Is it true that if you applied to the college of engineering to UCB and receive a LOR request that pretty much means you will be rejected come March? I read on reddit that to get admitted to the COE you need a guarantee of 2 yes ratings from both readers. It says that if you receive a LOR request you probably got a possible or maybe rating from the first reader or computer algorithm. That would point to being rejected most likely if someone applied to COE and got a LOR request. For the colleges of L&S it says that you can still get in with a yes and a possible rating and even with two possible ratings. Do any of you know if this is true?
I would ignore all this speculation. There is absolutely no way at this point to gauge chances of admission unless you are a MET applicant and don’t receive a video request soon. Even then, you wont be out of the running for the COE seat.
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If people with LOR requests could not be admitted to the COE, I am sure that UCB’s LOR request algorithm would be smart enough not to request LORs for COE applicants. Why would UCB admissions request these LORs and spend time reading them, if they had no chance of making a difference?
There is nothing any of us can do at this point except wait until decisions come out, so try to stop worrying. Easier said than done, but at least try 
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I get what you’re saying, but I agree with tamogotchi. If they require two yes’s and an applicant has already failed to meet that threshold, why would they bother asking for LORs, wasting not only the candidate’s time, but their own time as well? If they ask for LORs that must still be a possible pathway to admission.
BUT!
What’s the admission rate for COE? It’s something ridiculously low like 5%, isn’t it? So I think this is likely faulty logic leading to a faulty conclusion. The reality is that that the vast majority of applicants - whether they get an LOR request or not - are going to be rejected. There’s not necessarily a correlation at play. The odds are against you from the get go.
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The COE admit rate for 2022 was 7.1% and completely agree with @worriedmomucb @tamagotchi and @ucscuuw posts that if you were out of the running, LOR’s would have not been asked to be submitted. The reality is as pointed out by @worriedmomucb that UCB COE is a tough admit and many highly qualified applicants will be rejected. Just be proud in the fact you have done your best and the rest is out of your hands. This is why CC posters always encourage all applicants to have a balanced college list and have a couple Likely schools as backups.
Best of luck, relax and try to enjoy your Senior year.
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have any international students been asked to send reference letters? or just in-state cali residents?
I know an international student who was asked to send LORs.
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Oh cool, do you know what country?
Thanks for the feedback. I was wondering what people think of that logic.
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Yes. Estonia
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That could mean Cal still has questions and needs more information about your kid, additionally to the UC app. My S22 was accepted last spring without LOR request. Accepted all 6 UCs (UCLA, Cal, UCSD, UCSB, UCSC, UC Davis) he applied to, he chose UCLA.
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if you really stand out in any way- especially through essays
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Does anyone know the lowest GPA Berkeley accepts for freshmen applying to Computer Science for L&S? I know its extremely competitive but am curious to know the lowest GPA admitted for it. Is the data even available?
Would you be willing to share your S22’s stats or what you think helped him do so well with admissions last year?
Since this was publicly posted, here you go…
fyi - you can just search using user name even profile is hidden
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EECS is a holistic admit, and contrary to what people think there are quite a few people who get in without Calc BC, MVC, linear algebra or a 4.5+ GPA. This is actually one of the reasons LSCS is now direct admit - to replicate the holistic process from EECS in lieu of the cut-throat declaration process that favored folks with math competition experience (CS 70 is curved).
I also remember looking at admit rates by GPA range for Berkeley COE, the admit rates between 4.41-4.60, 4.61-4.80, 4.81-5.00 were not massively different. In fact, 4.80-5.00 had a slightly lower admit rate than the 4.61-4.80 bucket.
And even in the sub 4.0 GPA ranges, there was no bucket with a 0% admit rate. EECS might have a narrower admit band but there is no way to determine some magic threshold.
The data you are asking for is not available for freshmen. It is only available for transfers, using the applicants’ college GPA when they applied for transfer. It’s not the same as freshman admission, but it still might be interesting data for you. You can browse the transfer database here: Transfers by major | University of California
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However, the admission requirements for EECS and L&S CS are probably different, right?
There is no hard requirement other than the general UC requirements. Everything is a function of the applicant class. Last year, LSCS had half the admit rate as EECS.
@ucscuuw That’s bad news for us. We opted for LS CS thinking it would be easier to make it there.
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