Well I assumed some people here probably applied to UC Irvine… I couldn’t find an actual UCI transfer thread. @FaithGraceUC
lol it’s like 5 threads down
But also-- I don’t think anyone is sure yet.
@caliguy925 most likely on friday
Because I’m looking for empty words of reassurance or harsh criticism since Cal is unwilling to give me either for another ten days.
Chance me please.
In-state CC student
Major: Cognitive Science
GPA: 3.78 (UC Infocenter lists CogSci’s 2016 transfer admit 25th-75th percentile range as 3.58 to 3.91) That said, the major has gotten more competitive. Before last year it had a 20%+ admission rate, last year that dropped to 12% making it a quite competitive major.
Major Prep: Finished all Pre-Requisites available in my local CC and am currently doing another one available at another CC. I have also fulfilled an upper division Philosophy requirement by taking and equivalent lower division course at my CC. I’ve taken numerous un-required philosophy courses and courses that help my GPA and I hope the phil courses show to them that I’m quite interested in CogSci.
IGETC: Completed this Spring
Berkeley American Cultures and History Graduation Requirements: I’ve completed an equivalent course to Cal’s American Cultures Grad requirement at my CC and I have both AP credit and also all American History courses at my CC completed.
TAG: No
ECs:
-Served on Student Government as Senator
-Part of the honors club @school and have taken honors courses
-Math Tutor (3 hours a week and have been doing for 3 years now)
-Worked as an volunteer for an organization registering voters for the 2016 election
-Internship at a Silicon Valley startup learning a new CS language and programming
Awards:
-Dean’s List for 3 quarter at the time of application.
Personal Statements:
Required question, This is the part of the application that I’m most worried about. I wrote about how I like STEM fields specifically CS, but at the same time I have a huge interest in Philosophy, Psychology, and History in how they relate to humanity, thinking and the mind. I spoke about how for the longest time I wasn’t able to reconcile my two interests, but after learning about the Cognitive Science major I found it perfect for me. Since it’s an interdisciplinary field that combines philosophy, CS, Psych in an effort to map out human and machine cognition. It seems alright until I speak about my CS internship and how I was taught and learned the basics of machine learning during the internship and ended my essay writing, “take inspiration from human thought to create intelligent machines.” I think that leans quite toward CS and if the admissions officers are looking out for people who might switch, I’m showing the red flags everywhere.
The rest of my personal statement essays are pretty good and well put together. They aren’t mind blowing, but help paint a better picture of who I am. Work I did to better my CC through the Student Government (best essay), my hobby of writing short stories for fun and a leadership experience where I was the group head for a class project.
On the whole I personally would say I have a strong chance since I’m above the 50% (barely, but higher), have fairly strong EC’s my main one being my Student Government work which I went into quite a bit depth for so they make up for the lack of quantity for quality.
My biggest worry is the fact that my application might/does look like someone who’s trying to get into Cal’s CogSci program as a backdoor into its Computer Science program. Two people in Cal’s TAP program told me how the Berkeley Counselors they worked with told them NOT to include Computer Science in their essays if they weren’t applying to it since Cal’s admissions officers look extremely close at applicants who say/mention Computer Science as people who are trying to sneak into Cal to do Computer Science and not their listed major.
My main essay doesn’t help this fact. I wrote a paragraph in my main essay writing about a CS internship and about how I want to pursue a career in machine learning. The reason I wrote my essays emphasizing my CS internship is because I applied as Computer Science to some schools and CogSci to others. Wish I didn’t do that though since I no longer want to major in Computer Science at any school. I’d much rather prefer to pursue a CogSci major with a CS minor.
On top of that, CogSci at Cal requires students to only need math til Math 1C and I’m doing math this spring til Differential Equations and Linear Algebra. Computer Science would require me to go up to Linear Algebra so it kind of looks like I’m gearing up to switch later. That said, I’m doing that since I applied to UCSD as CogSci too and they want me to to do math til the Linear Algebra level.
It might help though that I have not taken Computer Science courses at my CC that took me further than an intermediate level and as such will not transfer for any equivalency. Though my CC offers a course that is transferrable and is equivalent to Cal’s Data Structures course for the Computer Science major, I have not taken it which should be good, I think.
I’m sorry for the length, I didn’t have the time to make it more shorter. Just letting off some steam by trying to explain all of this onto somewhere. I’m really, really annoyed at myself for writing anything about Computer Science and hope that Cal doesn’t reject me based on that and all my friends have gotten sick of me worrying over and are unwilling to listen to me. But ya, chance this desperate, worried teenager so he can get second opinions from strangers on the internet while everyone simply waits ten more days.
@wojtkiewicz If I end up choosing Japan I’ll try my best to go to Kyoto. I’ve heard about the beauty of the place from people and general culture. I have no idea how true this is but I read somewhere years ago that during WW2 FDR told the military to not bomb Kyoto since he visited (for honeymoon or just a regular trip) and didn’t want to mar the city’s beauty. The Japanese caught wind of that and built a few factories in/around the city because of that. Anyone have an idea if there’s any truth to the story?
@Orangered123 I think you’re very competitive. I don’t think they can deny you just because you’re into CS, as many CogSci majors go into the tech industry.
@Goldencub Thanks for the response and reassurance! I hope they don’t mull on the CS aspect too much too. When I was looking through Berkeley’s career guide I noticed that a significant number of CogSci majors went into the tech industry every year. Hopefully they look at it from that angle.
You’re almost halfway done with your Berkeley degree, how does that feel like? Do you plan on studying abroad? (If I looked into it correctly, study abroad doesn’t cost more than Cal tuition+housing+ect, right? It’s simply a matter of fitting your classes into the time frame and such) Still plan to go to law school after Cal?
Also, since I live in the Bay Area, and because Cal’s my top choice, I plan to head on up this weekend for Cal Day even though admissions decisions come out the week after. Any advice for things to do or is a kind of go, explore and enjoy yourself situation?
@Goldencub Thanks for the response! I hope they don’t mull on that aspect too much too. Yeah, when I was looking through Berkeley’s career guide a significant number of CogSci majors went into the tech industry. Hopefully they look at it from that angle.
How has Cal been for you so far? You’re almost halfway done with your Berkeley degree. Still plan to go to law school after Cal?
Also, since I live in the Bay Area, and Cal’s my top choice I plan to head on up this weekend for Cal day. Any advice? or is a more go, explore and enjoy situation?
They aren’t going to think you’re trying to get into CS if you don’t have any CS courses. Cog Sci involves many fields, and Berkeley, especially, really likes interdisciplinary approaches. The fact that you have diverse interests across many fields will appeal to their mindset.
Can’t believe this wait will all be over by next friday
@Ohm888 I think I wrote it a bit vague. I have CS courses that are equivalent and accepted as pre-reqs for other schools, but only two of them and they’re not accepted for Berkeley other than for just regular credit UC transferrable credit. They wouldn’t fill out any pre-req spots. Though if that’s what you mean and I’m misinterpreting you, that’s awesome. Never have I been happy not to take some classes. 
Also, thank you for being a part of this forum and answering questions/concerns all of us raise. Your comments are extremely helpful and appreciated.
@UCLAorUCBTRNSFR I know right? Two years of my life went by so damn fast. I can remember my first day at CC so clearly. I remember last year I was all over this forum before CC started asking questions, learning the process and making sure I had everything on track. I even made a thread asking for advice on how to start off my first day at CC right. How time flies when you’re having fun. 
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1983987-uc-admission-decision-dates.html @caliguy925
Wait @icuzns it says Berkeley’s transfer decisions come out next Saturday. I was under they were supposed to be coming out on Friday @5?
Also, when I log onto the uc berkeley admissions portal I’m told to check back on the 28th, not the 29. I’m not too sure how accurate that website is.
@Orangered123 It’s incorrect for several schools on that site, it seems. I’ve been following this website http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2017/03/uc-transfer-admission-notifications-2017/ and it seems to be more accurate, at least to the extent of my knowledge lol
@goldencub Not to get ahead of myself… but I had a question in mind. So I’ve read about how Berkeley has an American history and American institution requirement for their students… Do you know if taking a full year of U.S. History and Half year of U.S. Government in high school covers this requirement? Or do we actually have to take college courses for that?
@goldencub How has the transition for you been? I know you had a 4.00 GPA when you transferred in. Have you been able to keep a high GPA at Berkeley?
I don’t think anything you do in High School matters unless you have an AP score to back it up
@plsacceptmeUCs seems fairly accurate. It irks me that this year’s notification date is April 24rth but this year it’s on the 29th.
it’s Friday the 28