UC Berkeley Appeal (2014)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>This is pretty long so just bear with me...</p>

<p>I was rejected from UC Berkeley just recently and am planning on appealing. My main basis for appeal is family circumstances. During the application process, my mom and dad were on the verge of divorce. My dad was absent alot and my mom became depressed, leaving me the responsibility of all the housework and taking care of my younger sister. So I really didnt have that much time to thoroughly work on my app and I made a huge mistake. I planned on applying to Computer Science. However, I had selected Electrical Engineering and Computer Science instead of Computer Science in the College of Letters and Sciences. I was pretty foolish in doing that since I was in a rush and it was just the first thing that looked similar to what I wanted. Because of course limitations at my school, I wasnt able to secure a spot in a Physics class so I havent taken Physics yet. Clearly, I was rejected for EECS for that considering EECS is such an impacted major too. Plus, I dont even have a remote interest in Electrical Engineering. It really was just an honest mistake. Do you think I can clarify to the appeals committee and get my app to go through L&S instead. I know change of major is pretty much always rejected for appeal because it just seems like the candidate is trying to make it in with a less competitive program, but I'm not exactly changing my major I just made an error. I had wanted to choose CS in L&S because I also have an interest in the arts and humanities (I talked about my art in one of my essays and I am pretty strong in the humanities, my junior year APUSH teacher really thought I was good at history and is willing to write me a recommendation). So the BA in CS would've been a good fit for me...Also my essays turned out pretty weak and they lacked personal touch because I was just emotionally distraught over my family falling apart. It was really hard to dig deep and present myself in a personal way. Berkeley is my dream school and I want to show that I am incredibly passionate about attending. It'd be the perfect place for me because it's outstanding in CS, good distance away from both Silicon valley and San Francisco which is perfect for internship opportunities. And because I am a CA resident, it would be financially a really good choice for me.</p>

<p>Some things that were on my original application:
SAT: 2290 (720-CR, 780-Math, 790-Writing)
SAT II: 800-Chem, 770-US History, 750-Math 2
APs: AP Chem (5), APUSH (5), AP Comp Sci (4), Ap Euro (4) -- the last 2 I had taken my sophomore year and was sick even though I had really high grades in both classes :(
3.88 UW, 4.45 W GPA (4.11 UC GPA)
I attended a really competitive HS so I'm in the top 15% of my school
Leo Club Board Member for 2 year, FBLA for 4 years (1st place word processing at state, went to nationals in 2012), Best Buddies for 2 years, Academic Decathlon for 1 year, Piano for 13 years (CM 7), CSF, Software engineering internship at Boeing during summer 2013
Background: Chinese-American female, CA resident</p>

<p>Things that have happened/ accomplished since November:
I got National Merit Finalist, 1st place in Computer Applications at FBLA Section (moving onto state), I got accepted for my school's NHS, got straight A's entire first semester (Senior year course load: IB Computer Science HL, IB Film SL, AP Biology, AP Macroecon, AP Government, AP Calculus BC)</p>

<p>I already submitted my letter of appeal to the online portal and am just waiting for my internship mentor at Boeing to get back to me on a letter of recommendation. I know they say they generally discourage appeals unless its a missing test score, medical condition, etc. I'm pretty sure many other well-qualified candidates will be appealing too considering there was a record of 77k+ freshman applicants this year. Considering the previous years, I know that my chances of getting the decision overturned are slim to none (~3%). My question is, what would be my chances of appeal? Do I have a solid basis for appeal here? Also, would someone who went through this process before kindly help me proofread my appeal letter?</p>

2

<p>In all honesty I don’t think so. </p>

3

<p>.</p>

4

<p>If you can explain how your family circumstances affected your grades, that warrants an appeal. I don’t think that the major change is solid grounds for an appeal.</p>

5

<p>Good luck! :)</p>

6

<p>I also appealed in hopes of getting accepted. Good luck to you all :)</p>

7

<p>One of my best friends appealed and she got in a couple of years ago. Her appeal didn’t even have any “new information” but she had a letter of recommendation from her coach, so definitely tell your mentor to hurry it up. I don’t know why everyone is saying “oh you need a good reason to appeal”, just appeal and see what happens. </p>

8

<p>First off, good luck to all of those who are appealing their admission decision. Second, does anybody know when Berkeley’s appeal decisions will be released/posted?</p>

9

<p>Decisions will be posted by May 1.
That’s what the myBerkeleyApplication website says.</p>

10

<p>There’s no way decisions can be posted by May 1st. I called them myself and they said the appeal was due on May 1st.</p>

11

<p>“by” means after also. They aren’t going to decide on appeals until they know exactly how many spots they can fill for appeals.</p>

12

<p>I believe the admit rate for EECS was less than 8%, whereas if you’d applied to their L&S, you’d have had much better chance of getting in. I believe Berkeley admissions has a soft spot for students who had to overcome personal challenges, and going through a divorce would certainly be challenging. If they were to consider you for L&S rather than EECS, that may improve your chances as well. Best of luck to you with your appeal. Let us know if you get in!</p>

13

<p>I spoke to a few of my Junior and Sophomore friends that attend Berkeley today. They said that decisions will be posted soon after the designated SIR date (May 1st in our case).</p>

14

<p>Sonderberg - you have nothing to lose by submitting an appeal, however, the probability is low for a reversal decision. This year, admission was especially competitive. My son was also rejected to EECS. After contacting the CoE office, I found out that Cal’s College of Engineering rejected 2000 students with GPA’s greater than 4.5. There are only 330 students that graduate with EECS majors. Based on informal results at my son’s school, it was much more difficult to be admitted to College of Engineering EECS than L&S CS in terms of GPA, test score, extracurriculars, etc. After submitting appeal, I recommend you shift focus to your other college choices. You’ve been very successful in high school and it will be Cal’s loss if your appeal is not accepted. </p>

15

<p>Did anyone get any decision yet ? </p>

16

<p>Going by the previous few years, seems like most appeal decisions should be out today!</p>

17

<p>Berkeley changed their appeal policy this year. All appeals are DUE by May 1 and all decisions will come out by June 1.</p>

<p>Good luck to everyone (including me!) :)</p>

18

<p>Where did you hear/read about this?</p>

19

<p>You can try the appeal, but this year was extremely competitive and a lot of students didn’t get in.</p>

20

<p>Anybody has results from appeal by now (4/29)?</p>