Asuttt, can you tell us your stats?
and were you asked to do an interview?
Sure, @BondoNekat. Also, for the record, I was not asked to do an interview. Quite frankly, I didn’t even know they were offered.
STATS:
Pennsylvania CC transfer
College GPA: 4.0
Credits earned: 66
SAT: 98th percentile
EXTRACURRICULARS:
- President of my school's business association (started as a general member and moved up in the ranks each semester)
- Two political internships: one with a grassroots organization my freshman year, and a congressional one in the 2016 cycle
- Peer mentor at my school's tutoring center
- Accounting tutor
ABOUT ME:
I’d like to preface this by saying that I do not have any hooks that catapulted me above the rest. I am middle class, and my parents are college educated.
I was nothing special in high school. In fact, at the end of my junior year, I was asked “not to return” to the boarding school I attended. During the entirety of high school, my GPA dropped each successive year, and I ended with a cumulative 3.18. At the time, my dream school was Penn—you can probably guess what my ED decision was. I planned to attend High Point until my parents decided they did not trust me to not screw things up again in college. Little did I know, community college was one of the best things to ever happen to me.
In the transfer process, I never thought of Cal as an option until I started filling out my app for UCLA. I actually thought applying to UCLA might be too far of a reach for me at the time. I figured I may as well knock out two birds with one stone and shoot my shot at Berkeley. Because it was winter break, I procrastinated big time on the essays. I wrote two and a half of them in the closing hours before the deadline—not good. I was actually kicking myself over some of the grammatical errors in my writing because I did not have time to proofread it.
At the end of January, I was reminded via email that I had forgotten to submit my Haas essay. I was already neck-deep in college essays, as well as schoolwork, so I wondered if writing a fifth essay for a school I would likely not be admitted to was even worth my time. Again, I waited until the final day, albeit I did have a few more hours to write this one. In case you want to know, my essay was about the sacrifices I had to make, socially, in order to ensure my success. It was more on the anecdotal side, but I think Cal likes that—it highlights who you are and where your values lie.
In the end, I remember getting rejected by UCLA and thinking my fate at Berkeley would be similar… I will never forget opening Cal’s application update.
GENERAL ADVICE:
To anyone applying in the future, I want to stress how important the Haas prerequisites are. If you look at the transfer stats on the Haas website, you’ll notice that 60-75% of students are immediately disqualified because they fail to meet the requirements. My understanding is that California community colleges cater to most of Berkeley’s prereqs, making the transition a bit easier for CA residents. If you are looking to apply out of state, as I did, please make sure to structure your first two years as if you were already at Berkeley. Knock out every prerequisite, as well as a few of the additional breadth requirements. In my case, my relative carelessness has compromised much of my freedom in regards to class selection over the next two years because I still have so many of the Cal requirements to fulfill. Oh well.
Additionally, there are only 24 hours in a day, so don’t waste your time trying to do every extracurricular under the sun. No one cares if you volunteered at three shelters, tutored in the inner city, and coached for two recreational youth leagues, all while maintaining a 3.8. Instead, try focusing on one or two key areas of interest, and show significant dedication to those activities. For example, I committed a lot of time to politics, not because I had a particular love for it, but because I saw how many of the interpersonal skills transferred directly to the world of business. And I even got to network along the way!
I would also recommend getting the highest possible GPA/standardized test scores that you can. As I’m sure we’re all aware, Haas is by far the most selective undergraduate program at Cal. Top stats are the bare minimum.
In your essays, don’t be afraid to write honestly. You’d be surprised by how many “know-it-alls” write their essays on the most generic topics. Oh, so you overcame a horrendous knee injury only to come back and post four points per game your senior year? Never heard that one before! You must know a whole lot about perseverance! But seriously, talk about your failures, talk about your shortcomings, and most importantly, talk about how you tackled the challenges that were in front of you because, at Cal, you are sure to face many more. And remember: Berkeley knows exactly what it can do for you; don’t remind them. Center your writing around what you can contribute in return.
Best of luck to anyone reading this in 2018 and beyond!
Great stuff, @asuttt, thanks for sharing. But you transferred, right? So the standardized tests are irrelevant, are they not?
Many of my friends from CC also applied with over 3.8 gpa’s with similar EC and work experience were also rejected from Haas. Some will be attending UCLA for business econ and others will be joining me at UC Irvine.
My essays were about my passion for business and my experience as a humanitarian aid worker.
I did not appeal to Haas because i didn’t have any new relevant info to send to them.
@
Thanks, @Ohm888. I did transfer, yes. For the most part, I would say that standardized tests do not matter, especially for junior-level transfers. According to the Haas website, applications are weighed as follows: 50% grades, 35% essays, and 15% extracurriculars/resume. With respect to Haas, SATs likely do not matter as much, but most of the other schools I applied to required at least one standardized test. I don’t know how it is in California, but around here, there is a huge stigma around community colleges. One of my biggest worries when I was applying to schools was how they would weigh the rigor of my classes and how that would reflect on their perception of my GPA. My SAT was pretty good, so I figured it would only reassure them of my abilities, even if they thought it was a bit easier for me to obtain a high GPA.
@asuttt SATs are not considered for transfers. But interesting - it may have helped.
@asuttt li be applying this fall with a. 3.85 gpa and all pre reqs competed, except calc 2 which will be in progress. I have all As but one C in trig. My ECs are solid, but is this gpa too low?
@Skepta a 3.8 is fine. It’s competitive enough, it’ll just come down to everything about you as an applicant.
my one grade that was not an A was trig, which I got a C in. Hopefully they loo, at my calc grades and which are As and see im not bad at math.
@skepta I think trigonometry is non-transferable.
@Ohm888 that’s what I thought too, but I saw somewhere on assist being listed. I have to check with my counselor. If it is transferable how much do you think it will hurt my application?
Well obviously all your higher math are As, based on what you said - so it will depend on ECs and essays IMHO. @Skepta
I see you’re De Anza. Unless it’s Math 42 (precalc II: trigonometric functions) it is not transferable.
@Ohm888 yes im at de anza haha, and yea unfortunately its math 42.
@Skepta, I see no reason why that should hold you back—your GPA is excellent. Per the Haas website, the average for the incoming class last Fall was 3.93, with the middle 80% being between 3.56 and 4.00. You have no reason to worry.
Goodluck Haas admits, seems luck isn’t on my side this time *crying in multiple languages
@asuttt What were the personal statement prompts? Please share I would like to reflect on my own character and start thinking about what I should start writing about early.
@Arsen05 What were the personal statement prompts this year?
HAAS prompt question for 2017 “Many people believe “honesty is the best policy.” But is it always? Describe a situation during your college experience where you had to decide whether or not to be honest. Explain your decision and the outcome.”
@FutureHaasBear I’m not sure if UC’s prompts change year to year, but I do know there are four essays to write: one is mandatory, and the other three you must choose out of seven options.
Haas has an additional supplement, which you usually have a month to complete after the regular UC deadline. This year’s prompt read: “Many people believe ‘honesty is the best policy.’ But is it always? Describe a situation during your college experience where you had to decide whether or not to be honest. Explain your decision and the outcome.”
In my opinion, this is the essay you have to nail. Don’t be boring and reaffirm that, yes, honesty is always important.
What worked for me was finding a situation for which I could justify lying. Quite frankly, I made the entire thing up, but what I think Haas cares most about is your rational behind it. They want to know your thought process.
Hope this helps, and best of luck next year!
^^ absolutely disagree. It’s an essay about your values, not a case interview where you need to solve a complex situation. They want you to be honest and be yourself, not lie and make up what you think they want to hear.