Major: Econ
GPA: 4.0 (community college)
EC: President of Social Enterprise Club, Financial Analyst in Student Union, some volunteer work. Going to look for job opportunity if possible.
Pre Req: Will have finished all the major requirement by the end of Fall 2015 except for multi-variable calculus. I have taken business courses and accounting courses as well.
Compared to a lot of you here, my ECs seem weak. This makes me feel lose confidence. My only advantage might be that I have a 4.0 GPA. I was planning to apply for UCB Haas and UCLA biz econ; however, I now decide to apply for Econ in both UCB and UCLA because of my interest in Economics and easier chance of getting in. Any thoughts on my application?
Also, my college does give out A+ for certain courses, depending on the professor. In my transcript, I got 7 A+ and 6 A. Does that give me an advantage?
I got a rejection letter of this year. The letter say they put most weights on academic preparation, GPA and completion of pre-req and GE. Actually, I saw many friends who have nearly 4.0 GPA and significant ECs but still got denied perhaps because they couldn’t finish major pre-req by FALL.
The last update you can make in application is the grade for Fall semester /quarter. Completion of pre-req as status is matter. Don’t leave too many IP(in-progress) or PL(planned) grade in your Berkeley application page. Any passing grade is better than IP or PL grade. If you have’t taken all pre-reqs, try to finish it in this fall.
You can have pre-reqs in spring (in other words, PL). Just don’t pile up a slew of them. Also, if you take winter courses, you can send the final grades in, and while they are not calculated into the cumulative GPA, many of the UCs take those grades into consideration.
Major- Psychology
Overall GPA- 3.91( by end of fall)
Major GPA- 4.00
IGETC- Done by end of Spring 2016
Major prerequisites- Mostly done by Spring 2016. 2 classes during Summer 2016
TAP for UCLA- (Honors Program)
EC’s- English and Math tutor at CC
Member of Psychology Club
Member of CC’s honor society
Member of Astronomy Club
Worked for the CC’s campus police as a cadet
Volunteer at local hospital
I was wondering whether finishing off my major prerequisites in Summer 2016 will adversely affect my application? (even though it says on assist.org that major prerequisite can be completed in Summer 2016 if necessary) and i feel that my EC’s are not that strong
or I can apply as a Sociology major for Berkeley , then I will have all my major prerequisites covered by Spring 2016. Do you guys think that will be a smarter choice?
Yeah they added Calculus and took one of the bio requirements out. It’s such a bummer. I’m planning to apply as a Sociology major for Berkeley most probably. and Psychology for UCLA and Davis. I had my classes planned out perfectly until they changed the requirements:/ Now I’ll only be able to finish off the major prerequisites in Summer 2016, if I apply as a Psych major for Berkeley.
@talialee Berkeley is having issues with the new calc req in psych. Just last week after telling all the new 2015 transfers they needed calc (meaning pre-calc as well for many), they reversed course and told the incoming group they don’t need calc.
Since it is wreaking havoc, I think if you leave calc for summer, that will be doable. Having two to complete in summer, I’m just not sure, to be truthful. It may be fine. If you like sociology, it may be a better option.
Since both are in L&S you may be able to switch to psych after transfer, even though I assume psych is capped. I’m only saying you may have a better chance because this calc situation is causing a problem and they may be more lenient for a while.
@lindyk8 Thanks for the response. I can finish off all my Psych major prerequisites except for Calc by Spring 2016 if I take 18 units next semester. I do like sociology, however I’d prefer to major in Psych.
Will it be harder to switch from Sociology to Psych since Psych is a capped major?
So you’re saying I’ll have a better chance with Psych cause of the whole Calc dilemma?
I have no idea what will happen next year. I’m only throwing out that they may be more lenient because of this added course. Adding calc usually doesn’t mean just adding calc. It means adding pre-calc (or more). The fact that they are saying major prep can be completed in summer appears to be their way of smoothing the transition with this new course.
If you are only taking calc in summer and it says you can finish major prep in summer, I think you should be fine.
But I am not admissions, so I can’t really say. And switching later from soc to psych may or may not work.
If you like psych, stick with it. (Let’s put it this way: If you’re a competitive student and they want you, taking calc in summer will not be a deal-breaker IMHO.)
To clarify, when you guys say " try to complete all your major prereqs by fall", are you guys talking about the core prereqs or the core prereqs + strongly recommended courses? I only have to do 1 core class next semester, but like 3 strongly recommended ones.
@talialee I would just apply as a psych major if I were you. I’m a psych major and got completely blindsided by the new calc requirements and just cannot do them (it’s a long story, and I also don’t have enough time to do them), and I haven’t done research methods in Sociology, which is apart of the Soc major prereq. If you’ve gone this far with your Psychology major plan, I would just say stick to it. You have a great GPA and I wouldn’t worry a whole lot about ECs, yours look fine to me. Make your essay great, though.
This get pre-reqs done by fall is NOT a requirement noted by any UC dept, so we need to stop promoting this. It’s like telephone. Each reiteration gets off track.
You CAN fulfill pre-reqs last term; however, to be as competitive as possible don’t line them all up last term because they want to see grades so they know you have the chops. They also worry too many hard classes last term might tank your GPA.
@EECSProdigy Take the core in the fall - that way you have the important ones covered. If you can take one recommended in fall, that is good as well. But taking the recommended in spring, assuming you have a strong GPA, esp in core courses, is not going to eliminate your chances. If they are concerned, they will simply add a clause in your provisional contract that the final spring courses must receive a certain grade.
(FYI, if all you had left was one core and took it in spring because you had no option, that would also be fine, assuming other parts of your application are competitive.)
I believe they limited their list based on the criteria of being a top 20 ranked school which is why no other UCs are present. (UCLA is the next best placing 23rd overall although I admit they would top this list easily)
[Not Serious] Considering that everyone on this list is probably on the lower end of the attractiveness considering we have other priorities, the fact that we are 16th out of 20 is terrible testament that Berkeley Goggles is very real.
There is no way we rank below Brown and Cornell! Definitely below Rice and Duke though. [/Not Serious]
It was conducted by OKCupid, so I don’t know. My daughter said the other day that the Asian girls at Berkeley are seriously gorgeous. So you know, maybe it’s all these nerdy Berkeley geeks on OKCupid doing the voting. And maybe, by extension, there are no nerdy geeks at UCLA. Hence, no OKCupid. Hence, no voting. :-B
OT kind of: This sheriff’s patrol car stopped when I was getting out of my car at Starbucks. He called me over because I had a Berkeley license plate that said Cal Bears, and he was a Berkeley alum. He looked late 20s, but mostly he looked like a movie star. (Although I sort of wondered why he was in the police field as a Cal grad, but probably planning some hotshot corporate job.) Point is, he was a 10.
There are definitely a good number of 8+'s here. Fooorssssure!
I will say this though: I am absolutely spoiled coming from San Diego. One of the first things I notice when I visit home is just how attractive the people are (on average) there. Well…except UCSD…“Triton Eyes” is a real phenomenon when you compare it to the rest of the area.