<p>Someone please clarify this; I was a little skeptical at first.</p>
<p>The University of California website says:</p>
<p>"Letters of Recommendation.
UC does not require or solicit letters of recommendation for undergraduate admission."</p>
<p>So that means we DO NOT need any teacher or counselor recs? NONE AT ALL?! (a little surprising, in my opinion, for such a good school)</p>
<p>bump... someone answer it.
plus, if uc berkeley doesn't need any, then it makes it like by far the best application ever. :)</p>
<p>UC does not ask for or accept essays UNLESS you are borderline and are selected to undergo an augmentd reveiw of senior grades and submit a letter. There is nothing for you to do about this, if you end up being one of a very few students out of 50,000 applicants who needs one, they will let you know. If yu send one without being asked, it will not be read. I guess UC doesn't take letters because they use a common aplication throughout the system (ie one ap for all UC's) and they get way too many applicants to do so. They probably figure that a student's academic record will speak to the student's abilities better than a letter written by his favorite teacher. If you want them to know something- put it in your essay. Good luck.</p>
<p>ok, so when you send in the application, teacher & counselor recommendations are not required. </p>
<p>it is only if uc berkeley (or any other uc) contacts you AFTER they have already received your application and requests for a letter, in which case you must get teacher recs.</p>
<p>right? (sorry y'all, i really need to make sure and i'm still so surprised that uc's don't need any)
SWEET.</p>
<p>isabella:</p>
<p>The University of California (all campuses) will not accept recs. If they are submitted, they will not be read. The only exception is for the few borderline apps, in which case the campus will contact you first.</p>
<p>
[quote]
it is only if uc berkeley (or any other uc) contacts you AFTER they have already received your application and requests for a letter, in which case you must get teacher recs.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Right. So few are asked to, though.</p>
<p>
[quote]
i'm still so surprised that uc's don't need any
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Consider that: UCLA had ~50,000 applications; Berkeley and UCSD had ~45,000; and the rest of the UCs (except maybe Merced) had 20,000+ applications. Going through the application + essays + transcripts + score reports would take long enough, which is why the deadline is so early (late November). Recs would just make it take even longer.</p>
<p>In fact, there's no place on the application, since you do it online, to send in the recommendation even if you wanted to. Even your grades and test scores are self reported -- you later get SAT/ACT scores officially sent in, and they compare your self-reported scores with those to make sure they match. In fact, they don't even want to see your official transcript UNLESS you get an offer. So all you send in is your app and your money online and that's it.</p>
<p>IF they want you to fill out a supplemental questionnaire (borderline or talent or disability), THEN they say you can send in a teacher rec. if you want, plus your fall grades. That happens in late Jan. or early Feb. -- if you don't get that, then no worries, you're not in that small group where they ask.</p>
<p>
[quote]
i'm still so surprised that uc's don't need any
[/quote]
</p>
<p>UC claims that ~99% of all recs say great things about the students, so what's the value added?</p>
<p>@ bluebayou:
Why do private schools need it then? :)</p>
<p>^^ private schools stress different things. Recs probably don't mean much to them unless they say something exceptional about the applicant.</p>