Yes, I have seen acceptances rescinded if the student did not meet their provisional admission contract. In the past, UCB stated you needed a 3.0 unweighted GPA Senior year, no more than 2 C’s and no D’s or F’s. So what does UCB state about your conditions of admission regarding grades?
my D21 is a current freshman at cal. she lives in unit 3. i also attended a zillion years ago (lived in unit 1), and we live in san francisco, so pretty local.
to your Qs…
- when you apply for OCH, you are asked to rank your choices. they warn explicitly to mark “accept anything” as your final slot. woe be to those who ignore that sage advice! the reality on the ground is that we only know of a few students who got a choice (e.g., blackwell, a double, etc.) and many more (like my d) who lived in doubles converted to triples in decaying buildings with no common rooms (students crammed in bc the mills college acquisition debacle, housing shortage, then covid, and, later, a water leak in clark kerr), heat that won’t turn off, etc. guess what? it’s tough initially, but you survive and even come to laugh and bond about it later; it’s part of the cal gestalt. also? kids think they want one thing because they think they know themselves and inevitably end up craving what they thought they didn’t want (e.g., kids who wanted the social/party atmosphere of the units who ended up wishing they were in a women-only stern double).
- there are even some freshmen who don’t get on-campus housing; there are currently no guarantees. (hoping this changes as the NIMBYs get slapped down and long-planned housing finally gets built.) oddly, they announced this year that they would be able to take more sophs and transfers in OCH next year than the usual - don’t know why. but most students start looking for off campus housing in spring. it’s definitely a brutal market and takes an unreasonable amount of time and is filled with shady property management firms and weird angry hippie independent landlords and the like. i too wish it were easier! anyway, hopefully, most students land somewhere they can tolerate for a few years : ) .
- reddit is full of little ■■■■■ who live to make you feel old.
good luck!
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I hope you’ll both love it. 
I drove by one of the things I mentioned above on my way home just now and realized I totally misnamed the street I mentioned near the Rose Garden (that has the very special Little Free Library on it). It’s Bay View Place, not Rose Street. It winds around and intersects with Rose further down the hill. But the little block I was referring to is called Bay Vew Place. You can see it here, just underneath the Rose Garden/Codornices Park. Google Maps
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just checked. the same exact thing. 3.0 unweighted + nothing less than a C.
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Thank you for the information. Do you happen to have any idea when they release housing decisions? In other words, when you find out which dorm you’ve been assigned to? Thank you!
If you logged in and clicked “withdraw” there were three possible options people were getting, and depending on the option people figured out if it meant you were accepted, waitlisted or denied.
last year, i think it was mid-summer, if memory serves. i know some students try to meet prospective roommates and link applications after acceptance, or link with people they already know. other don’t. my daughter knew a handful of kids attending, but they decided to widen their circle by not linking. my daughter was placed with two women who met online and applied for a double - she ended up a third wheel of sorts! but, honestly, despite not being really compatible, they have a civil relationship and d25 learned adaptability and assertiveness.
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I searched for this group on facebook and it’s not showing up?
Thank you for that answer! I’ve read that Unit 3 is close to People’s Park which can be a pretty rough area I think. Has your daughter had any problems Unit 3’s location? Is she generally happy with her choice of attending UCB? My daughter has narrowed her choices down to four colleges with Berkeley in the lead for the moment. Thanks for your candid answers!
My daughter was in Unit 3. She wanted to be in one of the coed units (1-3) because they’re historically the most social and closest to the more active part of town (with all the pros and cons). It’s an urban campus, can’t be lazy about your surroundings, but she had minimal issues and nothing serious with the local population. Frat houses on the other hand…. Some of them should be avoided 
specifically the unrecognized frats,
ETA: unit 2 is closest to peoples part, not 3. Theoretically, UCB will start construction on a new dorm this summer on peoples park, but many have heard that before. If it actually happens there could be protest like activity in the area.
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I’m also trying to find the 2026 parents group. It’s not showing in my FB search.
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Thank you!!
berkeley (city and campus) is an acquired taste for some, but possesses instant magic – or despair! – for others. it’s a hot mess…but it’s a thrilling, one-of-a-kind, smartest-people-in-the-room, life-changing hot mess – if that makes sense. nuts and bolts…i second disneygirl14’s comments…people’s park is near unit 2, and some parts of berkeley are urban. my daughter and her best friends all grew up in bay area cities and none of them have expressed dismay at anything they’ve encountered this year. nor are they naive, however: they never walk alone at night, for example, and my D does not wear earbuds or have her face in her phone while navigating city streets. (i’ve seen otherwise smart kids do that, though, and i always want to remind them to stay alert.) i visit a lot and the balance of functional to nonfunctional people seems mostly fine. of course, there are people with mental illness and drug addiction wandering around, and there have been and will be incidents, some serious. in the context of students being harmed on college campuses, however, i’m not convinced cal is worse (don’t students encounter harm every year at every campus? at parties? in the greek system? car accidents? drinking?). students’ mileage may vary wrt berkeley’s level of cray, depending on where they grew up and their level of experience and independence. coming from san francisco and accustomed to taking public transport and navigating urban streets alone, probably, my particular kid found berkeley an easy adjustment. surburban and rural kids might experience a longer learning curve. is it worth it? only the student can answer that. we are finding yes, it certainly is.
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another thought on the level of homelessness students encounter at berkeley since it is so often discussed…tent encampments and the like. it is very sad and sometimes frightening, true. some people living on the streets are in their heads and don’t engage with others except to pass by, but, occasionally, someone presents a threat. the sad truth is it is a fact of life in most american cities presently. some are worse than others, and berkeley isn’t great, but you learn quickly who presents a threat and who really doesn’t. i wish nobody had to learn this, but i wish even more that everyone was housed and didn’t suffer mental illness and addiction. the streets are full of students from morning to night. it’s best not to walk alone in dark places at night. that’s really it.
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Thanks for the info. Just to clarify, some freshman don’t get housing? What happens then?
Thank you! Appreciate your time @grableca!
I think, as with all or most UCs, you have to find an apartment. Berkeley’s off-campus housing market is tough in the inner circle, and rapidly improves as you move slightly outward. Public transport is excellent and bike/scooter routes are excellent (the entire city has been traffic calmed with car-blocking pylons and roundabouts and “green carpeted” since my days as a student there, making for ideal self-transport). It’s not ideal for an out-of-town freshman, for sure, which is why I think it’s smart to heed the university’s advice to put “I’ll take anything” as your fifth housing slot. I wonder if freshmen are allowed in co-ops? Might be something to look into. There’s also Bowles Hall. And a whole new crop of privately owned buildings very close to campus that seem to be operating like dorms, with lots of amenities and supports.
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Thanks. That seems insane that a beginning student wouldnt get housing.
well, coastal CA has been in an affordable (and market-rate) housing crisis for many years and the towns where our UC campuses are located are not immune to it. UCLA just announced assured housing for all four years about a week ago, and other campuses will hopefully be in a position to follow suit someday soon… berkeley’s particular challenges have been made worse by local NIMBYism blocking them from building on their own land, sometimes for decades. (i’m not sure why they don’t do infill and/or build housing on the campus itself, but i’m sure they have reasons.) remember, too, that there have been intentional decisions to support TAG programs and other pathways into UC degrees for community college transfer students; they, along with freshmen, are often prioritized above sophomores and seniors, which makes sense. none of the UCs are in a position to treat housing like a small liberal arts college in a small town can, or a private university with an enormous endowment in a city or state that doesn’t have rules like CEQA. it’s just a totally different situation.
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