Hi I’m a junior in high school in New Jersey. I was searching for good schools with excellent business schools/programs.
Some other schools I looked at were UMich pre-Ross, UCLA Anderson, Carnegie Mellon Tepper, etc…
I don’t really know a lot about UC Berkeley admission process, requirements and expectations but I really like the school programs and location.
I hears Haas school is like Ross of Michigan where you apply as a regular freshmen and apply to the school in your sophomore year after finishing requirements. Realistically, how high are their standards for freshmen?
I am aware that Berkeley is a really prestigious school, but what are the key things that admissions officers look for in applications? Test score numbers, GPA, extra curricular… etc?
I am planning to end my senior year with 5 AP classes, SAT in high SAT 1900 to low 2000, unweighted GPA of 4.1
Female, Asian American, mid-income family
Thanks I’d appreciate replies
http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/Undergrad/ucb_admissions.html
http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/Undergrad/class_profile.html
However, realistically, being from a mid-income* non-California resident family, you will not be able to afford the price, unless you manage to get a Regents’ scholarship.
*median household income in New Jersey is $72,062.
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Btw, UCLA’s Anderson is a graduate MBA business/management school. It does not offer an undergraduate degree.
Assuming you can afford the out of state tuition and costs, the standards, as you can see in post #1, to get into UCB as a freshman and then apply to Haas as a junior are high. Alternatively, if you want to attend a prestigious UC for business, you might want to consider UCLA’s business econ. Getting into UCLA as a freshman is just as hard as UCB. The business econ at UCLA is easier to get into than Haas. I know of a few students who want to major in business and are admitted as freshmen to both UCB and UCLA. They choose UCLA because of the difficulty to getting into Haas in their junior year. These students have done well at UCLA and gotten good consulting jobs with Big 4 firms.
You might also want to look into USC, which has a business school, if you want to come out to CA. They take freshman business applicants. The business school is also competitive to get into (from what I hear, around 3.7 GPA for transfers). As a private university, the costs are high.
Something seems wrong. From what I’ve read, and talked to Cal students, getting into Haas isn’t ‘insanely’ difficult. The quality of Haas applicants is lowered by some of the in state students who aren’t, let’s say, as academically strong and driven as the OOS and internationals, due to which getting into Haas isn’t too tough as long as you’re focused academically.
If you are a Cal student, Haas accepts about 50% of applicants.
“I am aware that Berkeley is a really prestigious school, but what are the key things that admissions officers look for in applications? Test score numbers, GPA, extra curricular… etc?”
Not sure if you mean to get into Berkeley, or to get into Haas. For Cal, if you are an intended Business major, you apply to the College of Letters and Science. So just make sure you are a competitive applicant for L&S.
To get into Haas, you apply during your sophomore year and, if accepted, start your junior year. They look at courses and GPA (doesn’t need to be straight As, but try to be close to it). Clubs and leadership are really important. Essays.
@shaunak98 It’s difficult. Insanely difficult? Well, they do accept 40-50% of applicants directly through UCB, which seems fairly generous. However, to get into Haas, you first need to get into Berkeley and then you need to get into Haas. If you don’t get into Haas, you’re off to Economics or Political Economy or some other alternative major.
None of the pre-reqs are all that hard, they’re just driven by extreme competition for 200 spots.
To the OP, GPA is king, especially in the pre-reqs. Beyond that, it’s just having a good, well rounded application … being active on campus and in the community, good essays, etc.
@briank82 My comment was for admitted UCB students. I am not aware of how difficult it would be for transfer students.
PS: You got the tag wrong, its ShaunakK98, not shaunak98
@ShaunakK98 Ah, that one “k” is tricky 
At least I tagged someone who doesn’t exist instead of tagging some unsuspecting person who enters the thread confused.
I know you were speaking about admitted students. I’m not sure if I implied anything about transfers or if the OP was talking about transfers. Since you bring it up (unless I did and somehow I’m overlooking it), though, it’s easy in the sense that none of it is hard, per se, but 1,600+ transfer applicants are fighting for ~90 spots, so the odds aren’t good.
@briank82 Haha yes it is tricky 
I was confused by your sentence which said " However, to get into Haas, you first need to get into Berkeley and then you need to get into Haas." so I thought you were talking about transfer students and not admitted students. Yep odds are definitely not good for transfer students, but are good for serious current students
Ahh, I see. No, I was talking about admitted UC Berkeley students.
Transfers have it nice in a way because they transfer directly into Haas, but there are very few seats for them and if they aren’t accepted, they aren’t allowed an alternative major.
For UC Berkeley students applying to Haas, it is still very competitive with the average GPA of 3.67 and a 43% acceptance rate. Many high school students, accepted to both UCB and UCLA who want to transfer to Haas, choose to attend UCLA to major in business econ because it is easier to get into than Haas.
Yes, odds for cc transfer students are not good with the average GPA of 3.87 for accepted students and 5% acceptance rate. Transfers are generally from community colleges. Generally, Haas does not take students from other 4 year colleges or from other UC’s.
I would say that now getting into Haas is becoming more competitive. Not to say that it is particularly difficult but that it will take some work. A great GPA is nice, but a number of my peers in my year (who I thought would easily get in) did not get into Haas. Also, with the sheer number of people intending to pursue something in Haas, a lot of the business oriented clubs are getting competitive.
@UCBUSCalum A 43% acceptance rate is huge. Especially considering that there are several less-driven instate students applying too
Yes the 43% acceptance for UC Berkeley sophomores applying to Haas is a large percentage. There are still approx. 400 of the almost 700 UCB applicants who are rejected. Knowing that Haas is very competitive to get admitted, I would think that most of the 700 UCB applicants are driven.