? A person like me, doesn't have the resources you have; I go to some ghetto school. But people like me get their fair shot because of the ELC; this is ultimately fair on an objective basis. If you're so angry, just move. It's probably cheaper to go to a dilapidated school and get the ELC there.</p>
<p>I run Cross Country and Long Distance Track. I'm not too great at either of them, but running is a way of life. So many of lifes' problems can be simplified if you think of it like running. Like this: You're a miler, and your competition is ahead of you by 100 meters. You see exactly where you need to go, BUT CAN YOU DO IT? If you don't, accept your place and lose; otherwise, pick up the pace and succeed.</p>
<p>ELC at a crap school doesn't have the same weight as ELC at a competative school. It's only a guarantee that you'll be offered admission to SOME UC, nothing about Cal in there. Taishaku makes a good point about students who outrank you, in one form or another, but Harker (a private school in my area) has had over 100 students accepted in the last 3 years, so nothing is impossible.</p>
<p>i saw a screening process of the berkeley adcoms reviewing the applications. it was online i think on cnn or something. </p>
<p>in the clip, they spent about 6-7 minutes ( or maybe 10.. my memory is fuzzy) going over basically all components of the application. not JUST the numbers, and they for sure didnt ignore any essays at all. they seemed really impressed by straight A's (well i guess duh lol) and they talk over all the ec's, grades, essays amongst each other </p>
<p>i cant really imagine the adcoms just throwing out the essays bc there are so many applicants and the 2 long ones would take up so much time. of course they wouldnt pour more than maybe a minute or 2 on the essays, so i think the essays are all first-impression stuff. </p>
<p>qualifying for cal and getting in are different things
the top 4 percent of the senior class of a 2000 person school is 20 kids
my school has never sent 20 kids to berkeley, we'll get a good amount this year, but i doubt it'll be over 7 (we got 6 to UCLA)
top 4 percent of a senior class of a 3000 school is 30, and a crappy school with 3000 students will never send 30 of them to cal (or it's not as crappy as you think)</p>
<p>in california especially, berkeley knows its high schools, it's not going to be fooled by a high rank at east L. A. high or a low one at "college preparatory academy for supergeniuses" school for the gifted</p>
<p>UCs don't ask for transcripts until after you are admitted. Grades are self-reported on the application. The only "rank" is the ELC, which is why those folks had a different link to use when applying online.</p>
<p>As the mother of a senior D who attends a large public high school in the Bay Area and applied to some private schools and some UC schools, I sympathize with your agony and hope all of you get into the schools of your choice. You have worked really hard, I know. I appreciate the desire to psych out the UC admissions system, but remember there is a bit of serendipity there, given the number of totally qualified applicants. I believe that the admissions people are mostly careful and weigh many factors, and that they are not in the habit of making casual decisions; I also know they are human and probably rely on instinct and gut feeling when faced with those decisions. There are LOTS of people reading your apps and they are impressed by different things. There is no one thing that gets everyone into a school, and it's never going to be fair. All of the top schools including the more selective UCs accept some kids with grades and scores that are not stellar if something else about them is striking, whether it's the quality of their writing or the dedication to a hobby or a cause. From reading over several CC threads today I can only say that most of you seem smart and genuinely driven. I do hope, though, that someone proofread your essays, because a good number of you who are posting to this site can't spell!</p>
<p>eastbaymom is right, i was wrong about the rank
however, my point about somebody being at a certain place within their school still stands. cal knows if your 4.0 GPA at a noncompetative school means nothing, and they know if your 3.78 at a competative one is still something to be proud of (especially for california schools)</p>
<p>Pvodenski, I think you are correct when you say that the UC schools are familiar with the high schools in CA (both public and private) and yes, they probably take into account whether or not a high GPA comes comes from a very competitive school or one that is less so, but I don't think that's the whole story. I think that colleges recognize the benefits that come from attending a large urban multi-racial public school that may not be "high performing." Kids who learn how to negotiate various kinds of social or financial obstacles or who struggle with lack of support from families (or even from their school) but who are able to put together a good application package--without help from private advisors or parents--may equalize their chances for acceptance.</p>
<p>What's the normal percentage of seniors at competitive high schools in California getting into UCLA and Berkeley? We got five out of a class of 65 into UCLA this year and I thought that was pretty high.</p>