I thought I’d make a thread for this since I didn’t see one. Please post here if you’ve been waitlisted! Also, I’m curious as to how large the transfer waitlist is relative to the freshman one, so if anyone knows any past statistics about it, please feel free to post.
As for me, I applied to UCSD, Davis, and Berkeley. I got into SD and Davis, but since Berkeley is my dream school I’m definitely going to opt-in the waitlist. Since “students who opt-in to the wait list by the deadline will be notified, no later than July 1”, it’s probably best that we SIR to another school in the meantime just in case.
I’m curious about other people’s stats on the waitlist so here’s mine
Political Science
Overall GPA: 3.45
Major GPA: 3.8
EC: President of a club, executive officer in another, work full time
Applied: UCSC, UCB, UC Davis
Wait listed: UCB
Accepted: UCSC, UC Davis
I am in the same boat. I believe the main reason I was waitlisted was because I am taking Calculus 2 right now. Here are my stats:
Major: Economics
GPA: 3.63
Pre-Reqs: Complete by Spring 2017
IGETC: Complete by Spring 2017
Extra Curricular’s- I am a two-sport All-American athlete for two years in a row, I helped lead my team to states for the second time in school history, worked 2 to 3 jobs averaging between 15-35 hours a week, volunteered for various clubs, and have experience working with my father on his stock portfolio.
TAG: UCSB
Applied to: UCSB, UCR, UCSD, UCI, UCLA, UCB
Accepted to: UCLA, UCSB, UCSD, UCR
Waitlisted: UCB
Rejected from: UCI
Major: Cognitive Science
GPA: 3.63
Pre-reqs: All offered at CC completed
IGETC: Completed
EC: Work 25 hours a week, UX summer intern at a gaming startup, brand ambassador for a tech company, treasurer for a community service org (Circle K)
Applied to: UCD, UCSD, UCB
Accepted to: UCD, UCSD
Waitlisted: UCB
Major: mathematics
GPA:4.0
Pre-reqs: completed
iGETC:complete in 2017spring
EC: I am a international student, so I cannot work full time, but I have internship in insurance company. I also join some clubs and do volunteers.
Applied: UCB UCLA UCSD UCSB
Accepted: UCSB
Waitlist: UCB UCLA
Rejected:UCSD
Wow amazing GPA! I actually applied last year as a math major with around a 3.6 gpa and got into UCLA, UCSD, UCD, and UCSB, but rejected to UCB. I ended up switching my major and staying an extra year at CC because I didn’t feel like math was the right major for me, and didn’t want to take away a spot from someone who really wanted it. I’m surprised you didn’t get into SD, but I know it’s a lot harder for international students since CA CC students get priority. Good luck!!
Not sure how important your major plays a role on getting off the waitlist, but it’s interesting to look at the yield rates. Yield rate is basically the percentage of those who got admitted, and enrolled. So if the yield rate is high for your major, I’d assume this means getting off the waitlist is harder.
And Berkeley as a school overall has the highest yield rate of all the UCs which doesn’t surprise me
@bbybear
Thank you~ I think the reason why I cannot get an offer is my poor work experience. I really hope that I can get off waitlist from UCB or UCLA. Both of them are my dream universities.
Decision: Waitlisted
Major: EECS
Overall GPA: 3.94
Major GPA: around 3.90
Major Prereqs: Complete by end of Spring 2017
ECs: Internship
Applied to: UCI, UCSB, UCLA,UCB
Accepted to: UCI, UCSD,UCSB
Waitlisted: UCB
Decision: Waitlisted
Political Science
Overall GPA: 3.48
Major GPA: 3.2
EC: Interned for my local congressman when he was running for congress, Interned in Sacramento for a week meeting state politicians, part of various polisci and econ clubs on campus, I also work full time
Applied: UCSB, UCSD, UCLA, and UCB
Rejected: UCLA
Waitlisted: UCB
Accepted: UCSB and UCSD
I was kinda surprised I got waitlisted. I was expecting to get rejected due to my low gpa but getting waitlisted gives me hope I can eventually get in. Since UCB and UCLA are my top school choice, I might wait another year at my community college and reapply if I don’t get off the waitlist.
Was anyone able to find any solid statistics for waitlist admissions? I was able to find numbers and percentages for undergrad waitlist going back years, but I can’t even confirm Cal had a waitlist at all past last year.
Major: Poli Sci
GPA: 4.00
Pre-Reqs: Complete by Spring 2017
IGETC: Complete by Spring 2017
Extra Curricular’s- Founder and President of CC’s first Mock Trial team, HS mock trial and newspaper, Political Internship over the summer, paid tutoring ESL kids and working at photography company
Psychology
Overall GPA: 3.49
EC: volunteer work during my first year at cc at the salvation army. other than that I’ve been working full time due to bills etc.
Applied: UCLA, UCB, UCI (TAG), UCD
Wait listed: UCB
Accepted: UCD, UCI
Rejected: UCLA.
I also added myself to the op waitlist already. My essay I believe was very personal compared to my essays from Novembers application. It was very hard to write it in 500 words but I tried my best. Hopefully I get a spot!
Major: Economics
Overall GPA: 3.72
Pre Requisite: Done by Spring 2017
Applied: All (yeah i knw lol
Accepted: all except UCLA and UCB
Rejected: UCLA
Waitlisted: UCB
I haven’t turn in the op-in yet cuz I still do not know whether the optional essay matters to help me get in.
Major: Sociology
GPA: 3.55 at one CC and 3.65 at another (they are sister schools within the same district)
Applied: UCD & UCB (regret not applying to more everyday lol)
Accepted : UCD (TAG)
Waitlist: UCB
EC: I don’t really have much. I did some volunteer work with women and children in need and I also was a part of my schools feminist club for a while.
I was really surprised I got on the waitlist & it gave me a lot of hope. For the opt-in essay, I wrote about how I used to be ashamed of going to a CC and I didn’t think I could do any better so I didn’t care about school (which is why my grades in the 1st year are crap and why my gpa isn’t as high as I’d like). However, after visiting Berkeley multiple times, I became determined and blah blah. I also said that I don’t look at going to a CC as a setback any longer and I believe that it was the right path for me because I wasn’t ready for college before, but now I feel ready. Anyway, I said a bunch of other stuff but the main point of my essay was to show my growth and change that I went through while at a CC and how much Berkeley means to me.
I wish everyone luck, and I hope nobody feels like they have no chance because if someone like me can get on a waitlist, there’s definitely hope for the rest of you! I hope we all get a spot.
If there are any soc majors out there who are also waitlisted, comment and tell me about yourself and what you think will be the outcome for us!
Update:
I talked to at least a dozen different counselors and professors, some of them from Cal, about what I should do for the waitlist essay. Basically, all of them told me the same thing, they want to see what you’ve done since submitting your application or any new information. Then we went through what I’ve done and crafted the essay. Honestly, it read like a glorified resume and I assumed that they told every other student the same advice and I knew that wouldn’t it help me stand out especially considering that I have a significantly lower GPA than most of you guys.
So I wrote a poem in iambic pentameter about the polarization of the political spectrum since the election and how I’ve changed that at my JC through extra-curricular and how I will do the same at Cal. Also, I talked about my background, culturally, religiously, and academically and how it makes me a good fit for Cal. Just wondering if anyone else took a similar/creative approach to the waitlist essay.