Just wondering if it is worth applying to UC Berkeley Engineering as an in-state female applicant in this pandemic admission cycle with the following stats.
4.0 UW GPA
4.37 UC Capped GPA
SAT 1530 (790 Math)
SAT Suject test : MAth II 800
APs scores: Calc BC 5, Comp Sci 4
Intended major : EECS
Course rigor is considered to be high.
ECS:
Good amount of leadership positions in various clubs and STEM related activities (conference attending). However, no major awards or internships in STEM. But few awards in the non-academic at the regional level.
We know that the UCs will be getting lot more applications than the previous years due to SAT being optional/blind. Any suggestions/advise are appreciated.
As an in-state applicant and someone from a school (I’m assuming) that sends multiple people to the UCs, your guidance counselor would be the best person to assess your chances, given that they know how your academic record will be viewed in-context by Admissions.
Your chance is Zero if you do not apply. You look competitive so take a chance. UCB tends to be more holistic than some of the other UC’s and could ask for LOR’s which can help your chances.
Apply to engineering. It is an impacted major at a lot of universities. If you don’t get in from the start, it can be difficult-to-impossible to transfer into that major later.
Thanks to all for your valuable suggestions. GC is not able to provide convincing answer as the whole selection process is highly hollistic. Also applying to wide range of safety schools though. Leaning towards aaplying to Engineering major and hope for the best.
If the goal is to study CS (as opposed to EE), note that there are two paths at UCB (not necessarily elsewhere):
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science major in the College of Engineering (EECS)
Computer Science major in the College of Letters and Science (L&S CS)
EECS is generally considered to be more selective for frosh admission, but admits directly to major. L&S CS does not admit directly to major; frosh would start as L&S undeclared. Declaring the L&S CS major requires a 3.3 college GPA in three prerequisite CS courses (for context, about half of the students in those courses earn B+ or better grades; these courses are not graded on a curve).
So basically the choice would be between one more difficult admission gate (EECS) versus two admission gates where the first one is slightly less difficult (L&S CS).
Agreed, but getting into L&S is also requires equal effort right? Job prospects for L&S CS and EECS might be different. If not, why EECS is so impacted? If the odds of getting into either is same, is it then worth applying to EECS?
Based on my son and his friend’s experience last year its a long shot getting EECS at UCB even with some good credentials. But my son was open to other programs outside state and was keen on the major he wanted rather than the school. If UCB is your daughter’s top choice the probability of getting in L&S is marginally higher than EECS
As noted above, EECS does not have the secondary admissions gate that L&S CS has (3.3 college GPA in the three prerequisite CS courses). This is an advantage for those entering in the EECS major. However, EECS is generally regarded as being more difficult to get into than L&S for frosh admission.
@Gumbymom Thanks a lot the data in detail. Looks like her SAT is above median and less than 75% for UCB and UCLA respectively. However, her school statistics is different and 25% - 75% range is slightly higher. @AV2020, True. out of the state colleges are expensive and hard to get scholarships. Unfortunately she is not a National Merit semi finalist. She has a time till 30th Nov. She will figure out whether to apply for L&S or EECS.