I noticed recently that Berkeley is beginning to change their policy regarding letters of recommendations for freshman. However, I am kind confused. It says on the website, “In April 2015, UC Berkeley adopted a new freshman admission policy. Starting in fall 2015, some applicants to UC Berkeley will be invited to submit two letters of recommendation. This will be optional and not required.” Does this mean that I shouldn’t send any recommendations since I haven’t been “invited” yet? Will sending in any recommendations without an “invitation” hurt or help my application?
UCB will ask for them, so wait for their invitation.
So, say I went ahead and sent in my application now. Sometime in November would they ask for the recommendations, or would it be possible that they wouldn’t ask for recommendations at all? How do I know?
First of all, applications will not be reviewed until after the November 30th deadline. Usually around January or February, the UC’s send out supplements to some applicants. Sometimes supplements go to borderline applicants where they want 1st semester Senior grades. Sometimes is get more information about a leadership role or EC mentioned on the application and sometimes it is in regards to a disability or health issue. This will probably be the time that they will ask for LOR’s. Just because you do not receive a request by email, does not mean you are not being considered for admission. All correspondence will be by the email submitted on your application.