<p>I've heard from universities like UCSB and UCLA that my application for engineering is highly competitive. I haven't gotten that kind of e-mail from UCB and I know they've sent them out before as my friend got one couple weeks ago. Does that mean my chances of getting into UCB are slim to none?</p>
<p>zuser - if 100% of the people to be admitted got the letter, it would be the equivalent of releasing decisions early. Only a subset of those who will see a 'yes' on March 26th get the competitive application letter. </p>
<p>Your changes would have been excellent if you got the letter, but they are not 'slim to none' in the absence of that mailing.</p>
<p>yeah i did get a highly competitive letter from ucb but when i went to the presentation they said we wouldnt all be admitted.
i dont know if it was completely arbitrary or if they just dont want to guarantee anything
i wouldnt worry about it much right now. just try to distract yourself.. <16 days to fill with distractions</p>
<p>is this "highly competitive letter" you guys are talking about the one for the womens engineering thing? I never got one of those letters at the time that some of you got them, but then i got an email from them a week later telling me to not forget to rsvp for a spot to the womens engineering fair.. did this happen to anyone else?</p>
<p>I'm gonna go ahead and say yes. your chances are slim to none. great. now your equal to about the other 39,900 students that applied to berkeley. pretty good odds still.</p>
<p>yeah, but as far as that women's thing, do you really think they would spend all of that time and money on applicants who weren't admitted?
it was a sunday even! ha
they did say that they sent off more invitations than they send off acceptances..but that doesn't make much sense because then why were there only 100 or so people there, out of the 1400 that get accepted?</p>
<p>the likely letter, i would assume, means that you are in.
sure, its "releasing decisions" early..but technically it isn't because they say "it is too early for admission decisions"..that is just a way of saying "we can't tell you that you are in, but you are!"
stanford does it. many of the ivy leagues do it. it's a loophole to lure top applicants to their school.</p>
<p>theman i agree. if they sent out more than 1400 invites but only 100 came thats pretty poor attendance.. also it leaves jut about zero hope for those who didnt get it, which seems highly unlikely..</p>
<p>i'm having trouble reconciling the letter with what the dean said and what the other tour guides/professors said. like how the professors shouted things like "see you in the fall" as we left the lab.. and how the guy at that new building said that "such and such facility will be completed by the time you get here" .
haha that really assumes a whole heck of a lot..</p>
<p>oh and if anyone knows how to interpret this something else mildly interesting happened the morning of the swe thing: I got there super early (from md) and greeted the woman who organized it- not the dean, someone else- and when I told her where i was from she was like "wow! yeah they told me not to invite the out-of-state people but i decided to anyways, since it is california after all"
--i dont know what it means but have been fruitlessly trying to glean some significance from it..lol</p>
<p>yeah..do you mean Beatrice Flores?
she invited me and i'm a guy AND out of state lol
i honestly think that we are in..unless something crazy happens</p>
<p>there's only 100 people there because only 100 wanted to go...if you're in, they're more likely to send you something about cal day than a engineering program...in my opinion though.</p>
<p>well has any heard about cal day?
this engineering email was sent back in feb, so i don't think they'd have cal day scheduled yet</p>
<p>i could be wrong</p>
<p>Quick question about Likely letters, I was just going through my mail and I found that I got an email entitled "[Name], you're invited to get to know Berkeley!" on February 16th.. Does everyone get this? Seemed kinda generic...</p>
<p>OK never mind, used search and found that pretty much everyone got it, lol.</p>
<p>Guys - My D went thru this last year. She is now in UCB. During this phase we all are anxious and look for subtle hints. Last year we thought the "women in engr" invite, "you are competitive letter" etc were all so called "likely" letters. In the end it was obvious that all those were "get to know" UCB letters only. There was one letter that was worded so bad that we had pages and pages of discussion on one thread analyzing the wording and saying if it is indeed a "likely" letter. But after admissions came out, it was again obvious that it was just a "very badly worded" letter from UCB.</p>
<p>Remember that UCB is competing with the IVYs, Stanford etc for same "top" candidates. They want the best to get accept their offer. So they try their best to make students get to know UCB and it's merits. So if you go the "women in engr" social, from the outside it may look like why would they "smooch" you with cookies, balloons and Dean talks if you are not going to be in. But they got to play the IVY game and make you feel at home. </p>
<p>Only thing that has been consistently known as "sure" admit is if you get Regents Scholarship interview call. Even if you don't get the money, if you are interviewed you can assume you are "in" That has been consistent for years now.</p>
<p>Let me add this is from the past discussions on this forum and also my D's experience. They could change the way they play the game anytime when the heat between UCB and IVYs high. </p>
<p>Bottom line: Take each letter with a pinch of salt. Wait for the actual results. Good luck!</p>
<p>^ I agree. But the likely letter really means that 97% positivity that you're in. Why? Because as you said, Berk needs to compete against the Ivy schools for your acceptance. Admissions people at Berk know they might not be your top choice because of your outstanding stats, so they're trying to entice you with this letter. I know a guy who got letters of (pretty much) congratulations from 3 or 4 private colleges such as UPenn a little less than a month before decisions were released. (And by "your" I'm referring to people who get likely letters)</p>
<p>Don't take it the wrong way if you don't get these letters, but top schools want the top students. Doesn't mean you're bad in any means.</p>
<p>TheMan66, Cal Day is April 18, 9AM-4PM.</p>
<p>how did you find that out?</p>
<p>I was invited to interview for Regents and they gave out a little flyer/pamphlet. :)</p>
<p>Here's a link too: Cal</a> Day, UC Berkeley</p>
<p>oh i didn't apply for regents</p>