<p>I do know a couple of kids who got accepted into UCLA but not Berkeley last year… and yes, UCLA had the lowest admission rate among all UCs accordingly to LA Times.</p>
<p>Not necessarily. I got into both, but I know people who got into one but not the other.</p>
<p>You can’t apply for spring admission at Cal, they either give you spring admission, fall admission, or no admission (though apparently there is a wait list now).</p>
<p>About 2000 students a year get spring admission, a 1000 or so accept, and 750/+ of those actually begin in fall through UC Berkeley Extension. Cal gives out spring admissions to exploit a loophole in an agreement that Cal has with the city of Berkeley.</p>
<p>The city has a limit on the number of students Cal can have at any given time. There are generally a lot more people on campus in Fall then Spring because many people graduate in 7 or 9 semesters or go abroad in spring, thus there are plenty of open slots for admitting students for spring, but not fall.</p>
<p>In order to get past the agreement Cal has with the city, it admits some people for spring and many of those people get into a special program known as Fall Program for Freshman, which is controlled by the UC Berkeley Extension. FPF students get to live in dorms and have access to all UC services just like all other frosh, except they do not have classes on campus (FPF classes are three blocks south of campus near the Unit 2 dorms)</p>
<p>" ^ Then why do most people choose Cal and not UCLA when given the option? "</p>
<p>They don’t.</p>