@GoodAfternoonSir
As of right now, the application is 50% Grades, 35% Essays, 15% Resume, as listed on the Haas website. (http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/Undergrad/transferappl.html)
My speculation is that the supplemental essay is a part of that 35% rather than some separate entity, but I also think that it is a good chance to really stand out since it’s a prompt specifically for Haas.
While many people recommend to start essays early, I don’t think you need 6 months to do the actual writing. I don’t think you really even need 4 months - spending that much time would have just stressed me out (personally), and would have constrained me to a 4 month old idea. I mentally prepped for about 1 month for the generic UC essays and spent about 2-3 full weeks putting the 4 essays together. For the supplemental, I prepped about 2 weeks and spent 2 full weeks on that essay alone.
1 month is plenty of time to prepare a truly meaningful response if you plan and focus accordingly. Last year’s prompt was about honesty, and this year’s prompt was about humility. If you know your intention and purpose, as well as why you want to apply to Haas and what you have to offer, regardless of the prompt you will be able to put something together worth their time. Know that the 18+ years you’ve lived thus far is more than enough preparation you need to write a meaningful essay.
Is anyone not doing pre-core? After looking around, it seems like the majority of admitted students are planning to do it. I can’t really afford it right now, so I guess I feel kind of left out. 
I was thinking about how recruiting works in the fall, and was wondering if we submit our CCC grades when we apply for internships? Wouldn’t that make us less desirable to highly selective employers?
@gool456 A lot won’t do it for a variety of reasons, but PreCore simply don’t have room for everything. It used to be like 30-50 students in previous years so by that constraint alone, many won’t do it. If you can make it work though, there is a lot to be gained.
@deezydee Thousands of transfer students get internships each year without having yet completed any courses at Cal. One benefit of PreCore is that you’ll have a UC GPA when you’re applying in the fall, but if you don’t do PreCore, I’d assume you’d just use the GPA you transferred in with and during the recruitment process, be transparent and not act like that’s your GPA from classes at Cal. Transfer students can and do get into very selective internship programs. The GPA is what gets you in the door, the rest is how you do in your case interviews or interviews in general.
@thi1998 - Please post the questions you were asked during the 20 min interview. Please be specific.
@hopesolo Is there an advantage submitting your UC Application faster than others in general? For example if i Submit the application at 12:00 am on november 1st compared to submitting it on november 30th? Would i receive my admission results faster than others? Or would there be a higher chance i could get a spot in a UC versus getting placed on the waitlist had i choose to submit my application later during the november submission period?
@GoodAfternoonSir No. You could submit your application the second the application window opens or a second before it closes. It’s all the same.
There are no hacks or shortcuts. You’re evaluated on the info within your application, nothing else.
@GoodAfternoonSir
Exactly what @briank82 said. There was actually a 1 day extension this year due to system error, and I submitted both my general UC app and supplemental on the very last days.
Again, there are no ways to game the system, despite many people trying to.
Hey @hopesolo and @briank82 are you going to be in this thread in the future? You’ve been a huge help to me lately and I cannot thank you enough but if I have some more questions before and during application season I hope I can reach you for advice and counsel.
I’m still around now (having just finished my last final at Haas 10 minutes ago), so it’s certainly possible I’ll be around in the future. That said, the answer to most any question you could ask is either in this thread, the ones like it from previous years, or elsewhere on CC. Start by reading every single Haas post here on CC.
Has anyone had the chance to fully register for the PreCore Program yet?
Also, how do I get invited into the facebook group?
@GoodAfternoonSir
Tag me in a Haas Transfer 2019 thread when it’s made in the future and I’ll do my best to peek in around then. But as Brian said - a lot of the info you’ll need is here. Good luck!
@HaasieBear I haven’t yet been officially signed up for PreCore. It will likely take them some time to sort through and verify everything, but we should all get confirmation once they do.
And I believe we were sent an email to be invited to the FB page, I’m not sure how they sent that email or if it was only to those of us who went to the welcome event?
p.s. shout out to @bslick07 for putting this thread together in the very beginning, and for us running into each other at Haas in the best way hahaha
@hopesolo Thank you so much! Aww, well I’ll keep trying to send requests haha hopefully they let me in soon
@hopesolo Did you go to Envision Haas last Fri? I wonder if I met you lol.
@hopesolo Great job getting in brother, very happy for you.
@hopesolo @briank82 Quick Question. Does UC Berkeley Haas accept CLEP exam scores? If so, can I complete a Pre-requisite such as Stats using a CLEP exam score?
@GoodAfternoonSir
Honestly I have no idea - I’m not familiar with what CLEP is. Per the website it’s AP scores, IB, or GCE. Doesn’t look like CLEP is included.
http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/Undergrad/aplist.html#ap
I recommend calling Haas advising to check, they’re very helpful.
A lot of these questions being asked on here about Haas policy should really be asked of the Haas Advisers. Don’t even ask your own school because it only matters what Haas says.
If you live local - You can drop-in without an appointment.
You can call them @ 510-642-1421