Lets hope so omg 
I heard that too but I think itâs only when yield is already low bc of students turning down their acceptances early, and I feel like thatâs gonna happen this year.
I heard this yrâs wl is gonna be hard af. Last yr many ppl took gap year so the yield rate was low. This yr nobody takes gap yr and the gap students are coming back so wl is basically a no.
It would seem like UC Berkeley would have known exactly how many people took a gap year, and would have factored that in to their offer of admissions.
Yet, the UCâs rarely offer deferrals so UCB would not have an exact number of gap year students. I predict the waitlist admits will be somewhere between 2019 and 2020 numbers but since they have not posted how many students were waitlisted this year, it is hard to predict. Again, I understand all students are holding out hope but all need to move on and get excited about their other offers. May 1 is not the far away.
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My school has offered to send a supporting letter about my interest in the college. Would that be advisable as a student on the waitlist? Thank you for all you answers btw 
This has been asked over and over again. Your waitlist statement is basically your Letter of Continued Interest. If UCB wanted an LOCI, they would have offered the option for the waitlist opt in, so you can send it but admissions will not review anything that they have not asked for originally.
Gumbymom - you seem to be very knowledgeable about this process. Have you worked on the inside at a UC admissions office? Would love to know what the source of your information is.
I donât understand. If they didnât allow anyone to have a Covid related Gap year, then it is a non-issue. However, if UCB did offer some students a Covid related Gap year, then they would know exactly how many students were allowed to have this option, and that would affect their offers of admission for this year.
Where would any uncertainty come from, so that they wouldnât have an exact number of Gap year students?
regardless of gap years, i think they need students to fill FPF and changemakers seats
I am just a parent/volunteer whom first found CC around 8 years ago when I was researching the UCâs for my older son. Over the years, I have contributed to the UC forums using the knowledge I have found from the many wonderful posters that helped me and also through my research.
I have never worked in admissions but the UCâs websites are a wealth of information if you know where to look. I was asked to become UC Forum Champion several years ago due to my frequent posts and I do love to pay it forward and hopefully help others through the admission process.
These last 2 admission cycles have been very challenging for the applicants, parents and myself with so many unknowns. I try to answer questions to the best of my knowledge but always welcome others to chime in with information I may have not found or missed.
Both my sonâs have now graduated from college and are out in the working world so I no longer have the personal perspective on the UC campuses but I do make an effort to find the information if possible.
I have been joined by @lkg4answers to help with the UC forum whom has students at the UCâs, so they can offer their personal perspective I am now lacking.
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True, If UCB did allow Deferrals last year, then yes they would have that number of students. However, I do not think that UCB nor the other UCâs could have foreseen the huge increase in overall applicants so saying the waitlist may be harder or easier for admission cannot be predicted.
I looked up the 2020 Counselor Conference notes and UCB did not state if they allowed deferrals nor how many.
I am just saying that if no deferrals were allowed, the Gap year students had to reapply which would have increased the applicant pool, along with going test blind, some applicants probably took advantage of the policy and threw their hat in the ring to see if they had a chance this year.
Does anyone have an example essay of a student admitted off the waitlist? Just wanted to make sure mine is okay
Any evidence of this? Did you talk to an admissions person?
I looked at past Waitlist threads. Based on what has happened in the past, I expect the first, and largest, wave of Waitlist offers to go out from UCB on either Friday 5/7 or Mon 5/10.
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yeah just past threads
Even after going through last year, I still donât really have a good grasp on what UCB looks for in a WL candidate. My sonâs grades went DOWN 1st semester of his Sr. year, and he got in. His essay was about 300 words. It pretty much reiterated that Cal was his #1 choice, and updated the school on what heâd been up to.
I donât think there is a formula.
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My daughter is a third year in the college of L&S at Cal. Several months ago we were invited to a zoom call with the Dean of her college. He stated that of approx 6000 incoming freshman in the fall 2020, 322 requested a deferral. Of those, 20 were granted (for medical reasons), 300 ultimately enrolled, and 2 decided not to enroll.
@CCayenne: Thank you for the information so the number of deferrals are not significant.
UCI is the only other UC campus where I could find deferrals stats. They had 36 deferral requests and granted 7.
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Hearing over in UCLA waitlist forum that engineering acceptances are trickling out, unlike L&S which are released in waves. Anyone know if thatâs true for Berkeley engineering? Has anyone been admitted yet?
I donât think any WL acceptances will be until after April 15 at the very earliest bc thatâs when the opt in is due, not sure when UCLAâs was due tho
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