Thank you @Gumbymom
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Would it be easier for a non-competitive major in L&S since cs is its separate category?
If an applicant is not applying to a High Demand major, then the admit rate for the College of L&S was 12% for 2022. There were 84,575 applicants and 10,224 were admitted. Since L&S does not admit by major other than now to the High Demand majors, the admit rate overall is still low but definitely not as low as the CS admit rate from last year.
All applicants should assume that UCB is a Reach school regardless of major.
Not CS! Daughter applying Undeclared to L&S. Or maybe Anthropology. I’m not sure what she ended up putting to be honest. 
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It seems that last year the CNR acceptance rate was quite a bit higher than the L&S acceptance rate. I hope that doesn’t lead to students essentially trying to “game the system” this year by applying to CNR to gain admission (with the possible intention of transferring to L&S once admitted). Hopefully, however, AOs will be on the lookout for this and evaluate applicants on whether they have some clear commitment to the majors within CNR.
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Actually thinking of it now, I wonder if that possibility had anything to do with all the LOR requests…A lot my daughter’s classmates actually did apply CNR this year. Maybe they are trying to gauge genuine interest vs easier chance of acceptance?
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I’ve heard from more than one parent who has experience with personal college advisors that applying to CNR, then switching majors, is a common strategy to getting into Cal.
Ugh, that’s what I was afraid of. Welp, hopefully, D23s CNR-related ECs help her stand out a bit from what is probably going to be a more competitive admissions process this year. I get that it’s all part of the game/strategy, but sucks for the kids who are hardcore enviro and sincerely want what CNR can offer them.
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What would also be interesting then is knowing the rate of attrition from CNR to L&S. I bet that is something being actively tracked.
in most cases, ECs usually have a ‘theme’, whether it be the actual EC or what you do IN that EC. so having all related ECS to CNR will definitely be beneficial (AOs can tell a genuine passion) compared to someone with all promotion/business related ECs applying to CNR. sounds sketch
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Hopefully so, although she actually tried to “tone down” her environmental stuff a bit. Well, not really tone down, but balance it with other kinds of activities to show that she is capable of more than just one thing. Maybe that will backfire, although I think what she presented - both in the EC list and the PIQs - should make it pretty clear how much enviro work she’s done. I don’t think her LORs really talked much about that, though. One made brief mention of it, but the other talked about something else (because we had assumed the LORs needed to explain lack of AP access).
This might be of interest.
https://pages.github.berkeley.edu/OPA/our-berkeley/major-migration.html
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Huh, so if I’m reading this right, CNR actually gained majors, rather than lost them?
I knew the data existed but I have not spent any time delving into the information so I cannot comment at the moment.
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This is fascinating data! Thank you!
Ah, you’re right - and this is the most recent year for which data is available:
Not a huge number, but definitely there. And maybe the last two years - for which data isn’t available - there was a further uptick. Obviously just speculation, but seems possible.
that’s great to hear, i think it will all work out considering the ‘holistic’ process and the fact that AOs like to see more involvements (correct me if i’m wrong). my ecs were showcasing various interests as well, but what i did in each ec was relatively similar to business (promotion), i think, except for the athletics/music. fingers crossed!
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Yup, hoping for great news for everyone on this thread
I believe that there has been the option to notify of an intent to do CS via L&S for a number of years (even though one did not get admitted directly to CS). So similar numbers were known prior to this year.
The number of admitted L&S CS-intended was far smaller last year than prior years. The speculation around those low numbers has been that most of the L&S students who noted an intent to do CS were rejected last year (to reduce the systematic overcrowding of CS). In prior years the admit rates via L&S were higher than via EECS.
This year things should be different since applicants wanting to major in CS must actually specify it. I would expect the number of CS admits via L&S to go up a bit from last year. But that is just a guess.
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