<p>My application was sent last Tuesday from Sacramento and I assume it got there Thursday. From what I have heard, FPF filled up on Thursday. I am guessing I am close to the top of the waitlist, so what are the chances I get in? How many people that got into FPF usually either drop out of FPF or do not end up going to UCB?</p>
<p>I really want to know too! I got into UC Berkeley for Spring 2013, but I also got into UCLA for Fall 2012. </p>
<p>I want to know if there’s a chance of getting into FPF from the waitlist too… It would make my decisions between UCLA vs. Berkeley a lot easier.</p>
<p>When did you send yours in?</p>
<p>whats FPF?</p>
<p>edit:
nvm i googled it. It’s for people who got in the spring admit right?</p>
<p>Yes, it’s for spring admits.</p>
<p>If you’re on the waitlist, I’d say don’t count on it unless you know you’re insanely high up. Only time someone would drop out is finances, housing (probably not) or got off the waitlist from a better school (probably not).</p>
<p>FPF? Please. Just a ploy to get Berkeley Xtension to make more money and rip you off. I did it, and I wish I hadn’t, same reqs can be fulfilled at a JC!</p>
<p>Honestly, unless you are under no burden whatsoever to pay for school, I would highly recommend all freshmen to save their money, go to JC for two years, clear out all your prereqs, then transfer to Cal. That is, of course, if you know what you want to study, or what field you want to go into. If you don’t, still go to JC, and float around some Cal classes on campus, no ones going to kick you out, particularly if the lecture size of the class is > 100-150 students. They won’t even recognize you. You can find out what gets you going, and then get into that.</p>
<p>Lower div pre-req courses are pretty similar across the board, and if you really want to learn more, watch the MIT or Cal vids on youtube to supplement. You’ll save the ~15k/yr tuition X 2 yrs = 30k + living expenses, then come to Cal, take the classes you actually want to go in depth about, and still come out with a Cal degree. Honestly, I wish someone had given me the same advice when I got into Cal. Yeah, I know all your friends are going to 4-yr schools, but I can pretty much guarantee you, that 90%+ of them will have given you the same advice down the line. This obviously doesn’t go for everyone, and Cal has some great things to offer too, and I do love Cal and being a student here, but, I’ve seen so many people on this board get wrapped up in things, which don’t really matter in the long run. </p>
<p>I’d like to hear what other people have to say about this as well.</p>
<p>^ Wish I realized this last year =____= By the time I did, I was already 3 months into FPF…but yeah, I totally agree (if cal is your top choice).</p>
<p>Fastsauce: I sent mine on Wednesday last week but from southern california so… Yeah. But everybodys telling me to go to Berkeley even if I have to wait til January and to just take CC classes til then.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to say that easylife808 is wrong, but I just want to give a different viewpoint about going to JC for 2 years vs. being at Cal for those same two years.</p>
<p>A decent number of us, at least in my field, have been doing research since freshman year. For example, I’ve already gotten my name on a research paper and I am still a sophomore. By contrast, some of the 3rd year transfer students I talked to last fall had barely even seen a lab before or knew what research was. They were good students, but they didn’t have the experience that I’ve gained by being a Berkeley student. That is a very difficult gap to bridge. Even if the transfers are able to do something cool in their two years here, they can never reach that 3-4 years of research that students who came here as freshmen are able to obtain. </p>
<p>I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, but if you’re interested in a field that involves research, being at Cal for your first two years can be crucial in your development. I know I would be a much worse scientist right now if I had gone to JC for two years.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is a good option for a lot of students, but not all students will find it beneficial versus going directly to Berkeley as a freshman.</p>
<p>Those who may find community college more constraining would be those who:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Are advanced enough to want to take upper division courses as freshmen or sophomores, or do undergraduate research as freshmen or sophomores.</p></li>
<li><p>Are interested in majors where lower division prerequisites are hard or impossible to find at community colleges, often resulting in a need to take a lot of lower division “catch up” courses after transfer, limiting schedule space for upper division courses or delaying graduation (chemical engineering is an example of such a major; EECS and L&S CS are examples of such majors if one does not live in commuting distance to a few east bay community colleges that cover most of the prerequisites).</p></li>
<li><p>Live in commuting distance of Berkeley and come from low enough family income to get Blue and Gold Opportunity, which should make (commuting to) Berkeley costs not much different from commuting to community college.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>On the other hand, community college for a semester is a good academic alternative to FPF for spring admits (particularly those in the College of Engineering), since FPF offers only a limited selection of freshman level non-lab courses.</p>