So is there an opt form as stated by the message? Sometimes it takes 24 hours before the waitlist portal is accessible. Since it does not state that LOR’s are optional or required, I would contact admissions to see if you can submit them. Rule of thumb, do not submit anything that is not requested.
Any ballpark estimates for how many people were offered waitlist this year? Feeling really hopeful bc I kept my grades up and won a statewide award 
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Contact admissions to see if they can give you a number. No one on CC would know unless they frequent this forum and work in admissions.
I am curious… when universities consider admitting students from their waitlist, is it based on the major? I mean, are there set number of seats assigned to each major that the colleges will try to fill from the WL? Put differently, would the student’s selected major improve or decrease his/her chances of getting off the wl depending on how popular or not that major is for that college?
Most of the waitlisted admits will be in the College of Letters and Sciences where they are not admitted by major.
For College of Engineering, they will admit by major.
After the May 1 deadline and sometimes before, if the University finds spots open, then they will pull from the waitlist to fill these spots.
In General, it will depend upon how each University admits Freshman and where the spots need to filled.
Thank you!
Does selecting the “alternate paths” give you a higher chance of getting off the waitlist? Is it generally a good idea to click those?
Is the waitlist a ranked waitlist? Or will it be random selection on who gets off per major/school?
The waitlist is not ranked but I am sure the waitlist essay figures prominently into whom gets admitted.
Here is an article from today’s SF Chronicle introducing a new program for freshman at UCB called Changemakers. It is another pathway, for an additional 200 students, most likely from the waitlist. The catch? You will spend the entire freshman year at Mills College in nearby Oakland, “and give students the opportunity to ease into college in a smaller environment”. No doubt there will additional cost involved.
UCB - New pathway for 200 freshmen
My son did the FPF program last semester. It was fine, but obviously all online, so there wasn’t much of a difference than the traditional pathway this year. Note that these pathways are simply glorified methods of delayed admission, as there is always attrition after the first semester, and the alternate pathway students fill those gaps. So it is a way for the university to get tuition dollars from students who are effectively delayed a semester (or a year, in this new program). I’m all for creative ways for the university to make up for a lot of lost revenue, but understand what you are agreeing to.
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I called and emailed the FPF department at UC Berkeley, and I just got a a call back. I was definitively told that selecting FPF does not increase your odds of coming off the waitlist.
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Did you ask how many ppl were waitlisted lol?? Usually it’s around 3-5k and then 1.5k accepted I think but I’m curious about this year
The lady was very nice and helpful in regards to FPF, but she didn’t have info about admissions/waitlist. I tried.
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i haven’t seen many waitlists this year. i saw more acceptances and rejections
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Reassuring!! I really am hoping to get off the waitlist, but am hesitant to contact AOs bc they don’t really want us to
The best thing we can do right now is to perfect those essays and ultimately let fate decide! Rooting for everyone on this thread!
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Does anyone have the statistics of how many kids offered a waitlist?
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Berkeley says, depending on the year, they may offer admission to between 20% - 60% of their waitlist. With so many people applying to so many schools, and likely the same group of students getting so many of the offers, I would think that this crazy year would result in a large number of Berkeley waitlist candidates being offered. However, my expectations have been wrong about so much during this process, that it might be best to look at whatever I say and expect the opposite to happen.
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This is an interesting point of view that would require Cal’s yield to drop this year. I dont have any information to dispute your opinion so I am just thinking out loud here…given Cal’s reputation and perceived prestige I would imagine the yield would stay relatively consistent. In fact I think that with no SAT/ACT consideration some kids got accepted that otherwise would not have even applied so the yield could actually increase which would mean less kids are offered from waitlist. Anyway, not trying to be argumentative, just find this thought exercise interesting.
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Does the waitlist have an chronological order such as if one option early thy will be considered first? or it does not matter in the case where everyone’s essay will be read? Because I haven’t option yet, still editing my essay!