***uc berkeley class of 2023 decision thread (stats only)***

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
21

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Physics in the college of letters and science

Academic stats: ACCEPTED

Calculate your GPAs with https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
UC Unweighted GPA: ??
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 3.9 (dont really know
UC Fully Weighted GPA:
Eligibility in Local Context?:

OUT OF STATE

Rank, percentile rank, or percentile range (if available): top 25%
Comments about course load (including senior year):
SAT (total and sections): 1460
ACT (total and sections): –
SAT Subject Tests (if any): math 2: 790
AP exams (scores in parentheses): ap computer science: 5, ap calc: 3, but retook it for college credit
IB exams (score in parentheses):
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

For the following, indicate level of recognition or award (e.g. local, state, national, international) and/or leadership roles:
Extracurriculars:
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: none
Summer Activities: ran a candy business and got in the local newspaper and had a podcast done.

Essays (topics, details): my business and the struggles i went through.
Letters of recommendation: none, they didn’t want them

Demographics

State (if domestic applicant): OUT OF STATE
Country (if international applicant):
High school type: public

Gender: make
Race/ethnicity: white, straight

Applied for need-based financial aid?: I think
Pell grant eligible?: I think,maybe…
Maximum Pell grant (FAFSA EFC = $0)?:

Highest level of parent education: some college, my father didn’t finish high school and my mother when to learn hairdressing.

Living with both, one, or no parents?: one
Relation to alumni of college: none

Reflection

super excited!

Strengths: Essay, fact I ran a business and was in the news and had a podcast done. SAT
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: essay, sat
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: rejected UCSB, UCSD, UT Austin.

22

Decision: Accepted
Mechanical Engineering

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1410 (720 W 690 M)
Capped Weighted UC GPA: 4.35
Uncapped weighted: 4.45
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 42/749
AP (place score in parenthesis): 9 APs, Hum G(4), Bio (4), Cal AB (4), LIT (4), US H (4), Physics (this year), Calc BC (this year), Gov (this year, Lang (this year)
Senior Year Course Load: 4 APs, 1 honors, 3rd year language, plus extra 7th class in robotics
Major Awards: FIRST Robotics Dean’s List finalist, Eagle Scout, AP Scholar with Distinction

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 12 years competitive robotics, (FRC team CEO)
Job/Work Experience: Employed as fencing armorer
Volunteer/Community service: 300+ hours, Eagle Scout, STEM outreach
Summer Activities:Engineering program at Berkeley
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8
Supplemental Review or LOR submission:

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type:Public High School
Gender:M
ELC Eligibility:yes
First Generation:no

Reflection

Strengths: Good GPA and lots of extra curricular applicable to degree
Weaknesses: Not a good test taker, lower SAT, no 5 APs
Why you think you were accepted:
Where else were you accepted/: Purdue, Virginia Tech, WPI, SDSU, CalPoly SLO, UCI, UCR Honors, UCSD, UCSB, UCB
Waitlisted: Georgia Tech
Rejected: U Texas at Austin

23

@RoboticsWidow

Texas and georgia must have their hands tied by in state requirements!

24

Decision: Admitted

Merit scholarships awarded (if any): None

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: College of Letters and Science (Specifically Biology)

Objective:
UC Unweighted GPA: 3.81
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.81
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.03
Rank, percentile rank, or percentile range (if available): 21/634
Comments about course load (including senior year):
~Senior year: 4 AP classes (Bio, Chem, Calc AB, Lit)
~Junior year: 4 AP Classes+1 extra AP Chinese test (Lang, Music Theory, Physics, French), Pre-AP Precal
~Sophomore year: WHAP and 3 Pre-AP classes (English, Algebra II, French)
~Freshman year: 4 Pre-AP classes (World Geo, Geometry, English, French)
SAT (total and sections): 1400 (670 R 730 M 21 W(7,7,7))
ACT (total and sections): None
SAT Subject Tests (if any): None
AP exams (scores in parentheses): AP Chinese (4), AP World History (4), AP English Lang (4), AP Music Theory (3), AP French (3), AP Physics (2)
IB exams (score in parentheses): None
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): State violin competition with monetary award, AP scholar with honor

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Co-President of TAME (Texas math/engineering club), 3 years orchestra officer, NHS member, HOSA member, Mu Alpha Theta member.
Job/Work Experience: Babysitter, Teacher’s Assistant at Chinese School, Chinese-English Translator
Volunteer/Community service: 60+ Hours volunteering at animal shelter, Algebra tutoring help, Chinese program assistant, public library aid
Summer Activities: Took courses at local Community College, helped out with Chinese school summer camps

Essays (topics, details):
Greatest Talent: I talked about my experience preparing for a state violin competition, and how I will use the lessons of perseverance and hard work in college.
Take advantage of Edu. Opp: Talked about the time I spent in Taiwan for a year in fourth grade and how I struggled as I couldn’t keep up in a different language, but by self teaching I was able to understand more in class, and even as I came back to the US later, I continued to perfect my skills in Chinese school.
Big Challenge: (My worst one) I talked about when I first came to the US and I was alone at Kindergarten until I started opening up to new people and learned to make friends and help myself adjust to the US.
Make Community Better: Talked about how my job as a babysitter, and how I teach the girl I babysit English so she can enter Kindergarten able to speak English and get along with peers. I also wrote how I wish to do what my babysitters did for me when I was young and pay it forward.
Letters of recommendation: None

Demographics

State (if domestic applicant): TX
High school type: Public High School

Gender: Female
Race/ethnicity: Asian/Taiwanese

Income: Around $140K
Highest level of parent education: Masters (Both)
Living with both, one, or no parents?: Both
Relation to alumni of college: None

Reflection

Strengths: At first, I thought my essays were very weak. But as I read over it, I realized that though it could be structured better, all the content was there and I truly wrote with my heart. I believe that since I tied them in with being first generation American and how I will use these experiences from my childhood in college, it made my essays stronger.
Weaknesses: My SAT score certainly could’ve been better
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I believe my essays and EC’s were able to mask my SAT, thank goodness Berkeley looks at essays and EC’s just as equally as scores.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: UT Austin, Texas A&M College Station, UT Dallas
Waitlisted: UCLA
Rejected: Rice University

General Comments:
NO FOUR ADDRESSES!! I completely convinced myself of rejection with that and was a total waste of time
Funny story: When I saw my results, I jumped straight out of my desk and started crying uncontrollably! It was pretty embarrassing as I was in after school tutorials for chemistry and everyone just stared at me, but I JUST GOT INTO BERKELEY!! This was absolutely a dream come true, I couldn’t be more grateful! I wish EVERYONE luck going into college, no matter where! And if you’re a current senior applying to college, I wish you much luck as well!

25

Decision: Admitted

Major: Mechanical Engineering

UC Unweighted GPA: 3.89
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.07
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.37
Rank, percentile rank, or percentile range (if available): N/A
Comments about course load (including senior year): 4 AP + 1 honors out of 7 classes senior year, 4 ap + 2 honors out of 6 classes junior year, 1 AP + 3 honors out of 7 classes sophomore year, freshman year negligible
SAT (total and sections): N/A
ACT (total and sections): 36 comp, 35 english, 35 writing, 10/12 essay, 36 math, 36 science
SAT Subject Tests (if any): 800 math II, 780 chem, 720 physics
AP exams (scores in parentheses): AP Comp Sci A (5), AP Chinese (5), AP Chem (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP US History (5), AP Stats (5)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended

For the following, indicate level of recognition or award (e.g. local, state, national, international) and/or leadership roles:
Extracurriculars: FIRST Robotics Team (Team Captain, Multiple Regional Awards), Club Volleyball (Team Captain, Junior Nationals Competitor), Plastic Scale Modeling (Numerous International Awards), TSA TEAMS (Design Captain, Regional Winner, Nationals Competitor)
Job/Work Experience: Summer software internship
Volunteer/Community service: ~300 hours at robotics summer camp, as well as tutoring low income children in math
Summer Activities: Robotics Summer Camp Lead, Volleyball Camp,

Essays (topics, details): Leadership Opportunity (robotics), Creativity (scale modeling), Improving community (robotics summer camp and passion for spreading STEM), Academic Inspiration (math/physics, connected back to robotics)

State (if domestic applicant): California
High school type: Public

Gender: Male
Race/ethnicity: Chinese

Highest level of parent education: Masters (both parents)
Living with both, one, or no parents?: both parents
Relation to alumni of college: N/A

Reflection

Strengths: Extracurriculars were reasonable, which gave a lot of depth for my essays. ACT and AP scores were quite nice.
Weaknesses: GPA was questionable since school was high performing, SAT physics was low for mechanical engineering major
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Actually no clue why I was accepted
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted UMich, UIUC, Purdue, Calpoly, UC Davis. Waitlisted Rice, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB. Rejected Stanford, Northwestern, UPenn, Cornell, Duke, Princeton. Still waiting on CMU.

26

Decision: Admitted

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Engineering Physics (possibly will transfer to EECS, though)

Academic stats:
UC Unweighted GPA: 4.0
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.13
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 5.0
Eligibility in Local Context?: Nope

Rank, percentile rank, or percentile range (if available): N/A (but probably valedictorian)
Comments about course load (including senior year): 6 tough classes, including senior thesis. No AP exams but taking AP/college level courses.
SAT (total and sections): 1590 (790R, 800M)
SAT Subject Tests (if any): 750 Math 2, 720 Physics
AP exams (scores in parentheses): AP Lang - 5, AP Bio - 4, AP Chem - 3, AP Physics 1 - 4, AP Calc AB - 5
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Not at the time of application, except for AP Scholar Award :tongue:

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: speech and debate (club captain, nationally ranked in top ten), piano, voice (western and Carnatic)
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: tutoring at an elementary school, mentor and moderator for online school, worship team at church (lead youth worship, lead pianist + vocalist)
Summer Activities: taught at speech camps

Essays (topics, details):
Essay #1 – leadership experience. Talked about how I mentored other students at online school, helping them assimilate.
Essay #2 – talent/skill. Talked about piano and how it changed me as a person.
Essay #3 – making community a better place. Talked about tutoring kids under the poverty line.
Essay #4 – anything else to add. Talked about women in STEM.
Letters of recommendation: N/A

Demographics

State (if domestic applicant): California
High school type: Private (homeschool online)

Gender: Female
Race/ethnicity: Asian Indian

Applied for need-based financial aid?: No
Pell grant eligible?: N/A
Maximum Pell grant (FAFSA EFC = $0)?: N/A

Highest level of parent education: Bachelors degree (both)
Living with both, one, or no parents?: Both
Relation to alumni of college: no

Reflection

Strengths: Good stats and ECs, essays
Weaknesses: No job/work experience, no hooks
Why you think you were accepted: I was surprised to say the least. I think it was really just the high scores and fact that I’m a woman in STEM.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted – Biola, LeTourneau, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, UCLA, Santa Clara, University of the Pacific
Waitlisted – UC Irvine
Rejected – Stanford, USC, Johns Hopkins, Cal Poly, Rice

General Comments: Congratulations to all those admitted! I will probably be going to Santa Clara or Berkeley, so perhaps I’ll see some of you there. To those who did not get admitted, don’t stress or be disappointed. In the end, it’s what you do and who you are that matters, not where you go. So keep doing your best, and God will do the rest! :smiley:

27

Decision: Admitted

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: psychology

Academic stats:

Unweighted GPA: 3.76
Weighted GPA: 4.47
Weighted and Capped GPA: 4.24

Comments about course load (including senior year): I took 7 dance courses throughout high school which took away from my academics slightly but showed dedication to an art, and my senior year schedule had lots of electives, but they were sociology, AP psychology, film and society, which all somehow relate to my applied major.
SAT (total and sections): 1570
math 800
english 770
SAT Subject Tests (if any): none
AP exams (scores in parentheses):
World History (4)
Statistics (4)
Psychology (5)
Lang(4)
Intending to take Gov, Econ, and Lit

Subjective:

Extracurriculars: Preprofessional dance program (15+ hrs a week), president of Gender Sexuality Alliance, President of a multimedia arts coalition club type thing (difficult to describe)
Job/Work Experience:
Research assistant with the US embassy for a summer, math tutoring
Volunteer/Community service:
Volunteer with a congressional campaign

Essays (topics, details):
• An essay about finding my place in the dance community after coming out as transgender (this was my strongest essay)
• teaching my little how brother to read, connected back to my interest in developmental psychology
• an analysis on how a specific psychological theory explains why I became interested in psychology
•

Demographics

State (if domestic applicant): California
High school type: public
Gender: nonbinary
Race/ethnicity: white

Highest level of parent education:
both attended grad school
Living with both, one, or no parents?:
one parent, other lives abroad
Relation to alumni of college:
Mom was a student for one year

Reflection

Strengths: My essays show strong self reflection abilities, and a complex understanding of my field of study. My extracurriculars aren’t very impressive individually but show a dedication to a few key topics. My SAT is very high which helps.
Weaknesses: Low unweighted GPA and no SAT subject tests.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
essays and extracurriculars that related to the essays

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
waitlisted at every UC except LA(rejected)
Accepted to Oregon, Boulder, Indiana, and Reed
Rejected from Brown

28

@musiclover5 Do not count on being able to transfer to EECS - most people are admitted as freshman. CS in L&S would be your better bet if you are leaning that way.

29

As of 2017 you cannot transfer internally into EECS. The only way to get into EECS is by getting in as an admit out of HS, or as a transfer student.

30

@ProfessorPlum168 You can do a simultaneous degree across colleges, but it is probably extremely difficult to balance another major alongside EECS.

31

@ProfessorPlum168 the Berkeley EECS website says that you can internally transfer as long as you’re in the CoE using the change of major reqs.

https://eecs.berkeley.edu/resources/undergrads/eecs/cal-transfers
https://engineering.berkeley.edu/academics/majors-minors/change-major?_ga=2.151027833.1327535712.1554700014-1374283475.1549297798

32

Ah yes, within CoE it is still possible but hard. From other schools it is impossible.

33

Admitted

Merit scholarships awarded (if any): none

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Microbial Biology in the College of Natural Resources

Academic stats:

UC Unweighted GPA: 4.0
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.29
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.5
Eligibility in Local Context?: yes

Rank, percentile rank, or percentile range (if available):
Comments about course load (including senior year): 8 classes, 5 AP’s
SAT (total and sections): 1500 Math: 800/ R&W : 700
ACT (total and sections):
SAT Subject Tests (if any):
AP exams (scores in parentheses):
IB exams (score in parentheses):
Major Awards (USAMO, I

34

Decision: Accepted

Merit scholarships awarded (if any): none

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Microbial Biology (College of Natural Resources)

Academic stats:
/
UC Unweighted GPA: 4.0
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.29
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.5
Eligibility in Local Context?: Yes

Rank, percentile rank, or percentile range (if available): School doesn’t rank.
Comments about course load (including senior year): 4 yrs. of science, math, english, and Spanish
Senior yr: 5 AP’s AP Physics, AP Calculus, AP Lit., AP Spanish, AP Biology and 2 electives
SAT (total and sections): 1500 (Math: 800 R/W: 700)
ACT (total and sections):
SAT Subject Tests (if any):
AP exams (scores in parentheses): Music Theory: 4, AP Euro History: 4, AP Language:3
IB exams (score in parentheses):
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

For the following, indicate level of recognition or award (e.g. local, state, national, international) and/or leadership roles:
Extracurriculars: Dance team, Choir 4 years, Participated in 3 high school musicals
Job/Work Experience: Volunteer at health clinics
Volunteer/Community service: Ronald Mc Donald Club, Choir Club, Volunteer at summer dance camp
Summer Activities: Summer Healthcare Experience at UCI

Essays (topics, details):
Letters of recommendation:

Demographics

State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
High school type: Large Public High School Senior Class about 1000 students

Gender: Female
Race/ethnicity: Asian

Applied for need-based financial aid?: YES
Pell grant eligible?: no
Maximum Pell grant (FAFSA EFC = $0)?:

Highest level of parent education: BS
Living with both, one, or no parents?: Both
Relation to alumni of college: no

Reflection

Strengths: GPA, SAT scores, extra curricular activities
Weaknesses: Leadership and community service
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: High GPA and SAT
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: UCI (Campuswide Honors Program), UCSB, UCLA, Boston College, University of Rochester, CSULB
Waitlisted: Northeastern University
Rejected: UPenn, Cornell

35

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Admitted[/color][/size]**

Merit scholarships awarded (if any):

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: L&S. Comp Sci

Academic stats:

UC Unweighted GPA: 4.0
UC Capped Weighted GPA:
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.10
Eligibility in Local Context?:

Rank, percentile rank, or percentile range (if available): top 10
Comments about course load (including senior year): AP Micro Econ, AP Macro Econ, AP Stat, AP English, Multivariable Cal, honor thesis
SAT (total and sections): did not take
ACT (total and sections): 35/36
SAT Subject Tests (if any): Math iic- 800, Physics 800
AP exams (scores in parentheses): AP Cal BC (5, AB subscore 5), AP Chem (5), AP Physics C (5), AP US His (4), AP Physics 2 (5), AP Enviro (5)
IB exams (score in parentheses):
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

For the following, indicate level of recognition or award (e.g. local, state, national, international) and/or leadership roles:
Extracurriculars: FTC, Biking, Speech and Debate, astronomy club, computer science club, translate Spanish to English at local migrant worker organization
Job/Work Experience: NASA research, Search Engineer at japanese company
Volunteer/Community service: Tutoring middle school girls math
Summer Activities: Stanford Summer Program, Princeton SIG, UNESCO photography

Essays (topics, details): Talk about my struggles from Vietnam to study abroad in the US, community service at Tijuana, Mexico, playing the piano, etc.
Letters of recommendation: Pretty good. My recommender really talk about my experience in projects programming. My mentor at NASA really talk a lot about my work ethics and attitude towards research and problem-solving.

Demographics

State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Vietnam
High school type: Private catholic

Gender: Female
Race/ethnicity: Asian

Applied for need-based financial aid?:
Pell grant eligible?:
Maximum Pell grant (FAFSA EFC = $0)?:

Highest level of parent education: Bachelor
Living with both, one, or no parents?: both
Relation to alumni of college: nope

Reflection

Strengths: Activities and essay
Weaknesses: Community service. I think I can definitely do more diverse community services through my high school so that it would be more helpful to talk about in the college essays. I did focus a lot on only a few community service, such as working with migrant worker organization in local area.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accept: Harvard, Caltech, UCLA, CWRU, Depaul, U Minnesota Twin Cities, U Miami
Watilist: Bowdoin, Haverford, Emory, Franklin & Marshall
Rejected: MIT, Princeton, UPenn, Williams, Carleton (I did apply to a lot of colleges in the US)

36

Decision: Admitted

Merit scholarships awarded (if any): None

Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Physics

Academic stats:

Calculate your GPAs with https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
UC Unweighted GPA: 3.79
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.04
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.36
Eligibility in Local Context?: No
Note: almost all my Bs were in Foreign Language (french)

Rank, percentile rank, or percentile range (if available): top 30%
Comments about course load (including senior year): Took multivariable calc, differential equations, psychology, and ewrt 1a (equivalent to first sem of english at berkeley) concurrently when I was in Junior year. Senior year: AP Chem, AP Stats, AP gov/macroecon (semester each), myth/folk (12th grade reg lit). Fall 2018 concurrent classes at De Anza/Foothill (GEO 10, ANTH 1, MUS 8) Winter 2019 (EWRT 2, ECON 1B, ANTH 5) Spring 2019 (MATH 2B, HIST 4A). I marked these classes as planned on the UC App.
SAT (total and sections): did not take
ACT (total and sections): 34 (34W, 35M, 31R, 36S) 8 essay
SAT Subject Tests (if any): 790 Math 2, 760 World History, 760 Physics
AP exams (scores in parentheses): 5 AP physics C both exams, 4 AP physics 1, 5 ap calc bc, 4 apush, 4 psychology (did not take class), 5 world history (did not take class at school)
IB exams (score in parentheses): none
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): got semifinalist at MIT Inspire, NAQT national award, state qb award, regional science fair award

Subjective:

For the following, indicate level of recognition or award (e.g. local, state, national, international) and/or leadership roles:
Extracurriculars: Astronomy Club (President), Quiz Bowl (Vice President), we won national/state awards in quiz bowl, and I also wrote for an EC that I did independent research papers in the form of MIT inspire/science fair projects
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: None
Summer Activities: reading? watching movies?

Essays (topics, details): Really good, this is why I got in I think
academic passion essay about astronomy (8.5/10) - was very passionate and gave specific details on how i furthered this
leadership essay about quiz bowl (7/10) - not very interesting, but shows I was active and helped improve club
creativity essay about making maps/scenarios for a video game (8.5/10) - passionate again
skill? essay about art appreciation (10/10) - really really passionate, and formatted essay uniquely
Letters of recommendation: None, not asked

Demographics

State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
High school type: Large competitive public in Silicon Valley South Bay around 600 seniors each year graduate

Gender: Male
Race/ethnicity: Asian (Filipino-Chinese)

Applied for need-based financial aid?: No
Pell grant eligible?:No
Maximum Pell grant (FAFSA EFC = $0)?:

Highest level of parent education: professional degree
Living with both, one, or no parents?:both
Relation to alumni of college:none

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, ECs I cared about, recognition for said ECs, course rigor
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My art essay was really unique, my other essays were unique, passionate, and geeky as well. My main weakness was my french grades which destroyed my GPA, but ECs, course rigor, strong grades in other classes made up for it.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
accepted at UIUC (engineering), Purdue (engineering), UWashington (engineering), UCD, UCSB, UCI, Cal Poly SLO (engineering), SJSU (engineering)
waitlisted at UCSD (engineering) and UCSC.
rejected at UCLA (engineering)

General Comments: Didn’t apply to privates/anywhere that needed a secondary school report because I get no aid. Don’t be afraid to do what I did as if you wouldn’t go to a school even if you get accepted, then don’t apply. I saved a lot of time and money, and that extra time I used to polish essays.