<p>I applied to major in Political Science at UC Berkeley when I thought that selecting a major on the application was merely to show the admissions committee what I was potentially interested in, like it is on the Common App. Instead this turned out to be an official action and I eventually got rejected (especially because tons of people apply as political science to Berkeley). On my appeal, I wanna say how I now want to apply to the College of Natural Resources with a different major (environ. policy/econ) because I have become very interested in environmental studies since November and have participated in a handful of activities/projects associated with this subject. On top of this, I also will also talk about financial hardship.</p>
<p>Here are my stats:</p>
<ul>
<li>College/Major Applied To: College of Natural Resources (trying to...)</li>
<li>Fee Waiver Used?: No</li>
<li>SAT I (by section): CR: 680, Math: 630, Writing: 730 (2030 total)</li>
<li>SAT IIs: US History: 630 (messed up royally), Literature: 650, Math II: 600</li>
<li>GPA: 3.35 UW and ~3.44 UC</li>
<li>Rank: n/a</li>
<li>ACT: n/a</li>
<li>APs (including this year's): Spanish Language, Environmental Science (AP classes only offered to seniors at my school)</li>
<li>IBs (including this year's: N/A</li>
<li>Senior Yr Courseload: Honors English, APES, AP Spanish, regular math & history electives</li>
<li>Number of Apps from Your School: Probably 80</li>
<li>Other stats (Awards, etc.): varsity soccer captain, internship at a UC research center, lots of community service (also some in India), camp counselor, tutor, wrote sports articles for a website</li>
</ul>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<ul>
<li>ECs listed on app: 7</li>
<li>Job/Work Experience: @ dad's restaurant </li>
<li>Essays (subject and responses): cultural conflicts and observing poverty</li>
<li>Hook (TASP, RSI, Research, etc.): ??</li>
</ul>
<p>Location/Person:</p>
<ul>
<li>State or Country: CA</li>
<li>School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Top tier private school, top 10 in America according to the WSJ</li>
<li>Ethnicity: Indian (first generation immigrant)</li>
<li>Gender: Male</li>
<li>Income Bracket: Both parents combined: not sure but over $200,000</li>
<li>Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A</li>
<li>Strengths: extra curriculars, writing, essays (great essays imo)</li>
<li>Weaknesses: GPA and average SAT (not a good tester and it's very hard to get A's at my high school)</li>
<li>Why you think you were accepted/wait listed/denied: GPA and SAT...</li>
</ul>
<p>Well do have any “new and compelling” information. Thats what they seem to care about when doing these appeals. You have to convince them that you are stronger than your original application. /you have to tell them what you have been through.</p>
<p>I think we need to know what you will saying in your appeal letter before we can chance you; thats the most important part of the appeal.</p>
<p>well the new stuff involves a summary of my environmental science project in which I helped raise awareness in my community towards a cause (post-november), a description of a policy internship I did in Berkeley (last summer), new financial hardship (post-november), and the benefits of going to school in Berkeley (I live there).</p>
<p>I am also wondering if they would accept my change of majors in an appeal…Does anyone know?
I’d imagine they would though, especially considering the uc application was unclear in distinguishing whether the major selection was an official, written-in-stone action or if it was just for the school to see what you may want to major in…(how can a 16-17 year old kid choose and know exactly what he wants to study in one of the most important periods of his life anyways??)</p>
<p>btw thanks for the reply, keep 'em coming please!</p>
<p>also I dont want to post or private message my appeal over the internet…it seems sketchy and there are probably plenty of plagiarists lurking here…</p>
<p>Your GPA is kind of low and sat scores are borderline. The 2009 berkeley admits have 4.0+ weighted gpa, 2200 on sat i, and 700s on the sat iis. </p>
<p>Poli Sci belongs in the college of letters & science, one the easier schools to get into. So your major was not what got you rejected. </p>
<p>Save your appeal letter. Just go to the university that you get accepted into. </p>
<p>I’m just gonna be bluntly honest here, so don’t think I’m out to get you.
Disclaimer: I don’t actually attend Berkeley, but I’ve read everything I can about it(I plan to apply.)</p>
<p>1) I’m pretty sure putting down polysci on the app won’t actually make a difference as it’s an L&S major, thus all apps are considered ‘undecided’. The only way this would have mattered is if you had put down an engineering major(or another major in an impacted school) because then the actual school to which you are applying to has higher admission standards. Polysci is an impacted major, but that doesn’t come in to play until you actually apply for the major, which happens well after you start attending. </p>
<p>2)I believe that CNR is an impacted school, so applying for that school would actually HURT your chances.</p>
<p>3) Honestly, I believe that you are trying to rationalize why you got rejected without looking at yourself. (This is the part that will sound mean) Your scores and GPA are on the lower range for Berkeley(even for a California resident).</p>
<p>I wish you luck in your appeal; however, I can not honestly say that I believe it will help you that much.</p>
<p>I think that CNR receives less applicants than most of the other colleges and therefore I have a bigger chance of getting in there than in CLS post-March 26. Also, the fact that I have (extra)curriculars concerning environmental policies will also boost my application because I didn’t really have any Poli-scie related activities apart from that internship at a UC research center in Berkeley.</p>
<p>I appreciate the responses, negative or not. </p>
<p>Assuming you also got accepted to other reputable universities (including UCLA, UCSD, etc…), there is one thing you should worry about more than your freaking appeal letter to berkeley: Senior grades. All grades must be Cs or better, and unweighted gpa of both senior semesters must be at least 3.0. If not, kiss your admissions to UCLA and UCSD goodbye.</p>
<p>What other universities have you been accepted to?</p>
<p>Well i dosent hurt to try to appeal, if you realy wanna go to cal just do it! ( i’m appealing aswell) But move to other schools and if cal changes the decision, then that will be a great surprize. Becuase not that many appeals are succesfull. I’m sure you got into some other great schools.</p>
<p>I encourage you to write an appeal, but I honestly don’t think your chances are that high. That said, I would concentrate on the fact that your school is a notoriously tough grader and your environmental project. Your current financial situation isn’t really relevant because it didn’t affect you during the time covered by the original application or earlier schooling. It would be grounds for a financial aid appeal, but not necessarily an admissions appeal. As far as the convenience of going to school nearby, sadly Cal could care less.</p>
<p>chemebrown:
I got rejected by San Diego and did not apply to UCLA (heard bad things about it)…also, besides SD and Berk, I got rejected by Northwestern University and Tufts University.</p>
<p>I got into Reed, Occidental, Boston University, Puget Sound, and UCSC.</p>
<p>my senior grades are great, and have even improved since junior year…so when I send UCB my transcript (current) it will show an upward trend which I think may be a bonus.</p>
<p>also great advice AVNevis, I really appreciate it.
But like batllo said earlier, I shouldn’t sound like a whiny complainer… however, I will at least try and express my situation in an informative way instead of a whiny, “Im the victim” sort of thing.</p>
<p>I know it’s a long shot but Berkeley is a dream school for me and my parents…if the appeal fails I’ll probably end up at Reed, Oxy, or Santa Cruz (price)</p>
<p>What you’re basically asking for is a second chance at applying. You want to apply to CNR now instead of L&S. And applying under Political Science neither helps or hinders your chances.</p>
<p>An appeal isn’t for a second application chance. It’s to supplement your first application with information that you accidentally left out. You can explain your new environmental project, your sob stories, and whatnot. Just leave out the change of major, because these aren’t new information or highly relevant when they were reviewing your application. Sure, it’s a little easier to get into CNR, but the point is still the same-- you’re asking for a second application, which isn’t what the appeal is for.</p>
<p>Appeal rates are generally ~3%. My friend is appealing both L.A. and Berkeley this year. She had a 4.45 weighted U.C. GPA and a 2240 SAT but she got rejected by both, therefore you need to justify your low grades and now how you’re improving, because even if you get straight A’s (with like 5 A.P.'s), your GPA and SAT are still pretty low. Also, if you read the u.c. l.a. appeal website, HIGH SENIOR GRADES ARE NOT A JUSTIFICATION BASIS FOR REVERSAL OF THE DECISION. This is just the honest truth. I’m not trying to be mean or discourage you from appealing (there’s no harm), but it seems to me that you’re just appealing because you got rejected, and not necessarily because you have something new and compelling to add to your application. In addition, I would like to know what school you go to, because my friend and I go to Mission San Jose High School (the number 1 public open-enrollment school in California), and so getting A’s at this school is much harder than at any other school, and even though all the U.C.'s have heard of MSJHS and even admissions officers from places like Harvard, Columbia, and Dartmouth had heard about the intense academic environment, U.C. Berkeley only accepted about 60 students this year fromr our school, even though a lot of students here are more qualified than at other schools.</p>
<p>your case doesnt seem strong but appeal anyways because it can’t hurt although i highly doubt you will get accepted. what were the bad things you heard about ucla?</p>