Thanks for that! That’s helpful to know!
We are OOS but DD decided to apply after the admissions counselor came to our school to visit in Midatlantic (East) coast. He told us I guess from knowing the school curriculum that all the honors classes outside of the APs at the school are considered UC level honors classes. Long shot but applied.
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Hi @Gumbymom! I’m a new poster so I can’t PM anyone just yet, but I’d like to ask you something privately. If you’re not too busy, would you mind PMing me to start the conversation? Thank you so much!
Glad to answer any questions. I will send a PM.
I’ve been reading up on the EECS major… My D is interested in EE, and she’s applied. Most of the other UCs have a designated major for it. Does EE get squeezed out with the massive popularity of CS? Do they try to accept some EE-leaning students or just let the chips fall as they may?
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I don’t think they try to construct a balance between EE and CS. That said, I think if your D is able to demonstrate interest in EE in a compelling way that might help her stand out since she will be in the minority of the EECS applicant crowd.
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However, in your scenario of taking AP courses in math and physics in 9th grade, an admission reader will see that the applicant took college courses more advanced than AP level in 10th and 11th grade, assuming that the applicant was able to continue the usual progression of such courses at a nearby college.
Did any M.E.T applicant receive a video essay request yet?
Hmmm…does that mean that some students will find out earlier than others this year too? If so, what’s the criteria used to make these “early decisions?”
Are all applicants invited to group chat? DS23 applied for UCB Early OOS
You cannot apply for an Early acceptance from UCB.
A select number of High stat students will be notified that they have been admitted to UC Berkeley, most of whom will be candidates for the Regents’ and Chancellor’s scholarship or admits to other special programs such as MET or GMP.
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Ok, thanks!
Maybe there’s a chance that the people who submit their applications early might be notified of their acceptance/rejection earlier because their application might be reviewed before the people who submitted later?
No, submitting the UC application early offers no advantage when it comes to posting decisions. For UCB, either you meet their criteria for an Early admit in February or you will hear with the majority of applicants in March.
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I’m so glad I found this discussion! I was particularly interested to hear that some local schools were getting a lot or requests for LORs. That is our situation, too. The majority of the students who applied from her school (about 20 minutes from UCB) also seem to have received the request - including my daughter. We have been obsessing trying to figure out why, although I think we already know. She has very few AP courses (2 APs and 1 honors in 11th grade and 2 APs in 12th grade). Our school has limited APs available and students are generally only allowed to take APs in 11th and 12th grade (with a few exceptions).
Anyway, so my daughter only has 2 completed and 2 in progress AP courses, which is obviously super low. She has, however, taken a number of dual enrollment classes (I think 8 or 9?). How much will that compensate for lack of APs? Also, the other big red flag in her application is likely lack of AP test scores for the 2 APs she did take. She doesn’t like standardized tests so opted not to take them (and was thinking that “test blind” meant all standardized tests so didn’t think it would be that important).
She has a 3.9 overall UW GPA, but a 4.0 UW for 10th and 11th grade.
So my questions, if anyone knows:
Will taking those dual enrollment classes help compensate for the lack of APs?
Are dual enrollment classes used to calculate UC GPA?
How big of a mistake was it for her to not take AP tests?
She has strong ECs (at least we think they are pretty strong): given “holistic review” how much will that really compensate for a relatively weak academic record?
Oh, I have one more question. I have Googled this and am still a bit unclear. When application are reviewed, do they take into consideration which college you applied to? From what I’ve read, they do for Engineering, but I couldn’t tell if they did for other colleges.
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The UC’s will consider DE courses on the same level as AP courses.
Are dual enrollment classes used to calculate UC GPA?
UC’s will use DE courses if UC transferable in their UC GPA calculation if taken the summer after 9th through the summer prior to 12th grade.
How big of a mistake was it for her to not take AP tests?
The UC’s like to see students take advantage of the AP classes available at their HS but DE courses can be an advantage since not all AP scores will be accepted for credit while UC transferable DE courses will get UC credit. She is still showing Academic rigor with DE courses.
She has strong ECs (at least we think they are pretty strong): given “holistic review” how much will that really compensate for a relatively weak academic record?
The UC’s use 13 areas of criteria in their Comprehensive admission review and the most important factors are GPA, Academic rigor and the Personal Insight essays. EC’s are holistically reviewed but will not compensate for a “weak” academic record. If she is has taken DE courses and has done well, I do not see how she can have a “weak” academic record?
Here is how UCB considers majors in their selection process. In General, the UC’s will admit by major into the College of Engineering but not for the College of Letters and Sciences. Each campus determines how they admit and if they admit by major.
Major choice is a factor for admission into the College of Engineering (COE) and the College of Chemistry (COC).
Changing majors within the CoE after enrolling is not guaranteed, unless one is CoE undeclared.
Note that L&S admits students as undeclared.
There are changes in the admission process for High Demand majors listed below. For example, if apply for EECS in the College of Engineering, there is now an option to select CS in the College of Letters and Sciences as an alternate.
HIGH DEMAND MAJORS: Art (Practice of) Public Health Media Studies CS (L&S) Data Science Operations Research & Management Science Statistics Economics Global Studies Political Economy Psychology Social Welfare
Admitted students will be guaranteed a spot in the major they selected, subject to completing the prerequisites, maintaining good academic standing in L&S, and filing a declaration form.
Starting Fall 2024, the HAAS Business school will offer a 4 year Undergrad program and Freshman can apply as a direct admit. UC-Berkeley and transfer students may continue to apply for acceptance to the program as sophomores or Juniors.
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.
Alternate majors are now considered for Fall 2023
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Thank you so much for that very informative answer! Her dual enrollment courses are all transferable and she has maintained a 4.0 for those classes. If that does indeed compensate for lack of APs, however, then it becomes more all the more confusing as to why she was asked for LORs. And that returns me to the issue of AP tests - not because of the potential credit, but simply for purposes of submitting test scores for admissions purposes. Could that really have been the issue that shot her to the “maybe” pile?
As for colleges/majors: do I understand correctly, then, that applications to CNR would be reviewed separately from L&S (regardless of major), or is that not the case?
Here are some of the reasons for the LOR request from UCB. Do not try to ready anything into the request. They just need more information to make an informed admissions decision.
- Evidence of focus on an area of special talent which may have limited a student’s time to participate in a broader range of activities.
- Evidence of character traits that imply a strong likelihood of making a significant contribution to campus life.
- Evidence of significant academic achievement or the potential for academic achievement at the University in spite of extraordinary or compound disadvantage or learning difference, or physical disability or other unusual circumstances.
- Evidence of significant improvement in the academic record accompanied by one or both of the following: (1) reasons for the initial poor performance; and (2) sustained and in-depth participation in educational outreach programs, which demonstrate the applicant’s commitment to succeed academically within a challenging environment.
- Evidence of relative lack of access to, counseling about, or support to take college preparatory, honors, Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) classes or required college entrance examinations.
UCB does consider AP scores in their admission review but how much weight they put on the AP test scores is unknown.
As for CNR. She will be reviewed with the applicants to that particular college.
Here is some Fully weighted UC GPA data admit rates based on the UCB colleges:
| GPA | L&S | CoE | CoC | CNR | CED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.800-4.000 | 6.3% | 2.7% | 4.5% | 11.5% | 8.7% |
| 4.001-4.199 | 10.6% | 3.9% | 8.2% | 23.7% | 14.7% |
| 4.200-4.399 | 21.8% | 8.8% | 17.5% | 38.9% | 29.1% |
| 4.400-4.599 | 34.8% | 16.4% | 33.3% | 53.0% | 39.5% |
| 4.600-4.799 | 40.9% | 21.4% | 39.6% | 52.4% | 49.4% |
| 4.800-5.000 | 41.5% | 20.7% | 36.2% | 46.1% | 43.0% |
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Yeah, I’ve come across that list - but none of those clearly apply to her. Except that AP class one. Oof.
Those look like pretty good odds for CNR, though - that’s encouraging. I really hope it works out for her - this is her dream (although I realize that it’s the dream of A LOT of others, too). Things has just changed so much from when I was applying to colleges. The competition these days is just astounding.
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