<p>Note: I first typed part of this up as a response to another thread, but it grew very very lengthy so I decided to make a separate thread. This answers many commonly asked questions about Berkeley and its admissions process. I personally feel that this is good enough to be stickied, but as it's not really my decision...</p>
<p>Here goes:</p>
<p>These are roughly the sections in this very lengthy post. If you don't want to read the entire thing, hit Cltr+F (Find), and copy in one of these section titles. Click "Find Next" until you have reached desired section.</p>
<p>Section A: Berkeley Admissions: A Holistic System
Section B: Race in Admissions
Section C: The Berkeley Application (including ELC)
Section D: Secondary Application
Section E: The Regents' and Chancellor's Scholarship
Section F: Your Day of Reckoning (also known as the day admissions results are released)</p>
<p>Section A: Berkeley Admissions: A Holistic System</p>
<p>It's been stated by admission committee (henceforth referred to as "adcom") members that for the UC system, all schools UCSD and "below" use a pure number based formula. It's something like your GPA * 1000 + SAT scores + points for extracurriculars and stuff like that. If your point total breaks a certain threshold, you are admitted. I believe you can even check your score for some schools (Davis, San Diego? etc.).</p>
<p>UC Berkeley and UCLA use a holistic approach. That is, they look at all aspects of your application. This is similar to what Ivy and Ivy-like schools use.</p>
<p>What this means is that there is no guaranteed way to get into any of these schools, UC Berkeley included. Having stellar test-scores may greatly increase your chances of admission, but they are by no means a guarantee. There are some here who seemingly got in purely based on numbers, and others who got in seemingly due to other factors (there is one person in my dorm who got below 1000 on her SAT, including a 200 on the critical reading section; 2400 point scale. She is not a recruited athlete.).</p>
<p>How does this factor into your college application strategy? If you're younger than a high school senior, don't stress out. Build your profile. Do well on the SAT's, but don't stress out if you don't break 2200. Maintain a strong GPA. The average SAT score for Berkeley's class of 2008 is a 2035; the average (UC) GPA a 4.18 (UC GPA: calculate as weighted, but only count honors/AP extra point for 8 semesters of honors/AP classes. The rest count as normal classes.) At the same time, don't just study, get out and do stuff. Extracurriculars are important. Show that you care about your school, your community, your world.</p>
<p>If you're a high school senior, read section C.</p>
<p>Section B: Ethnicity in Admissions</p>
<p>Race/ethnicity does not play as large a role as you would think. Affirmative action quotas have been outlawed for admissions in California (I'm 100% this applies to UC's; I'm not quite sure about privates). What this means: your being Inuit or Native American will not guarantee your admission into UC Berkeley. Your being Asian American will not guarantee your rejection from UC Berkeley. Adcom will consider race as one of many factors, but it will not make/break your application. Race will effectively only play a role if you are one of the few hundred people that are on the line between acceptance and rejection. For the other ~50000 people that apply, your race should not affect your application.</p>
<p>Section C: The Berkeley Application (including ELC)</p>
<p>So now you're a high school senior, and you're applying to UC Berkeley. What now? Go to the UC application website. Create a new profile/application. Except if you're ELC. More on that later. Enter all your information. Don't leave out anything, in the hopes that it will improve your chances for admission, as if they discover deceit later, they'll kick you out anyways/take away your degree/etc. Fill out your classes, grades, all that fun stuff. Choose what you believe are your defining and most important extracurricular activities and awards. Yes, choose. Don't cram 294823084238 in when there are only a limited number of spaces.</p>
<p>I'm putting this on a separate line because it gets asked about so much: You do not need to send in your transcript or letters of recommendations. Let me repeat that: YOU DO NOT NEED TO SEND IN YOUR TRANSCRIPT OR LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION. Yet. Don't worry about transcripts until you get in, and don't worry about letters of recommendations unless they are specifically requested from you (this will not apply to most applicants). They won't read them; they'll probably just end up in the recycle bin.</p>
<p>Choose your major from the very very long list provided. Sorry, no second majors. If you're applying to the College of Letters and Science, it doesn't matter too much what you choose, as until you fulfill your lower division requirements and actually declare a major, you'll forever be known as "Intended blahblahblah major". If you're applying anywhere else, choose carefully. Some majors (such as EECS) admit to that major. As in, if you apply as EECS, you will be EECS. If you don't know what you want to do, apply undeclared. There's nothing wrong with it.</p>
<p>Go ahead and figure out which other campuses you want to apply to (but really, where else would you go besides Berkeley?). Just remember that you'll be paying the application fee * the # of schools you're applying to.</p>
<p>If you're reading this, you're probably a high school senior, stressing about college apps. Don't. Seriously, it doesn't do you any good. At this point, your profile has pretty much solidified; you're not going to magically raise your GPA to a 5.0, or discover a cure for the common cold (not that either of those are required to get in, but just in case...). What you can do: work on those essays. Make them stellar. Make them outstanding. Make sure that if your essay is in a pile with 50 others, and I read all of them, the only one I remember at the end of the day is yours. Ask for input. Have your teachers, your counselors, and even that piano teacher that's taught you for over a decade read your essays. Listen to what they have to say. But also remember: this is your essay. Listen, but also weed out what you believe is detrimental from your essay from what is constructive. The UC app asks for a total of 1000 words. This can be split however you feel would best represent you, but keep in mind that a 950/50 split probably won't sit too well with adcom. You can go slightly over, but the general rule is that you generally try to avoid going 5% over, and definitely do not go 10% over the word count limit.</p>
<p>You can also provide extra information if you so choose. This is NOT the place to stick the rest of your lengthy resume. This is NOT a place to submit a third long essay. This is the place for things like explaining extenuating circumstances that led to your GPA dip in junior year, or why your English grades are relatively weak (e.g. learning English as a second language). Don't give adcom extra stuff, you might end up annoying them (they DO have ~50000 other applications to read...), and it's never good to annoy someone who's deciding your fate.</p>
<p>About this whole ELC business: If you are ELC, aka eligible in local context, good job. That means your uncapped, weighted GPA is one of the highest at your school (top 4%), assuming your school is in California. To show how special you are, the UC system will give you a special application that has like 5 boxes filled out already. You'll receive application information in the mail (namely: login info and PIN. Your login name will probably be something like lastnamefirstname000.). If you don't get some part, but your school confirms that you are indeed ELC, call UC. They'll give you your info so that you can start your application.</p>
<p>How big of a deal is ELC? Apparently, it's pretty big. ELC effectively gives you guaranteed admission to several UC campuses (e.g. Davis, Riverside, etc.). That may not seem very appealing to a bright scholar such as yourself, but also consider this: Berkeley's admit rate last year was 21.4%, while the ELC admit rate was 56.2%. UCLA's numbers were comparable, at 22.7% and 60.6% respectively. If you get ELC, use your ELC app, even if you're halfway through another app. Your ELC app tells Berkeley that you were one of the top students at your high school, which is never a bad thing.</p>
<p>Section D: Secondary Application</p>
<p>A few applicants will receive a request for more information (effectively a secondary application). Why? After receiving the many, many applications from prospective and hopeful young scholars, adcom is usually able to quickly sort out the applicant pool into two groups: very very likely acceptance, and very very likely rejection. However, there are always those applications that cannot easily be classified, and fall into the metaphorical purgatory. To help their decision making, adcom sends out a request for more information from these applicants. If you do receive such a request, it is 99% of the time in your best interest to fill this out. If you do receive such a request, you are a borderline applicant. You have not been rejected; you have not been accepted. However, if you don't fill out the secondary application, it's probably fairly easy to conclude that you will be rejected.</p>
<p>Section E: The Regents' and Chancellor's Scholarship</p>
<p>This is billed as the most prestigious scholarship you can receive as an undergraduate at Berkeley, with good reason. On a campus of ~25000 undergraduates, there are roughly 1000 Regents' and Chancellor's Scholars (~200 per class, with the remaining 200 composed of Junior College transfers and a handful of 5th/6th year seniors). Benefits include money (an honorarium, plus whatever you need. Basically, if you were getting loans from financial aid, this scholarship replaces that with...money. People can and do get full rides.), a personal faculty adviser, membership in RCSA, as well as much more. "So how do I get this wonderful award?" you ask. Well, it's quite simple. Write some killer essays. When adcom is reading applications, they're going to award this scholarship to select individuals (not just any). I roughly quote from memory: "When we selected you scholars, we were recognizing what you had done in high school. But his scholarship is not just a recognition of what you have done in the past, it is a sign of potential. Some faculty member read your application and saw that you had the potential to do great things. You are the scholars, the cream of the crop, that have the potential to change and improve this university, and this world."</p>
<p>You do need to fill out a separate application form. When adcom is reviewing your application to Berkeley, they will set aside a few (~2000, I believe) applications. These applicants will be notified in February (last year: 2/14) by the Undergraduate Scholarships, Prizes, and Honors office via email and physical mail of their candidacy for the Regents' and Chancellor's Scholarship. If you receive this notification, congratulations! You have been admitted to UC Berkeley (and what's more, you've found out over a month before anyone else knows their admissions decision). No, you won't get the official welcome letter that everyone else gets (yet). Just revel in your joy alone (or with anyone else you know who's also a Regents' and Chancellor's Scholarship candidate) for now.</p>
<p>Applicants from Northern California will be invited to the UC Berkeley campus, where they will be interviewed by a faculty member affiliated with the scholarship program and association. Applicants from Southern California will be invited to a TBD location for their interview (last year, I believe it was a hotel in Los Angeles). If you are invited for interview, RSVP FAST. All slots should be weekdays, so plan accordingly; if you RSVP later, you may have to make adjustments to your usual schedule (read: skip school on the day of a major test or other important event) to attend the interview. You will have the opportunity to bring along letters of recommendation to your interview. While there, you will be able to meet current Regents' and Chancellor's Scholars, faculty members, and other people connected to Berkeley. If you're at the Berkeley campus, you will also be fed very very good food (not sure about Southern California, as I was not down there).</p>
<p>If you so choose, you can also attend OHP, an Overnight Host Program hosted by RCSA, the Regents' and Chancellor's Scholars Association (a mouthful; just call it RCSA ^^). If you have the time, OHP is an excellent way to experience the culture and environment of Berkeley. If you don't have time, you can also attend OHP before Cal Day (which this year is Saturday, April 18). Note: RCSA OHP is far better and cheaper than the OHP and OSP run by the university and/or alumni association. I believe the university run OHP was ~$90 last year, where as the RCSA one has been free most years; I believe it was ~$10 last year.</p>
<p>Okay, now you've applied. When do you find out? You'll know the day admissions decisions for everyone else are released. See? Even though you know you're in, they've still managed to create suspense for admissions release day.</p>
<p>If you are an out-of-state applicant or international applicant, you do not need to interview for the scholarship. If you are notified that you have received it, then...you've got it.</p>
<p>Section F: Your Day of Reckoning (also known as the day admissions results are released)</p>
<p>As the end of March draws near, inevitably, people will begin to ask: WHEN WILL THEY RELEASE ADMISSIONS INFO? Please don't ask people here, if you don't know, they don't know. Berkeley will tell you. They will email you. Don't ask. We don't know. Until you do. In which case you didn't need to ask us in the first place.</p>
<p>Also, please don't overanalyze simple word differences in emails Berkeley sends out (those who were part of the epically long thread last year will know exactly what I'm talking about). Well, you can. It provides some amusement for the admissions committee.</p>
<p>Well, it's THE DAY. When you log into myBerkeleyApp, you'll see...your result. If you're in, you'll see your beautiful welcome letter. Yay! You've done it. Pat yourself on the back. Keep going in. In your checklist, if you were an applicant for the Regents' and Chancellor's Scholarship, you'll see something along the lines of "Congratulations! You have been awarded the UC Berkeley Regents' and Chancellor's Scholarship. Details are being sent via email and the U.S. mail." If you see this, pat yourself on the back again. Go celebrate =)</p>
<p>So you're done celebrating. Back to business. Do everything the checklist tells you to do. It's a checklist for a reason; it is incredibly useful. Explore myBerkeleyApp. Explore Berkeley's website. Explore your department's website.</p>
<p>Submit your SIR at least a few days early, as you need to do that to submit your SLR (Statement of Legal Residence), and these things take time. Basically, if you don't submit your SLR, the most mild of the many things that could happen to you is that you'll be forced to pay out of state fees. When it's time, apply for housing. If you want to room with your friend, get his/her student ID, and put it into your application in the appropriate section (and have him/her do the same). Go to Cal Day. Later, sign up for Calso. Early Calso is good; you'll sign up for classes at Calso and certain classes will fill up. Then go read the second part of <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/26518-getting-into-cal-what-expect-when-you-finally-get-there.html;%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/26518-getting-into-cal-what-expect-when-you-finally-get-there.html;</a> There's a lot of useful info in there.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>