Chances of getting into UC Berkeley?

Hello,

Senior with an average of 4.0UW gpa
-4.35 W gpa
-No APs or SAT subject tests (school doesn’t offer APs)
-1350 SAT
-6 college courses (included in gpa)
-registered as white & hispanic
-Live in LA/ CA resident

  • engineer applying undecided (since engineering is so competitive)

My top college choice is UC Berkeley. Are my stats up to par or are they lacking much?

Also, side note, any recommendations for colleges?

  • I care about a good mechanical engineering program
  • prefer rural setting
    -dont mind going out of state

Also ECs:

-Worked 100+ hours community service at a dog shelter, hospital, and soup kitchen.
-Multi instrumentalist participated in music program at my school (jazz band, rock band, digital audio workshop, instrument building, songwriting class, etc.) I play guitar, violin,and piano.
-Paid intern at Sylvan as a robotics instructor
-Frequently volunteer educating general public about engineering at events such as TED X talks.

ECs are decent. GPA is up-to-par. Test scores are lacking. I wouldn’t have applied undecided if I were you. You’ll have a difficult time declaring engineering as your major upon acceptance into the school.

You are a qualified applicant but definitely not a guarantee of an acceptance. Applying to Engineering without subject tests will probably hurt your chances. Although only recommended, majority of the applicants will have very competitive SAT subject test scores. Hope for the best and Good Luck.

UCB engineering undeclared is probably as hard to get into as the most competitive engineering major or more so.

If you apply as L&S undeclared, are admitted, and enroll, changing into an engineering major is extremely difficult. However, if you are interested in EECS or IEOR, there are similar L&S majors, CS and ORMS.

Thanks for your responses guys! Allow me to clarify, I am applying undecided, not engineering undecided. I am likely to change it to engineering if I get accepted.

Do not count on being able to change from Undeclared to Engineering. See the explanation below from the UCB website:::

Through direct freshman and transfer admissions, we admit the maximum number of students possible each year. Students interested in studying Engineering at UC Berkeley should apply directly to the college as freshman or transfer applicants.

Change of college applicants should note that because most programs in the College of Engineering are heavily subscribed, seats in our courses are reserved for engineering students. It is difficult for non-engineering students to get a seat in many engineering courses. This makes a change of college application even more challenging, as one requirement for admission is completion of the prescribed engineering curriculum. Since availability in these courses for non-engineering students is very limited, it may not be possible to meet the minimum requirements for consideration.
:::

http://engineering.berkeley.edu/admissions/undergrad-admissions/change-college/change-college-application

It is very difficult to change from non-CoE undeclared into a CoE major. See the link in reply #6.

You may want to contact the UCB admissions office to see if you can change your intended major from (presumably L&S) undeclared to CoE mechanical engineering or CoE undeclared.

should i change it for the other UCs as well or is UCB my main concern?

Majority of the UC’s are difficult to switch into Engineering if not accepted as a Direct Admit. I would change all if possible.

Thank you, Gumbymom and ucbalumnus.

My fear is that, given the competition for the engineering department as a freshman applicant, I won’t get in, and I would preferably like to have a college in CA to fall back on in case I prefer to stay in the state. To be quite honest, although majoring in engineer has been a goal of mine for years, I’m still interested in exploring a bit. What should I do?

Is it possible to apply just to UCSB as an engineer major or will the other UCs notice my major differences?

Your SAT is low for UCB. See if you can get it up some. If engineering is your thing, try another UC school or out of state.

Changing to an engineering major is difficult at the others you applied to:

UCLA: http://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/com-faq/

UCSD: http://mae.ucsd.edu/undergrad/ugadmissions

UCSB: https://engineering.ucsb.edu/undergraduate/academic-advising/change-major-college-engineering

Note: UCSD and UCSB may admit those applying to a specific major to a second choice major or undeclared if the applicant meets the threshold for the school but not the major.

What other UC’s did you apply?

Is your UC capped weighted GPA 4.35 or is it your Fully weighted?

UCLA/UCB are always difficult regardless of major but again switching into Engineering if not admitted directly will be difficult at many of the UC’s including UCSB.

Freshman admit rate for UC GPA of 4.20 or higher:
UCB: 46%

UCLA: 53%

UCSD: 88%

UCSB: 88%

UCD: 89%

UCI: 97%
UCSC: 95%

UCR: 99%

UCM: 98%

Gumbymom,

I also applied to UCSB, UCSD, and UCLA. Are these all reach schools for me? It’s kind of hard for me to explain my gpa, but here is what it should look like:

Freshman year: W: 4.0 UW: 4.0
Sophomore year: W: 4.0 UW: 4.0
Junior year: W: 4.83 UW:4.0

Then I have taken college courses, which are not included:

Computer science: A
political science: A
business law: A
law: A
psychology: B
music theory: A

You are competitive for all the UC’s on your list. UCLA/UCB are tough admits and SAT score could be a bit higher. If you applied to UCSB/UCSD and UCLA as Undeclared and not Engineering, you have a good chance for an acceptance but as stated above, do not expect to switch into Engineering later. It is not impossible but you need to have a stellar GPA 3.9+ in the pre-req’s to switch.

You have a decent change at UCSB and possibly UCSD, if you had applied as a direct admit Engineering major. It is up to you if you want email these campuses and change your major. Your decision but you need to figure out what is important, getting into the school or the major.