<p>If any bit of your self-righteous personality seeped into your application, I see full reason as to why you were rejected.</p>
<p>Sucker, I got in with a 1530 and a 4.04 GPA. I feel as when people make threads like this make them seem like a whiny Bitc* and don’t deserve to get in at all. Good thing Cal didn’t accept you, we don’t want your kind at Cal. And Cal didn’t make a mistake and neither did UCSD, you did.</p>
<p>^ agreed. And I got in with lower scores as well</p>
<p>lol geez…this thread has become crazy…insults are flying through the air. </p>
<p>erry one CALM DOWN. yeah if u didnt get in and u think u deserved it, you can transfer or ur app as a whole would be fit for another school. people who got in with lower test scores also had phenomenal essays and other parts of their app stood out. i didnt get into my first choice NYU either but ill transfer from berkeley if i really want to later…ppl told me to move on and u gotta let it go and hope u can get in some other day if u want it that bad. : ]</p>
<p>OP: appeal the decision.</p>
<p>These people are giving you useless crap. You are acting a bit arrogant i will admit but I’m sure you didn’t show it through in your application. If that is the case, your EC’s, standardized test scores, and GPA, and your Cali residence should have gotten you into Berkeley. Again nothing is definite, but I think you have a good shot if you appeal. Maybe they did make a mistake. Instead of complaining, appeal and see what happens.</p>
<p>forreal though, you should have got in over the girl with the 1850</p>
<p>these kind of discussions are pointless…</p>
<p>Please do not compare yourself to your friends, classmates, or others online. You can’t just look at the GPAs and test scores of the other students and decide that they are less worthy than you of being admitted. You have no idea what they do in the summer or after school, or what they put on their applications. Whatever conclusions you derive from the limited information available are just assumptions based on hearsay, speculation, or bias.</p>
<p>^Alright, I won’t. But I’ve just talked to my counselor, and he is very starstruck. In the past, rank 4s from our school usually have gotten into Cal.
But I go beyond the rankings and stats as well. I’m an ELC student and a COSMOS alumni. I thought I really did stand somewhat of a chance (I mean…not even a waitlist? :[)</p>
<p>I don’t think the essays could be a problem. If so, then I wouldn’t have gotten into UCLA. </p>
<p>Its just that some of the friends I’ve grown up with have gotten in, and I know them. We did our applications together, and we promised that we’ll all go to Berkeley. Our stats were pretty much the same, although I did have more “awards” so to say I guess like the “Caltech Signature Award.” They ALL got into EECS, and I didn’t.
Its just heart-breaking, and I don’t mean to be cocky and put down other people. I’m sorry if I ever came across that way.</p>
<p>Its just that I don’t see any reason for them to reject me.</p>
<p>I’ve written an appeal, and I’m planning on calling the admissions with my counselor on Monday. I may have to go to Berkeley in person as well to Room 103.</p>
<p>These Ashwin threads are definitely good but think how much better if we had video!!! Ashwin, please webcam the appeals process. I’m guessing it’s a viral youtube monster hit.</p>
<p>Ashwin. I’m sure all of us on here were rejected somewhere during this process, so believe me when I say we all know how you feel. It’s natural to feel angry, but it is not a reason to claim your superiority over everyone else.</p>
<p>It seems you’ve calmed down, that’s good. Get the appeal going and see where that takes you. I agree you should have gotten in with your scores though.</p>
<p>The valedictorian of our school last year was rejected. His stats way surpassed mine.</p>
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<p>Ashwin, as of now I haven’t seen a reason why people are getting so frustrated with your post. </p>
<p>It is no secret that I view admissions at every single school, including Berkeley, with skepticism. I certainly know some Berkeley rejects that were far, far more qualified to be here than the accepted. This includes someone who applied to EECS in my year. </p>
<p>If you’re truly a sharp maths/science student, I’m very sorry if there were random, ridiculous acceptances done this year. I’m not sure, as it’s been a long time since I’ve been through the admissions process.</p>
<p>If this individual was waitlisted at Caltech, chances are he’s a very sharp student, and it’s very possible there was a mistake in processing his application. Obviously it would be productive to just go about figuring out whether there was, but it’s no more productive for folks here to be whining about his whining.</p>
<p>The OP must have applied to an oversubscribed program. Otherwise, he would have probably gotten accepted.</p>
<p>Honestly, this isn’t just to the OP, but I don’t think people should be saying “this person was more qualified than this one.” You don’t even know what these schools are truly looking for, none of you are admissions officers as far as I know, correct me if I’m wrong. It just sucks to get accepted and then have people tell you didn’t deserve it. Obviously, that school chose that person for a reason, they thought that person belonged there. Admissions officers are people too, and they may even like a single thing about a person that will get them in, something that sticks in their minds. You just don’t know. </p>
<p>And to the OP, if you honestly feel like you belong at Berkeley and you would truly go there, then appeal. Tell them everything you are telling us now. You never know, your persistence may just be the thing to win them over. And it doesn’t do you any harm to appeal.</p>
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<p>Admirable sentiment, but coming from a third year student at Berkeley, the admissions here can make mistakes. Let’s not forget that there are illogical and logical things an admissions officer can do. What they are looking for may be ridiculous, or it may be wise. </p>
<p>This poster’s SAT and GPA aside, there are * a lot* of factors indicating he is a good fit for engineering at Berkeley. I am highly skeptical that the batch of accepted students has much more impressive resumes than he does. </p>
<p>I am aware of all the OP has said that could be perceived as condescending, but honestly I saw people getting rejected from Berkeley in my year who really shouldn’t have been, and are thriving in EECS elsewhere. This does NOT mean we shouldn’t consider why they did not get accepted here if we care that our school does things correctly.</p>
<p>It is not excellent to make others feel bad about their acceptances, but honestly if the others had some self-respect in their posts, they would realize this is an anguished guy who is spouting the bitter truth that there are inexplicable things that go on with admissions at times, and they aren’t necessarily good or warranted and should be eliminated.</p>
<p>I am also aware Ashwin wrote something that could be perceived as insulting about Caltech being “way better” than Berkeley. Let’s remember – what he means is likely that it’s way harder to get in, and the average student is way more qualified there. That’s absolutely true for most of the majors at Berkeley. For those of us who know Berkeley well, there’s no need to remind ourselves that Berkeley’s academic programs are world class, and in many cases offer more than Caltech. But this is not what Ashwin is disputing.</p>
<p>In anguish, Ashwin has phrased many things less than precisely, and I think this is excusable, because the heart of his point is doubt as to how he was rejected, and I have a doubt too after looking at his resume.</p>
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<p>This is one of the most useless perspectives ever. As if the admissions officer truly has a better idea of what kind of students an individual’s close friends are. Frankly, this is utter nonsense, and glorifies how much the admissions can extrapolate magically from some simple sheets of paper to an irrational degree. If you’re actually an engineer, mathematician or scientist, you know best how someone functions once you’ve talked to and worked with them.</p>
<p>Ashwin has plenty on his application aside from GPA and scores that seems to point to a good fit for engineering. I think his concerns are warranted. Certainly he did not put his concerns out there in the most courteous fashion, but that doesn’t mean responding with trite criticisms circulated ignorantly a million times around CC is great. “You haven’t seen the whole application. Nobody knows anything…except admissions” What a joke. Coming from someone who was admitted to this program and loves Berkeley.</p>
<p>i definitely understand this guys point of view. I was wait listed for Cal and was actually pleasantly surprised because Cal is so competitive… That was until i saw a girl from my school who has a 3.5 gpa get it, and believe me she and her multiple luxury cars have faced no hardships. I wasn’t even mad for myself, being an average score person myself, i felt sympathy for people who worked their asses off in high school and had 5.0’s all the time and didnt get in. But college admissions is a crap shoot as we have all learned, and i truly believe that where ever we end up going to college, be it Cal or UCI, it is meant to be.</p>
<p>College admissions do not necessarily make sense, yes. It’s nice to maintain the illusion that the admissions office always had a good reason we just don’t know of, but that simply isn’t always the case.</p>
<p>Does this make “I’m so ANGRY, I DESERVED to get in more than some of my friends” an acceptable response? No.</p>
<p>I think the Op has a valid point, I’ve noticed that UC Berkeley’s reputation has gone to hell.</p>