<p>That perfect 4.0... we all want it....few have it. How much certainty is there in having a perfect GPA applying to UCB/LA assuming you fulfill IGETC by Spring and have no more than say, 1 or 2 prereqs to finish in the final Spring semester? And lets make it interesting and focus on impacted majors only.</p>
<p>From what I learned by speaking to a rep from Berkeley, a 4.0 guarantees you entry. Entry into Berkeley is more difficult than into UCLA, so I would assume that the same holds true for UCLA.</p>
<p>For bio majors (an impacted major if I remember right), the middle 50% of accepted applicants into Berkeley are roughly in the 3.25 to 3.75 range.</p>
<p>4.0 + all pre-reqs + IGETC would likely to get in unless its a super competitive major.</p>
<p>Impacted majors and rigid pre-requisites for entry (rather than the judgment of merit alone) are actually something that completely turned me off from the UCs (aside from the fact that the UC budget got slashed by 1/3, the state budget is still in the hole for roughly 20 bil a year, and international students are ineligible for institutional merit-based aid).</p>
<p>From what I’ve been told by my rep for Cal, she said that the criteria is heavily based on academic performance. The essay is what can tip someone over if their score if borderline or mediocre. But a blah essay with great scores and all else completed, you should be in great shape. For impacted, that probably just get you competitive. EC stuff probably the help you need.</p>
<p>3.7 student with great ECs or 4.0 student with below average ECs? Which one gets in?</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat, so take my post with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>For transfer students, extracurriculars are worth almost nothing compared to a 0.3 difference in GPA. If it was between you and the 4.0 with below average ECs, I’d lay down money on him being selected over you. I think they should grant more weight to the essay and extracurriculars.</p>
<p>@ComaPrison</p>
<p>Really? So lets say these two students were applying to the UCLA Pre-Business Economics program.</p>
<p>Student #1- Has a 3.7 GPA, good essays, 2-3 strong EC’s such as an internship in an accounting firm or bank.</p>
<p>Student #2- 4.0 GPA, same quality essays, but no EC’s with weight. His only significant one is walking dogs.</p>
<p>You’re saying student #2 would get in over #1 just because the GPA alone? If so that sucks. I know Berkley distributes their admission criteria as 50% GPA, 35% Essay, and 15% ECs so EC’s (especially ones pertaining to your field of study) have to hold some weight.</p>
<p>I never said that ECs hold NO weight. Only that the GPA is make-or-break. Essay can be generic/ordinary/mediocre and your GPA will still get you in. ECs CAN tip the balance for you if you’re really teetering on the edge. But a 4.0 vs a 3.7 isn’t teetering in the balance. It would have to be more like a 3.7 student vs a 3.60-3.69 with better ECs (and same quality essays).</p>
<p>The entire UC system is infamous among transfer students for their valuing of GPA as being the sole decision maker. Certainly if you have a good GPA but you write the most mediocre stuff ever for your essay, that might hurt you (but it doesn’t hurt most people). Based on what I’ve seen, a complete absence of ECs will have no impact on your acceptance.</p>
<p>The vast majority of people that attended my community college got into Berkeley and UCLA with 0 ECs.</p>
<p>@ComaPrison</p>
<p>Yeah. I’ve also heard that GPA and finishing your prerequisites are the most important factors in the decision. I agree with what you say though. It sucks but I guess that’s the way it is.</p>
<p>It makes sense in that it streamlines the admissions process for transfer applicants into the schools (thus reducing their time/cost burdens). They don’t have to waste time being critical about your essay or caring about the presence or absence of ECs. For all I know, they just check that your pre-requisites are fulfilled, and then plug your GPA into a database with all the other applicants to draw a hard GPA cut-off point for that wave of applicants. If this theory were true, it would explain a lot about the admission notification schedules.</p>
<p>Yeah I have to agree that GPA is number 1 by miles, and of course having prerequisites completed along with that. EC/Essay is almost nothing. They have little room and they want the best students and the best talent. Period. Nuff said.</p>
<p>Here is a good article which explains UCLA’s and UCB’s holistic review process:
[Campus</a> explains holistic review admissions process / UCLA Today](<a href=“http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/080905_holistic-admissions_reed.aspx]Campus”>http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/080905_holistic-admissions_reed.aspx)</p>
<p>No offense but that’s nothing more than bull sh… publicity. Vast majority of successful transfers into those two schools from a CCC are in entirely on the basis of GPA, pre-requisites, and IGETC</p>
<p>I can believe that the admissions from high school are more “holistic”, but you’re still buying into propaganda if you believe that GPA isn’t the primary focus.</p>
<p>4.0 with all pre-reqs and igetc is a shoe in for either ucla or cal most likely both</p>
<p>Transfer admissions is holistic as well (with the possible exceptions of Haas SoB, CNR, and CoE). L&S definitely uses holistic review (and, at least at UCB, encompasses 80% of undergraduate students). Many transfers are non-traditional. Some, like me, initially attended ccc immediately after H.S., performed poorly and dropped out - only to return years later and succeed in their studies. Some are late starters and waited to go back to school in order to raise families. Work/life experience, and academic maturity all play a part in the transfer decision-making process (excluding the above mentioned colleges).</p>
<p>NO EC’s high GPA FTW</p>
<p>Reviving an old thread but my friend who applied as a political science major w/ decent EC’s and 4.0 GPA got rejected from Berkeley but got accepted in to UCLA. Not sure what that means but I’m just putting this out there.</p>
<p>Ouch I guess Berkeley is out of the question for me. Oh well, I’m not one of those people who had their hopes up anyways.</p>
<p>You should give more information about the guy. There had to be something that got him denied. Theres no way anybody reading that should take your story at face value.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, 4.0 gpa applicants do regularly get rejected by UCLA and Cal (and other UCs as well). Before an application gets to the admissions committee the personal essay goes to a group of readers (there are usually anywhere from 1 to 3 at the undergrad level). They work with a set of directions giving them scoring guidelines for various representative qualities for which they assign numerical values. The readers score the essays on a scale. If the readers give you low scores, your application is in serious jeopardy before the panel even begins to review it (and these marks ARE part of the process).</p>
<p>There is no machine or program that determines if you get accepted. Every application is reviewed by humans – flawed, over-worked, and sometimes illogical humans. This is why it takes so long to get acceptance/rejection notifications (and is also the reason that some people get accepted by one UC and not another – some students really do get accepted by Cal and UCLA only to be rejected by UCSB). The committee members are charged with building a class that has the highest chances for individual success, retention and also for what each incoming student might contribute to the academic community as a whole.</p>
<p>This is the same process by which many of the scholarships are awarded on campus. I am both an initial reader and finalist interviewer for the Cal Alumni Association’s Leadership Award and the process is very similar. [Note: If anyone reading this is a Leadership Award finalist who interviewed last Sunday or is waiting to interview this upcoming Sunday, please don’t contact me for information regarding your chances. I can’t respond to any queries and the final decisions will be listed October 1st].</p>