Email from current Cal student about Regents' Scholarship, did I get in?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>So I got the letter wich told me I was admitted and a Regents' candidate last week. I scheduled an interview at the beginning of March and I assumed that they would tell me around regular decision time if I got it. </p>

<p>Today, I got an email from a current Cal student who said they are are my "scholar contact" from the Regents' and Chancellor's Scholarship Association. He introduced himself and talked about Berkeley a bit. He happens to have the same major as me, but I don't know if that is just chance. He said that I could ask any questions I had etc. to him.</p>

<p>The thing is, that he made it seem like I already won the scholarship, to quote him from the email "Congratulations on becoming a Regents' Scholar for Berkeley". Do you guys think this means I already won (before even having an interview) or is this just a miscommunication between him and the people actually in charge of awarding the scholarship.</p>

<p>Has anyone else gotten an email like this?</p>

2

<p>Yes, DS got an email from a current scholar too. They try to match them up by major and his contact has the same major too. No, you haven’t already won the Regents as far as I can tell because you must interview first. </p>

<p>DS’s email invited him to ROHP and said he would answer any questions, etc… and talked a little about his interests and his major. DS wrote him back and thanked him for his note and asked him a few questions about Cal that the student wrote back and answered. It’s a very nice personal touch and the current scholars volunteer to do it and also to host the visiting prospective Regents scholars when them come to ROHP. Be sure to email him back and ask him questions, tell him when you are coming for the interview and if your are coming for ROHP. You can ask him if he knows something you don’t know about already winning-lol! </p>

<p>I have been researching the odds and they look pretty good compared to UCLA. Someone said they might give out as many as 400 or even 600 for the group of 1000 to interview. Of that 1000, there are a few that don’t go to the interview so the odds might even be better! Cal hopes to have around 200 enroll each year. Good luck. </p>

<p>When is your interview and are you spending the night? DS is going up on Sat for his interview and staying Sat night. Maybe we’ll see you there!</p>

3

<p>My DS got an email too. I was very impressed! He is going to interview in LA, but he is going to sign up to do the sleep-over in April.</p>

4

<p>What’s DS? And what’s ROHP? </p>

<p>BTW I’m a regents scholar myself. and I’m a junior majoring in EECS.</p>

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<p>DS= Darling son ROHP= Regents and Chancellor’s Scholars overnight Host Program</p>

6

<p>I sincerely apologize for the miscommunication on behalf of Berkeley Regents’ and Chancelor’s Scholars Association, the group that coordinates the Scholar Contact program. All of our scholar contacts were told to NOT say that their contacts had received the scholarship - fidoprincess is correct; you must interview first before receiving the scholarship.</p>

<p>That being said, congratulations on being granted an interview; I can’t wait to meet you all for either the interviews or for the Overnight Host Program!</p>

7

<p>Thanks for your replies, callian! Can you tell us more about what the overnight will be like? DS will sleep on the floor in a dorm room? Aren’t most of the dorms triples? Is there really room for him to sleep on the floor? Should I send a cot along? </p>

<p>After the tour and pizza, are there any organized activities or will he just be at the mercy of his host as to what they will do? Will they really be ready to go home at 8 am the next morning? That seems so early! </p>

<p>DS has his interview before the ROHP so he’ll want to change out of his nice clothes. Is there a place to do that easily? Do the parents go to the steps at Sproul and meet the other parents or is this students only? Any other tips? </p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

8

<p>"DS= Darling son " <- how sweet! Good luck to everybody.
fidoprincess, your DS will have his own bed and will definitely enjoy his stay at Berkeley so don’t fret. And I’m sure he can take good care of himself.</p>

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<p>Hey fidoprincess!</p>

<p>Running off to class, so I’ll make this short! If you have more questions, feel free to post/pm me!</p>

<p>Can you tell us more about what the overnight will be like?</p>

<p>General schedule is like so (may vary every year)
altogether:

  • sign in
  • introduction, programs, goodies
  • dinner
  • go visit residence halls, set down sleeping gear</p>

<p>break off into groups:

  • campus tour
  • evening/night activities (cafe hopping, Big C hike, etc)
  • rest/relax in the residence halls for a bit
  • go get ice cream
  • sleep/hang out with host, etc. </p>

<p>DS will sleep on the floor in a dorm room? </p>

<p>Yes, there aren’t empty beds in the halls to accommodate for guests. On the rare chance that your DS’s host has a rommate that never showed up, he might have a bed, but don’t count on it (it’s very rare). </p>

<p>Aren’t most of the dorms triples? Is there really room for him to sleep on the floor? Should I send a cot along? </p>

<p>Most rooms are doubles, about half in the units are triples, only a few in Foothill are triples. CKC has a lot of triples, but their rooms are huge. It’s not luxurious, but there’s enough room for a sleeping bag. I would advise against cots (no room) unless you go with him and can store it in the car if it doesn’t fit. If size/room is an issue, tell your DS to find a host who lives in either Foothill or CKC - they’re farther away from the meeting point, but the rooms are larger. </p>

<p>After the tour and pizza, are there any organized activities or will he just be at the mercy of his host as to what they will do? </p>

<p>Yes, we will have organized activities for all guests, but if his host has something special planned, that works too. All activities afterwards are optional, so your DS can decide what he wants to do. If he has problems with his host, or if his host seems to not be doing his job well, he can definitely contact one of the coordinators and get it resolved. We want to make sure everything runs smoothly and everyone has fun, so don’t be afraid to let us know if something isn’t working for you!</p>

<p>Will they really be ready to go home at 8 am the next morning? That seems so early! </p>

<p>8am is when hosts are officially “off duty”, so to speak - in other words, hosts no longer have to entertain the guest or keep doing activities with them through the day. It’s not an official “kicking you out” time, it’s just a way for hosts to be able to get their homework/studying/work done the next day if they need to. Exact times can be coordinated between your DS and his host. I’ve had guests stay with me for about half the day the next day so that I could show them inside classrooms and take them out to some nice Berkeley restaurants. </p>

<p>DS has his interview before the ROHP so he’ll want to change out of his nice clothes. Is there a place to do that easily? </p>

<p>If you know the details about his interview (when/where – in which building), I can tell you the nearest place to change! Otherwise, most bathrooms should work. </p>

<p>Do the parents go to the steps at Sproul and meet the other parents or is this students only? </p>

<p>You can definitely come to Sproul and meet other parents, talk to the ROHP coordinators, etc. We’ll move to a different place for the actual students-only parts. </p>

<p>Any other tips?
Dress warmly - it can get chilly here at night! I brought a large comfy sweater with me when I did ROHP as a high school senior, and ended up sleeping in it because my host and her roommate had thick blankets and didn’t bother turning on the heater.</p>

10

<p>Thank you SO much callian! I appreciate the time it took for you to answer my many questions. It sounds like so much fun and I commend you and the group for all of your efforts to make it a good experience for the new kids. I know I sounded apprehensive because I was worried that if DS has a bad experience, it might turn him off of Cal but I feel much more confident that he will enjoy himself.</p>

<p>How does he learn who his host will be? Will he find out before he goes? How will we know where to pick him up in the morning if we don’t know the host’s dorm? It’s not the same person that wrote him the email, is it? I thought that person was just saying congrats and answering any questions since there was no mention of the writer being the host. </p>

<p>Lastly, is being a host at this function part of your “obligation” in being a regents scholar? It didn’t seem as though there were any service type of obligations with this scholarship as opposed to some of the others like the alumni ones that required a certain amount of community service hours to maintain the scholarship.</p>