Social Science Applicants at Berkeley

<p>Do ALL social science major applicants have equal chance (20-25%) of acceptance at Berkeley?
I mean, included in the social sciences are psychology, economics sociology and political science (very competitive/impacted majors), but also other, not specifically popular majors such as ethnic studies, gender studies, anthropology and linguistics.
Percentage wise, does an ethnic studies major really have the same shot at admission as a psychology major? It seems hard to believe...</p>

<p>An ethnic studies major, if anything, would have an easier time getting into berkeley than a psych major. Psych here is capped/impacted, so in order to transfer and have a decent chance, it’s almost necessary to have a 3.6+. Ethnic Studies isn’t capped and is easier to get into. Same goes for Anthro. </p>

<p>Last year there were a couple ppl on here that got in with 3.6’s (with psych), but for the most part everyone was 3.75+.</p>

<p>Yeah, I thought it would be easier to get into UCB with a non-impacted major in the social science division than with an impacted major. Somewhere, however, I read that social science applicants have the same shot at admission regardless of the specific major. That’s not true is it?</p>

<p>@emilsinclair9, I have a feeling that many psych transfers for Berkeley who do get in will have a 3.8+ GPA and have an awesome grade trend.</p>

<p>I also have a question about Media Studies if you guys dont mind me posting here. Do people only get in if they have a 3.8 or higher is or there still a good chance for people in between 3.5-3.8?</p>

<p>@uctransferz1391, what is your GPA and your grade trends by quarter/semester? Because Berkeley and UCLA take into account grade trends.</p>

<p>I think everyone who applied for a major in the social sciences DO have an equal chance (around 20-22%) because everyone is technically undeclared when they enter the school…</p>

<p>@shinra, when you said undeclared, do you mean applicants who got into a major in letters and science?</p>

<p>yes</p>

<p>10char</p>

<p>You are right, only people who get into the school of engineering, Haas, or college of natural resources, and even college of chemistry are declared when they enter berkeley.</p>

<p>For UCLA, even if you are applying for a letters and science major, you are automatically in the major except for psych, econ, bizecon, poli-sci as they have pre-req classes required which are upper division.</p>

<p>@ shinra: It doesn’t make sense to me though… How can a person with an impacted major have the same chance at admission as a person with a non-impacted major, when the admissions officers read the personal statements? It’s not like decisions are auto-generated.</p>

<p>I called a Berkeley counselor and she told me that different majors in the college of L&S will have different admission rates, its not an equal chance for acceptance. For example: something like 22% of history majors are admitted, but 40% of Interdisciplinary Field Studies majors are admitted</p>

<p>Brian, that’s exactly my point. Within L&S History is in the Social Science division and Interdisciplinary Field Studies is not. I have heard that all SOCIAL SCIENCE majors (not all L&S majors) have an acceptance rate of 20-25%. I’m asking if they distinguish between certain majors within the Social Sciences because I find it hard to believe that majors like African American Studies have an acceptance rate similar to Psychology majors (which is pretty low because psychology is capped/impacted).
Basically, I want to know if anyone knows if impacted majors and non-impacted majors within the Social Science division are considered equal in terms of acceptance rates.
Is it possible that the admissions rate for all Social Sciences is a low 20-25% because the non-impacted majors simply don’t have enough applicants to make a great difference in the statistics?</p>

<p>Here is the brochure in which I found the admissions statistics: <a href=“http://students.berkeley.edu/files/Admissions/12626_5.Info_TransAdm.pdf[/url]”>http://students.berkeley.edu/files/Admissions/12626_5.Info_TransAdm.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Does anyone have any input?</p>

<p>@ deanzatransfer: It is true that psychology has more applicants than African American Studies by a wide margin. I would assume that this is the reason psychology is more selective. To provide some credibility, you can go to UCstatfinder and click on “Create a Table”. There you can see the admissions rates for psych major transfers and compare them with other social science transfers. </p>

<p>I guarantee that not -all- social sciences have a similar admit rate. Sure, history, econ, and psych may all be very selective, but other majors like AA Studies are just not as selective. This is obvious on UC statfinder, and also paralleled on UCLA’s Profile of Admitted Students…and generally, UCLA’s admit rates are very similar to UCB’s.</p>