Here is the report where the data was found for the LOR’s: https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/committees/boars/boars-cr-report-may-2022.pdf
From the data, it seems they only admitted students from the following backgrounds: First Generation College-Going, From an LCFF+ high school, Received an application waiver, and Underrepresented Minorities. What if someone doesn’t fit into any of the categories? Does that mean they will not get accepted after submitting LORs? Also what is a LCFF high school?
LCFF has something to do with how public schools are funded in California, but I am not totally sure if all California public high schools are LCFF or if it is something more specific than that.
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LCFF is how the California funds schools: 8.5 LCFF: The formula that controls most school funding | ED100
You will also notice in the report that the majority of LOR requests were not submitted and the report breaks out admits by groups of interest and not necessarily all groups that received the LOR requests. Over the last few years, I have seen plenty of LOR requests that do not always fit the categories mentioned in the augmented review so UCB is fine tuning their target populations. If you do not fit into any of the categories, still submit the LOR’s which can only help the admission readers get a better picture of you, your interests, your strengths etc…
All schools receive LCFF base funding. Some, with larger populations of foster youth, English language learners and students that qualify for free & reduced lunch, receive supplemental funds to be spent on those populations. You can read more about concentration grants and other funds below.
Re: https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/committees/boars/boars-cr-report-may-2022.pdf
Note that some campuses do not use single score holistic review for frosh admission like other campuses:
- UCR: AIS formula of 80% HS GPA, number of AP/IB courses 12%, ELC 6%, 1G 1%, LI 1%. However, the campus is considering a move to a more holistic process.
- UCSB: ADM (HS GPA, AP scores, ELC) 0-18 + holistic PPR 1-9 + SES 0-9 to get a 1-36 score.
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I’m wondering what criteria UCB uses to accept people after submitting LORs. Because we can see from the old data that they only accept 58% of people who submitted letters. What makes them reject the other 42% who also submit letters?
Other than the BOARS report and what UCB has posted on their website, I have no specific insight on the evaluation of the LOR’s however, UCB does emphasize that they like to see LOR’s that can speak the values they find important:
-Love of Learning
-Leadership
-Persistence in the face of challenges
-Cross cultural engagement
-Originality and creativity
-Concern for others
“Only” is a tricky word here, though, because 58% is way higher than the overall general acceptance rate of around 14%. Seems like pretty good odds, all things considered. At least that’s what we’re hoping!
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That’s true. The acceptance chance after submitting does I guess go up significantly compared to the general acceptance rate.
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Hi, I was wondering if anyone else has a dot next to the green checkmark on their Berkeley portal. Just curious to see if anyone else has it because I just saw it today. Does anyone know if it means anything?
I’ve seen this on other portals. It’s prob something in the software, and we likely won’t ever know if it has any relevance.
Good to know. Do you think it’s something to do with portal astrology?
the dot was there last year and did correlate to anything
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Can’t wait to see what this year’s astrology looks like 
Could this be the first year - 75 kids applied to UCB? And were the 5 kids, who did not receive a LOR in to 10%? Just curious.
Hi Guys,
Is anyone here specifically applying to the GMP program? Have you been contacted for an interview? Please advise
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My daughter’s high school is close to UCB - it’s our “local” college, so every year upwards of 100 students apply. And usually around 20 are accepted. We’re not sure how they chose the ones to receive the LOR request and the ones not to receive it - the ones who did not receive the request are definitely top students and solid applicants. But then so were many of the students who did receive the request (my daughter is in the 9% ELC, for example, and she got the request - so it must be something else. In my daughter’s case, our best guess is lack of APs. We don’t know about the others.).
@Gumbymom One of the posts above indicates that an applicant has set up their UC Berkeley admissions portal. Has Berkeley sent out portal set-up instructions already?
My son received portal instructions a few days after he submitted his application in November. The email was sent from admissions@berkeley.edu and was titled “Your UC Berkeley Application.” Check spam if this email doesn’t appear in your student’s inbox?
Edited to add:
From Application FAQs - Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Q: How can I confirm that Berkeley received my application?
A: In December, UC Berkeley will email you a confirmation that we received your application. Check the email address account you included on your UC Application. Once we receive your application, you will be asked to log in to our campus application portal, MAP@Berkeley, to see the status of your application. If you do NOT receive a confirmation email from Berkeley in December, please contact the UC Application Center at 800-207-1710 (within US) or 310-513-2715 (outside U.S.), or email: ucinfo@applyucsupport.net
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