College of Chemistry admissions

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>This sounds like a stupid question but I couldn't find any definitive answers searching through the forums. Is applying to the college of chemistry similar to applying to the college of engineering in that the admissions standards are higher? If so, are CoC admissions as competitive or less so than CoE?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>I would say that the College of Chemistry’s admissions standards are slightly more difficult than those of the College of Letters and Science, but less difficult than those of the College of Engineering (especially majors such as EECS and BioE).</p>

<p>Here are some statistics, that I got from this post (from a few years ago): <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/8970497-post4.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/8970497-post4.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>646 students enrolled in the COE
SAT Read Write Math Total
25% 620 630 710 1960
75% 740 730 780 2250</p>

<p>Compare to Letters&Science 2832 students enrolled
SAT Read Write Math Total
25% 580 590 610 1780
75% 700 710 750 2160</p>

<p>Compare to Natural Resources 378 students enrolled
SAT Read Write Math Total
25% 560 580 610 1750
75% 680 690 720 2090</p>

<p>Compare to College of Chemistry 174 students enrolled
SAT Read Write Math Total
25% 600 620 710 1930
75% 710 720 780 2210</p>

<p>Compare to Environmental Design 100 students enrolled
SAT Read Write Math Total
25% 540 550 590 1680
75% 680 680 710 2070 </p>

<p>As you can see, the CoC is between L&S and the CoE in terms of stats.</p>

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<p>That’s very helpful! Thanks!</p>

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<p>Stress level while in college</p>

<p>CoC >> CoE > L&S</p>

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<p>^Agreed.</p>

<p>10 char</p>

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<p>@upmagic: Couldn’t agree more.</p>

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<p>The statistics posted above are relatively consistent with today’s statistics, with the exception of CNR. CNR has recently become quite a bit more competitive, and it now has slightly higher admission standards than L&S.</p>

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<p>For Berkeley CoE, how many?

  • applicants to “Engineering Undeclared”
  • admits to “Engineering Undeclared”
  • matriculants to “Engineering Undeclared”
  • breakdown of male/female for each of the above</p>

<p>For Berkeley CoC, how many?

  • applicants
  • admits
  • matriculants
  • breakdown of male/female for each of the above</p>

<p>For Berkeley L&S Chem majors?

  • applicants
  • admits
  • matriculants
  • breakdown of male/female for each of the above</p>
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<p>Note that freshmen who enter L&S all enter as undeclared, rather than entering already declared in a major like in CoC or optionally declared in CoE or CNR.</p>

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<p>OK, then, how about stats (SATs and HS GPAs) for L&S chem majors?</p>

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<p>L&S chem is an ABSOLUTE JOKE. There’s no need to consider it because it’s fairly easy to transfer to the chemistry major in the CoC.</p>

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<p>out of the people who do L&S chem, I’d bet 90% of them are doing it because they want to double major in some other L&S major and are unwilling to take the extra courses required for simultaneous degrees.</p>

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<p>@mihcal1</p>

<p>I don’t think those stats you’re asking for in both of your last posts are publicly available anywhere (though I may be wrong).</p>

<p>I can tell you that Engineering Undeclared is very competitive. That’s all I know.</p>

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<p>Can you give me any more info on just what is meant by <em>very</em> competitive? Is there any breakdown available of stats breakdowns by major within CoE and CoC?</p>

<p>I am certain that the CoE and CoC know their numbers. Any idea who to contact and ask?</p>

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<p>I haven’t looked at this file recently, but I think it has some (slightly dated) numbers related to what you’re looking for. <a href=“http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/05/16_houtreport.pdf[/url]”>http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/05/16_houtreport.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>The individual colleges are pretty secretive about their specific numbers. The main reason for that is all incoming freshman applications are read by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, not individual colleges.</p>

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<p>@singh2010 - Thank you! </p>

<p>Table 8 of the Hout report is exactly the sort of data I’m looking for. I’d love to find updated numbers, and also male/female breakout. Any idea who I might approach about getting newer data? Is Michael Hout still doing that sort of analysis? Have there been any more recent reports?</p>

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<p>Re: <a href=“http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/05/16_houtreport.pdf[/url]”>http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/05/16_houtreport.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Interesting. It says that, at the time (2004), that the selectivity, based on “read score” (holistic evaluation on a 1 to 5 scale, 1 being best, 5 being worst), CoE was the most selective, then CoC and L&S, then CNR and CED (page 22)</p>

<p>Within CoE, selectivity varied (page 28):</p>

<p>Bioengineering (most selective)
Undeclared
Materials Science and Engineering
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Computational Engineering (discontinued)
Environmental Engineering (now part of Civil?)
Engineering Physics
Engineering Math and Statistics
Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
Civil Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Nuclear Engineering (least selective)</p>

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<p>Again, CNR is now more competitive than L&S. So those numbers are pretty outdated.</p>