<p>A couple weeks ago, I received an email from UC Berkeley wanting me to fill out a questionnaire and submit a letter of recommendation. The questionnaire was in regards to my medical condition (my benign brain tumor), and of course, I filled it out. </p>
<p>Is it possible that because I received this questionnaire, I have been pulled out of the eligible list of people to receive the Regents Scholarship, because it has been pulled aside for further review (on the medical condition part)?</p>
<p>I'm getting quite nervous, because most of the invitations were sent out on the 14th...</p>
<p>The questionaire was sent out for people that were on the edge of getting rejected. It's highly unlikely for a person that's on the edge to receive Regents.</p>
<p>If you call the Berkeley admissions office or DSP office, they will tell you that every applicant who discloses a physical/learning disability or other medical problem in their original application is automatically offered an opportunity to further explain/document their situation by filling out an additional questionnaire, submitting documentation of their disability, etc, and submitting a letter of recommendation from someone familiar with their situation. They are also asked to send in their fall grades. If they choose not to participate in this review, their application is thrown back into the general pool: no harm, no foul, no penalty. If they do participate, they are put through a separate admissions review by the DSP prior to being redirected to the regular admissions office. Although the process is similar to the augmented review given to "borderline" applicants, this goes through the disabled students office and is subject to a different review than applications that do not disclose medical problems or disabilities. The regular augmented review asks for SOME of the same things but they are two distinct processes. </p>
<p>I think the OP did not hurt his chances at Regent's by disclosing his/her problem and then choosing to document his/her medical problem. If he/she is in the top 1.5% of the applicant pool (stats, ec's, essay, etc.) then he/she would most likely have been among the first to be invited to interview as overcoming the hardship of a brain tumor would have made his/her application stand out even more. Could it be they just have way too many qualified students to interview every single student? They have to draw the line somewhere. Almost every kid I know who interviewed for that the past few years had mostly IB/AP classes throughout HS and not more than one B on their transcripts (which I actually reviewed), along with great leadership/other ec's, etc. In other words: the cream of the crop. Don't sweat it: if you don't qualify for financial aid, the Regent's doesn't do much for you; if you do qualify for financial aid, you will still get it. Just being admitted to Cal these days is like getting an award! Good luck.</p>
<p>If you call the Berkeley admissions office or DSP office, they will tell you that every applicant who discloses a physical/learning disability or other medical problem in their original application is automatically offered an opportunity to further explain/document their situation by filling out an additional questionnaire, submitting documentation of their disability, etc, and submitting a letter of recommendation from someone familiar with their situation. They are also asked to send in their fall grades. If they choose not to participate in this review, their application is thrown back into the general pool: no harm, no foul, no penalty. If they do participate, they are put through a separate admissions review by the DSP prior to being redirected to the regular admissions office. Although the process is similar to the augmented review given to "borderline" applicants, this goes through the disabled students office and is subject to a different review than applications that do not disclose medical problems or disabilities. The regular augmented review asks for SOME of the same things but they are two distinct processes. </p>
<p>I think the OP did not hurt his chances at Regent's by disclosing his/her problem and then choosing to document his/her medical problem. If he/she is in the top 1.5% of the applicant pool (stats, ec's, essay, etc.) then he/she would most likely have been among the first to be invited to interview as overcoming the hardship of a brain tumor would have made his/her accomplishments stand out even more. Could it be they just have way too many qualified students to interview every single student? They have to draw the line somewhere. Almost every kid I know who interviewed for that the past few years had mostly IB/AP classes throughout HS and not more than one B on their transcripts (which I actually reviewed), along with great leadership/other ec's, etc. In other words: the cream of the crop. Don't sweat it: if you don't qualify for financial aid, the Regent's doesn't do much for you; if you do qualify for financial aid, you will still get it. Just being admitted to Cal these days is like getting an award! Good luck.</p>
<p>I received the same thing, but decided not to participate in it to show that my illness did not affect me in highschool. I wanted to be straightforward that I tried my best and that my small downfall was not because of my illness.</p>
<p>But I did send in a letter of recommendation... do you think they will read it even if I decided not to participate in the questionnaire?</p>