<p>I'm a high school senior, and I'm in disbelief right now. Out of all the schools I applied to, I was accepted to all except for one, UC Berkeley. I was accepted at UC Davis with regents, UCSD with regents, UCSB with regents, UCLA with regents, USC, Cornell, and Claremont McKenna. My ACT score is 35, and I have a 3.73 GPA, and I've taken 12 APs, 8 5's and 4 4's. My two top choices were UCD, USC, and UCB. However, I didn't get a satisfactory financial aid package from USC and since I received a full ride to Davis (regents) I was considering going there. But Berkeley was my dream school, and I've always wanted to go there. However, I was rejected. It didn't make any sense to me, since I got into Cornell, but not UC Berkeley. I'm a california resident also. So I decided to appeal, and wrote about how I really liked UC Berkeley and how I had some hardships during high school because of my poverty. And today, I found out that my appeal was rejected. I guess I'll be going to UCD, but I still don't get why I was rejected from UCB. I've worked hard all of my life, yet I wasn't able to get into my dream school. I guess Davis won't be that bad, but I'm just worried that the laid back atmosphere will suffocate me. Thats one of the reasons I liked Berkeley, because there's always something to do, especially at Sproul Plaza. Anyways, I just wrote this because I'm felling really sad right now because I won't be going to Berkeley next year...</p>
<p>Its probably the 3.73 + your basis for appeal seems weak</p>
<p>P.S. Why aren't you going to UCLA or Cornell(probably the money)?</p>
<p>ever thought about calling them to see what's up? maybe there's been a major mistake on your record somewhere.</p>
<p>i don't see any reason how 12 strong AP's can be rejected from ANY uc. and 3.73 isn't that low. unless it's weighted 3.73. Is it?</p>
<p>I don't like UCLA and Cornell is too expensive OOS. My UW GPA is 3.73, weighted its 4.12. I don't think it is a mistake, since I appealed and was rejected again.</p>
<p>funkfreed: a 4.12 is not a high GPA for a Berkeley applicant and there were a lot of 35 ACT's rejected I am sure... With the holistic admissions process, it's not a numbers only thing at Cal... Be happy at Davis. It sounds like it's where you are meant to be, and good luck to you!</p>
<p>Which major did you apply for? If you applied for engineering, that's explains it.</p>
<p>First off, I'm really sorry about Berkeley, but congrats on getting into all of the other schools, that's really an achievement. Regarding the laid back atmosphere at Davis, I don't think that it will be suffocating at all; college is really what you make of it and the best way to have a wonderful experience is to get involved!! I'm going to Davis over Cal, one of the reasons being that I love the friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>wow, congrats for all those other schools. i think your gpa isn't high enough. do you have lots of extracurriculars? how did you do on your sat IIs? did you take the SAT at all? </p>
<p>just out of curiousity, but why aren't you considering going to UCSD?</p>
<p>Sorry you didnt get into berkeley, but y not ucsd then (since u said u didnt like cornell or ucla), but also, y apply to ucsd/ucla/cornell etc. if you wouldnt go there</p>
<p>What about your ECs/awards/honors/essays? Those are important too...</p>
<p>CA2006: I know my GPA isn't that high, but considering that I took 12 APs while holding down a job to support my family, I thought it was good in that context. I am sure that I will like it at Davis, but I've lived in a suburban area my whole life and would like to experience an urban lifestyle, especially at Berkeley with it's endless things to do. </p>
<p>unlimitedx: I applied undeclared to the College of Natural Resources, because I want to do something in environmental science. </p>
<p>brightandshiny88: Thanks for your comment, I guess Davis will be just as fun!</p>
<p>ilovediamondz: Yes, I did take the SAT, I got a 2260 and I have a 800 SAT 2 Lit, 770 World History, 740 Bio E, and 690 Math 2C. I am not going to UCSD because when I visited there I did not like the atmosphere. It just seemed really plain, and in the dorms I visited all the students were playing games or on the computer, and I just didn't get a good vibe from the campus. </p>
<p>mathtastic_nerd: I don't like the feel of ucsd, I just can't see myself there for the next 4 years of my life. I never said that I did not like ucla or cornell, it's just that I've heard many negative things about cornell, and my parents want me to stay in state for college. The thing I don't like about ucla is how big some of the classes can be. Since I'm a so cal resident, living in Arcadia, I wanted to go to school up north. I decided this after I applied to all of those schools, so my top two choices were Davis and Berkeley, with Berkeley being the first. However, I've heard that Davis is the best UC for environmental science, so I guess it will be alright. I'm just sad because I feel that I would have the best college experience at Berkeley, not Davis, even though Davis is a good school also.</p>
<p>kyledavid80: I was on my school's varsity tennis team for 4 years, JV captain junior year. I was an AP Scholar with Distinction, and I received many awards from my school's MUN program. I also volunteered at a hospital for 3 years, and I think my essays were good.</p>
<p>Don't fret. You will do fine wherever you go.</p>
<p>If you really want to, you can transfer after two years at UC Davis. It will be hard, but with your stats, I'm sure you can handle it.</p>
<p>The Righteous: I know that it doesn't really matter which college you go to, as long as you work hard. Thats why I don't care about going to what people would call a "low tier UC", but I just wanted to have a good college experience, and I thought that I'd find that only at Berkeley. I don't think I would transfer, since it would be harder to make new friends, and I hear CC transfers get the most priority so I don't think that it would be worth it. Thanks for the advice though, maybe I will go to Berkeley for grad school.</p>
<p>could always look at going to cc first as an option...</p>
<p>Don't let anyone here tell you that your GPA or your ECs or whatever else "must have been weak." At a school with that many thousands and thousands of applicants, y'know...it just happens, and there's no reason to even try and explain the situation. If your GPA had been 0.12 points lower but your application had been read three hours earlier and by a different set of admissions officers, the decision might have gone the other direction (and it might not have). The point is that you did your best, you did a very respectable job (it's a disservice to your accomplishments for us to try and "lay blame" to one factor or another at this point) and you have GREAT options available to you.</p>
<p>I've spent some time on the Davis campus and it's a good place. In certain respects, I'd say it's actually the most similar to CAL, relative to other UCs. Please let me recommend the annual Whole Earth Festival ;)</p>
<p>Life is quite funny if you think about it...
I got into Berkeley....when my dream school was Cornell.
Oh, i was so obsessed about cornell...
I got waitlisted btw...</p>
<p>sorry about your thing...
but Cornell & UCLA is an AMAZING school...
Hmm...</p>
<p>Thanks student615, this makes me feel better about going to Davis already! Yeah life is quite ironic vircabutar...If only we could switch places..</p>
<p>Student615: applicants are viewed in the context of the rest of the applicants, and the set of adcoms doesn't change daily (they might change a little yearly).</p>
<p>Funkfreed,</p>
<p>Sorry you didn't get into Cal, but like the others said, you have some amazing options. And it really isn't all numbers, at least not at Cal. If it were, they would have been laughing that I even applied there. (I'm just hoping that they aren't going to be crying that I accepted!).</p>
<p>Cal was my "secret" dream school, but I didn't tell anyone because it was so out of reach for me. And I loved Davis and was absolutely sure I was going to get in. So then I got rejected from Davis. At the time, that was a huge disappointment for me.</p>
<p>I'm just thinking of the whole thing as fate. Where you got in was just meant to happen. There's a reason for everything. I know a couple of friends that are at Davis and they love it. I have a couple of friends that graduated from Berkeley and I get different opinions on their experience. I think it's really what you put into it. Besides, if you don't love it or even like it, you can always change. But I'll bet once you start at Davis and are out of your "funk", you'll see why everyone loves Davis so much.</p>
<p>Let us know how it turns out!</p>