Fair enough. That was an example off the top of my head. But adding in another campus or two would probably help retain top California students who, if they don’t like Merced, probably find better options out of state. Adding in just a little choice might make staying in state more attractive - and make their taxpaying parents feel better about the whole thing (not that this is necessarily the priority, but I can understand the bitterness that sometimes occurs.)
1 Like
Merced has a lot to offer. S23 would choose it over Riverside and Santa Cruz (maybe even Santa Barbara). The only reason it was crossed off his list is that he liked his out of state safety options better.
3 Likes
Could more UCs be built in the coming future? Considering the fact that the population of the state is pretty high and there’s lots of demand for studying at a UC? Another option could be to expand UCs like Merced and Santa Cruz which don’t have as many students compared to Cal or UCLA. A new UC campus could be built in a northern city like Redding which is far away from any UC campus.
3 Likes
UC regents certified UC Berkeley’s updated long-range development plan, which projects enrollment to reach 48,200 by 2037. Expansion of existing UCs is already in the works.
2 Likes
I understand your point, but stating a GPA and nothing else can cause a lot of confusion. I’m assuming that is not the student’s UC GPA. If it isn’t, then it is not useful for comparison. We don’t know the school’s grading scale or what classes were included in that GPA (ex. PE). Did she complete all of her A-G requirements? What major was the student applying into? How many activities/awards did she include and how much detail did she write about each activity/award? What did she write about in her PIQ?
The UCs use 13 criteria to evaluate an applicant. Each UC weights the criteria differently. For five schools deny her, there must have been a reason. Was she offered a spot at Merced? If not then she was either applying into a very competitive major or she wasn’t ELC.
3 Likes
My apologies. It wasn’t my intent to raise alarms. I agree with you that just this 4.5 GPA doesn’t say much and within this CC community where parents/students are constantly weighing their odds, this can seem a bit frightening. My only point I was trying to make of this is to explain the grim reality of not having enough seats for too many stellar CA students. So again, I do apologize. I do know them well enough to know, she’s a 4-year Varsity athlete, was a lead singer on her school plays, etc. I don’t have the exact stats on # of AP courses, etc. My best guess is, she probably didn’t spend enough time on her PIQs (but that’s just a WAG). On a positive note, without identifying her too much, she did end up in a school that’s within her commuting distance that she’s now super happy with. Sorry!
3 Likes
No need to apologize. I understood the point you were trying to make.
This is a pet peeve of mine. Once admissions decisions are announced, you will see plenty of posts where people include the highest GPA on their transcript and state that their denial must be yield protection. Students applying to Berkeley should be able to calculate their UC GPA and include that in their posts. There will be some that say they don’t know how or don’t have time to calculate it. I always wonder, if they don’t have time to calculate their UC GPA, how much time did they spend on their application?
2 Likes
Not having good PIQs can be a very big disadvantage as I know a friend from last year who told me that he rushed through his PIQs and didn’t spend much time editing/proofreading them. He got rejected from all UCs he applied to including Merced. He filed an appeal at UC Santa Cruz and finally got accepted into Computer Engineering.
2 Likes
They need to consider building a UC campus in a desirable area that would attract students to want to relocate to that area (both in state and OOS). Also, the land needs to be available to build.
I suggest, UC Lake Tahoe (could be north, west, or south shore side, doesn’t really matter…Truckee even). It has land, OOS and international students, as well as CA students would be attracted to the area.
3 Likes
UC Forum Champion Note. This discussion should be focused on UC Berkeley and many posters have since sidetracked this discussion. If posters want to continue with the current discussion of building a new UC location, expansion of UC campuses for ELC referrals, limiting OOS/International admissions etc… Please start a new discussion thread in the UC General Forum. University of California - GENERAL - College Confidential Forums
Thank you.
7 Likes
Seeing more and more stories about how UCB is going to have to abandon the People’s Park housing construction project (East Bay Times, Berkeleyside online papers). Are there alternative sites that Cal is considering? I’ve read as many as 15 other potential sites exist.
As of October 2022, UC Berkeley has six student housing sites in various stages of development.
Together, these six sites achieve less than half of our goal to double existing student housing, which requires more than 8,800 new beds. It is not a question of which sites to develop - we must use them all.
Housing projects currently in development:
- Intersection Apartments (105 units) - recently completed
- Anchor House (772 beds) - under construction
- People’s Park Housing (1,113 beds) - under construction
- Albany Village Graduate Student Housing (760 beds) - under construction
- Upper Hearst (150 units) - in development
- 2200 Bancroft (750 - 800 beds) - conceptual planning
Because the six projects currently in development achieve less than half of our housing goal, additional housing sites have been identified and will subsequently be developed.
However, these additional sites are more challenging, more difficult, and more costly to develop:
- Redevelopment of existing student housing to increase capacity at:
- Unit 3 (up to 600 net new beds)
- Beverly Cleary (up to 300 new beds)
- Foothill North (up to 70 new beds)
- Relocating existing campus uses to develop student housing at:
- Oxford Tract (1,000 - 2,000 new beds)
- Channing/Ellsworth (2,000 - 3,000 new beds)
- 2000 Carlton Street (300 - 400 new beds)
- Clark Kerr Campus, where development is restricted until after 2032 by legal covenants.
That seems to still include People’s Park, but offers some other future options in the second list. However you cut it, though, it’s a pretty dire situation.
neighbor’s son got into Cal and they skipped the school housing completely. Bought a condo – figured they can sell it in a few years/it’s part of his investment since he’s going in-state!
now, obviously, not everyone can do that…but it did get me thinking, how bad would housing have to be for me to take that leap/mortgage?
Could rent to future students too and make the investment worthwhile.
2 Likes
A condo in Berkeley can easily cost upwards of half a million dollars, some even close to a million. Hey, if you can do it, great. Most people can not possibly do that. The mortgage would actually likely cost the same or less than the average market rate rent for a comparable apartment - so that’s not even the problem. The problem for most people is the downpayment. I’ve lived in the Berkeley area for over 10 years and am still and very likely will always be a renter. Renting is hard enough to afford, but a downpayment for ANYTHING is pretty much impossible, unless you have some major savings (which obviously some people do).
3 Likes
Didn’t realize Berkeley was that expensive.
The housing market here is completely nuts.
3 Likes
we tried this 2 times over the last 18 months. Got way overbid twice. It’s a great idea, but the market in Berkeley for condos anywhere near campus is really insane. Trickier than SF, really.
4 Likes
Every now and then we look and dream, but have never even gotten as far as a bid lol
3 Likes