Hi, new to UC application. We are oos. Do UCB and USLA use waves in announcing results? D’s portal does not show any action, and D was not asked for recommendation letters at all. How do UCs determine who to admit? Thanks.
They generally do not ask for letters of rec. UCLA decisions will be released on Friday. Berkeley on Monday.
UCB and UCLA will send out all admission decisions on the same day. UCLA will be March 19 and UCB on March 25.
Here is the UC application review criteria (minus test scores). Each UC campus will have different weighting for these areas but GPA/Grades, HS course rigor and the Personal Insight essays will be the Most Important.
BERKELEY:
Very important: Academic GPA, Application essay, Rigor of secondary school record
Important: Extracurricular activities, Volunteer work, Work experience
Considered: Character/personal qualities, First generation college student, State residency, AP/IBLH exam scores
Note: Thorough review of academic performance; likely contribution to intellectual and cultural vitality of the campus; diversity in personal background and experience; demonstrated qualities in leadership, motivation, concern for others and community; non-academic achievement in the performing arts, athletics or employment; demonstrated interest in major.
LOR’s by invitation only as of 2017
Division (L&S, CNR, CoC, CED, CoE) matters for admission selectivity.
Within CoE (but not the other divisions), major matters for admission selectivity. Changing majors within the CoE after enrolling is not guaranteed, unless one is CoE undeclared.
Note that L&S admits students as undeclared; admission to capped majors (e.g. CS, economics, psychology, ORMS, statistics, art practice, and a few others) is by college GPA in prerequisite courses (and portfolio for art practice) after attending for a few semesters.
The business major is in a separate division and admits students in a competitive holistic process. Frosh intending business majors begin in another division (usually L&S), take the business major prerequisites, and apply (usually in their second years). They also need to take prerequisites for a backup major in case they are not admitted to the business major.
All students who apply to UC Berkeley and select a major within the College of Natural Resources are evaluated based on their application, not on the particular major they select.
LOS ANGELES:
Very important: Academic GPA, Application essay, Rigor of secondary school record
Important: Character/personal qualities, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Volunteer work, Work experience
Considered: First generation college student, Geographical residence, AP/IBHL exam scores
Note: GPA, course work, number of and performance in honors and AP courses most important. Essay considered. Strong senior program important. Extracurricular activities, honors and awards also reviewed.
For the College of Letters and Science, the applicant’s major is not considered during the review process.
The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science admits students by declared major, with more emphasis on science and math programs.
The School of Nursing also places more emphasis on science and math programs and requires the submission of an additional supplemental application.
The School of the Arts and Architecture; Herb Alpert School of Music; and the School of Theater, Film and Television admit students by declared major (within the school), and put more emphasis on special talents through a review of portfolios and/or auditions, which are the most significant admission factors for these schools.
1 Like
I thought Berkeley and UCLA were both test-blind?
All the UC’s are test blind but I did indicate on my original answer to the OP that the criteria listed minus test scores. I will go and edit out the test score information since that is where all the UC’s are heading anyways, test blind.
1 Like
I have also seen reports hat UCs will come up with their own standardized tests:
I don’t see how they can not have a standardized test of some sort. Schools vary in their grading. And parents will move their families to school districts with easier grading.
I agree that the UC’s developing their own standardized test does not seem very likely.
They may choose to use this instead: Smarter Balanced Assessment System - Testing (CA Dept of Education)
Update from Chancellor Christ on what next year might look like.
https://news.berkeley.edu/2021/03/16/an-update-on-uc-berkeleys-plans-for-the-fall-semester-2/
1 Like
@Gumbymom @jntwinmama Thank you!
@Gumbymom your detailed description is so helpful! We decided to apply for more schools in late Nov. But D missed the original 12/1 deadline, fortunately it was extended. So we didn’t do enough homework. D applied to Statistics in UCB. We had no idea that was capped.
1 Like
I have a question about Geographical residence. Some schools, like Florida, come right out and say on their website that an out-of-state applicant is no different than an in-state applicant, no plus or minus.
Do UC Berkeley & UCLA look at being OOS as a positive? Negative?
They do consider geographic diversity and being OOS is an advantage for the UC’s since the OOS acceptance is higher than in-state due to less competition and OOS students pay significantly higher tuition rates. But in general, accepted stats for OOS are higher and little to no financial aid is available so costs keep most OOS students from enrolling.
Guys, does anyone know what time the results will come at? (EST or PST) Also, is it confirmed that the result will come out on the 25th or do they come out before every year?
The UC’s rank California kids by a point system linked to zip codes. The higher your property taxes, the lower your points so that’s weird but whatever…
2 Likes
Really???
Link?
Good. Makes sense.
They sent us an email saying late afternoon 25th. That usually is 5 pm
@MMRose If you go to the main UC website, you see the 13-14 factors UCs use to rank candidates. Zip code/geographic location is there. I think it’s the bottom of the list
In my son’s freshman year, our high school counselor shared with m masked examples of students with the same credentials and yet one got in more of his top choice UCs than the other based on his zip code (lower income).
1 Like
People, this is a joke, or whatever you might call it. Not true.