I’m not sure if this is appropriate to the forum but FYI, Berkeley rose to #20 in the USNWR 2023 rankings. Go bears!
2022-2023 Best National Universities | US News Rankings
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Cal hosting an in-person open house for prospective students.
https://apply.berkeley.edu/register/berkeley-showcase-2022
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@Gumbymom Has UCB indicated how many guaranteed spots they intend to admit for the new direct admit to CS within L&S?
I have not seen any numbers for the direct admit CS program at UCB.
For 2022, according to Cal Answers, they admitted 166 applicants. 2021 admits were 596, 2020 admits were 971 and 2019 was 895.
This link from the UCB website is all the information posted so far: https://admissions.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/First-Years-New-High-Demand-Majors-Policy.pdf
Great comeback win for Cal over stanford in the 125th Big Game last night. It was great to see Memorial Stadium filled (On the Cal side, anyway), and to see the student section going out of their minds with excitement, then storming the field. Super huge energy all over Berkeley yesterday. So much fun.
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S23 was asked for LORs within 2 days of submitting his application (the request was already in his portal when he set it up). We were surprised at how quickly the LOR request came, but are just going to choose to take this as a good thing, as he is pretty confident both LORs will be strongly positive.
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Same here! 
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That was fast! Is the deadline in January or earlier?
All the more reason for students to set up their portal quickly and to check the portal for updates regularly.
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Oh did not know about LOR. So the counselor has uploaded as well as teachers and external into Commonapp, in case UCs ask for LOR what is the best way to submit? Request counselor and externals/teachers to send pdf and then upload it in UCB portal?
Only a certain percentage of UCB applicants will be asked for LOR’s. You need to wait and see if they are requested and instructions how to submit will be emailed to you. Do not read anything into receiving or not receiving the request.
From UCB’s website::::::
How are students selected to submit letter(s)?
We will request letters of some students if, after we initially review their applications, we feel additional information would be helpful in our selection process. Only a fraction of applicants will be selected to submit letters, and they can choose to submit letters or not to do so. Not doing so will not negatively impact the review.
The deadline is January 15 for LORs to be received. It seems this is the standard deadline. We were just surprised that the LOR request came so quickly.
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Well, my daughter just turned in her app. The last of our 3 kids. Cal is her #1 choice, and she’s already nervous about March
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FWIW, my kid was surprised to receive a LOR request, although they are a recruited athlete and other teammates received the same request. They received a special link to forward to their teachers, and received a notification back once the teacher had submitted it.
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I am about to apply. I have heard applying engineering (undeclared) puts you at a disadvantage. Is it true?
even i got the request for LOR in 3 days. looks like they are able to review the apps fast.
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- Admission to the undeclared program can be more competitive than admission to other engineering majors. So, if you know which field of engineering you wish to study, you should apply to that major.
That said, all Engineering majors st UCB are competitive with an overall admit rate of 7% for the College in 2022. Apply to the major you want so if it is Undeclared, select it.
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I heard that UCB admits people first and then see their majors like major is not counted in the application process.
Please confirm this.
Thank you
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Depending upon which major you select, major choice comes into consideration.
I heard that UCB admit people first and then see their majors like major is not counted in the application process.
UCI and UCSD admit into the University first and then into the major.
For UCB, 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 now considered for Fall 2023.
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