<p>I just received an email from UC Berkeley inviting me to interview for the Regents' Scholarship! :)</p>
<p>A few questions:</p>
<p>The myBerkeley site states that "recipients receive a Faculty Sponsor, a monetary award, guaranteed on-campus housing and membership in the Scholars' association." Is a $1000 scholarship (since I probably won't qualify for financial aid) really that big of a draw, or are the other "benefits" -- according to the dedicated webpage, "prestige" is one of them -- that attractive?</p>
<p>Does anyone know how many of these invitations are sent out (and more importantly, how many scholarships are granted)? More or less selective than UCLA's Regents?</p>
<p>And lastly, I live in Southern California. For the interview, is scheduling somewhat flexible (I work everyday, so weekends would be the best/probably only time I could interview), and will it held on the UC Berkeley campus or another location?</p>
<p>Thanks -- congrats to all other recipients of the email!</p>
<p>Usually the interviews are on campus during an admit weekend (or two). It's totally worth going up there for the interview. I do not think there is anything other than prestige for those who do not need fin aid, especially this year.</p>
<p>I'm a Regents scholar and yeah some people may say ":O you're a regents scholar!" but most people don't care. Some faculty sponsors can be really useful, but mostly if you already know what you're going to do because they place you by interest. I was originally interested in business so I have a Haas professor as a faculty sponsor and now I am pre-med so I have never met my sponsor and I don't think she'd be much help anyway. As for preferential housing, you're most likely going to get what you want BUT most students move out to apartments after the first year anyway so again, not that useful. The scholar association also does not do much. So in the end, it's not all that great. </p>
<p>There are approximately 200 Regents scholars for each year. I believe they interview 1000 or so students, I'm not sure about that number. </p>
<p>I personally believe that UCLA's regents is MUCH more selective. For one, they invite the top 1.5% of applicants (750-800 students) for freshmen class to apply for the scholarship in the first place. From there they pick the top 100 and give them a really nice $5.5K honorary award in addition to preferential housing, preferential course enrollment which is what I'm really hoping Berkeley adopts sometime when I'm still at Berkeley because getting to the classes you want is really hard with so many students and so many budget cuts. This is most people's complaint about Berkeley. UCLA also offers preferential parking, I have heard a rumor that Regents scholars get preferential parking as well but I cannot confirm this.</p>
<p>As for your last question, I am from SoCal as well. We interviewed at a really nice hotel in LA. There are options for Saturday/Sunday. I recommend signing up early so that you can get a spot with a professor of your interest as well as a good time slot. This is usually in the first two weeks of March.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, all! I scheduled my interview -- while UC Berkeley is by no means my first choice of schools, it's nice to know that I have at least one decent backup, regardless of whether or not the Regents' scholarship is truly desirable or not. :)</p>
<p>stly, how do you like UC Berkeley (well, besides how "not great" the Regent's is)? I've heard that it's terribly difficult to change majors -- was this your experience?</p>
<p>how do i schedule an interview in LA? because the dates that I can choose from don't say anything about whether that interview will be held in NorCal or SoCal.</p>
<p>@tama24: I just scheduled, and as I mentioned in an above post, I live in southern California. I was given a choice of dates and times, and after submitting my choice, I was taken to a page that told me that my interview would be held in LA (in other words, I was automatically placed there). </p>
<p>One problem, however, that I'm hoping one of you will be able to help me with -- the confirmation sheet that I had originally printed out stated that my interview would be on 3/14, but when I logged back into the system, my interview now showed up as being scheduled at the same time, but on 3/8. </p>
<p>The bottom of the myBerkeley app page says, "You may reschedule your interview here until Friday, February 22nd. You will need to contact the Undergraduate Scholarships Office for any reschedules after this date." However, the link to schedule the interview has magically disappeared, and in the interim, I'm at a loss at, well, just how to reschedule. Anyone?</p>
<p>Caffeine, Like you, I treated Berkeley as a backup. I had gotten into Princeton, visited it and realized I did not like it as much as Berkeley. After attending Berkeley even for a month, I realized I made the right decision... it really is a great school, especially for the price you pay in comparison to some private schools. I liked how big it was and how there is a lot to see and do. You get world-renowned professors (downside: they're busy with research) and a great campus. I sometimes dislike how difficult it is to get to know professors (I'm premed so I need good letters of rec!), I think the environment of Berkeley is a good change. I grew up in a suburb with virtually no homeless people whatsoever and had a car to get everywhere. I think it's nice to experience this different environment.</p>
<p>The major changing is not hard at all if you applied to the College of Letters & Sciences because you go in undeclared anyway so you get to pick and choose what you like and then declare your major. However, some majors are capped, meaning they screen applicants, usually by GPA in coursework and such. The one exception is Haas where you need to do an application and then wait for an acceptance. I ended up choosing Molecular and Cell Biology because I liked the courses for the major.</p>
<p>stly, on my UC application, I had selected English as my first choice major (not undeclared). While I absolutely love literature, I'm hoping to attend a private school where it'll be a bit easier to double major or major and minor (I'm still considering environmental science/biology as a secondary field of study) and where I'll be able to receive more personalized attention (smaller class sizes, etc.). From what I've heard, though, it's next to impossible to major in a field that's so far on the opposite end of the spectrum from the intended minor (and still graduate in four years, in any case).</p>
<p>"I personally believe that UCLA's regents is MUCH more selective. For one, they invite the top 1.5% of applicants (750-800 students) for freshmen class to apply for the scholarship in the first place. From there they pick the top 100 and give them a really nice $5.5K honorary award in addition to preferential housing, preferential course enrollment which is what I'm really hoping Berkeley adopts sometime when I'm still at Berkeley because getting to the classes you want is really hard with so many students and so many budget cuts. This is most people's complaint about Berkeley. UCLA also offers preferential parking, I have heard a rumor that Regents scholars get preferential parking as well but I cannot confirm this."</p>
<p>Hm, yeah this may be true. I guess I don't know how many people got one, but not the other, but I got both back in the day. </p>
<p>Caffeine -- if you try two majors in the same college [L&S is broad! anywhere from English to math and physics...] you'll likely have no issues doing it at Berkeley. We have a great English department, and one of my good friends here loves it. However, of course if you'd like a smaller school [e.g. an LAC] that's very much legitimate. Large schools aren't for everyone.</p>
<p>Yes, of course it was.. Princeton is a great school and most would agree that Berkeley isn't quite at the same level. I made my decision on where I would fit in better and of course, the costs. if I had not gotten Regents at Berkeley, I would have gone to Princeton mainly because Princeton would have offered a better Financial Aid package. But since I got Regents at Berkeley, the prices were better for Berkeley and coming from a somewhat large family, money was and always will be an issue. Moreover, I did not like how Princeton graded on a bell curve for everything. I was quite intimidated by the students I had met.. they were all geniuses at something and had all gotten into HYPSM and a bunch of other good schools.. I just felt more comfortable at Cal. There are down-to-earth normal people here! And Princeton is in the middle of nowhere.. I hated how I would have to fly red-eye most of the time to get there and then spend two hours on two trains to just get to campus. I made a huge pro-con list to make the decision and submitted by SIR on the second to the last day!</p>
<p>I heard about the grade deflation at Princeton and that would certainly be a huge turn-off. However, doesn't Berkeley also have harsh curves for the class? I guess the difference here would be that even though the curves are harsh at both schools, it is much harder to score above the mean at Princeton than at Berkeley.</p>
<p>You said you come from a big family and that cost was an issue. I heard that HYPS schools give very generous grant aid packages to people in your situation where many kids attend college or the per-capita income was low. Was Princeton being unusually stingy?</p>
<p>Anyway, congrats on getting into both. I wish I will have similar hard choices to make!</p>
<p>Although, for obvious reasons, there are reasonable limits enforced on designing your own major, supposedly put into place after some guy tried to major in "Magic"...</p>
<p>Yes, you are correct; when designing your own major, you must develop a proposal and recruit an advisor who will present your plan to the department in your area(s) of study for approval. It has to meet some strict academic guidelines so you can't major in things like "Magic."</p>
<p>stly: I’m in the same boat as you were, but I’m deciding between Cal (ive got the regents), UPenn and Princeton right now. I was wondering if you can elaborate more on the pros and cons of both schools (cal and princeton), especially campus life because I’m not going to be able to visit any schools before I have to decide. Thanks :)</p>