<p>ii just called berkeley, and they confirmed that the decisions will come out at 4 pm pacific time</p>
<p>Yes, it’s 4pm today. Good luck all!</p>
<p>^^Thanks for calling and letting us know what they said! Now I get to wait until 7…</p>
<p>I swear the page said 12PM in December.</p>
<p>^ Exactly. It did say 12PM. A lot of people saw that. I think on the other forum the thread with all the colleges’ decision time it still does say “noon”</p>
<p>apparently not though … :(</p>
<p>^ It’s 4 pm PST!</p>
<p>That’s “noon” in Honolulu, LOL. Not really as noon in HI is only 3pm in Berkeley. They must have meant noon in Aukland, NZ, which is indeed 4pm in Berkeley.</p>
<p>[UC</a> Berkeley’s ‘holistic’ application review sets the standard for system - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee](<a href=“http://www.sacbee.com/2011/03/24/3499621/uc-berkeleys-holistic-application.html]UC”>http://www.sacbee.com/2011/03/24/3499621/uc-berkeleys-holistic-application.html)</p>
<p>UC Berkeley’s ‘holistic’ application review sets the standard for system
<a href="mailto:lrosenhall@sacbee.com">lrosenhall@sacbee.com</a>
Published Thursday, Mar. 24, 2011</p>
<p>Thousands of students will log on to their computers at 4 p.m. today to find out if they got into UC Berkeley. Most will be disappointed – even many with straight A’s and enviable test scores.</p>
<p>Berkeley and the University of California system as a whole received a record number of freshmen applications this year. Last year, Berkeley rejected three-quarters of the students who applied. Those who were admitted had an average grade-point average of 4.19.</p>
<p>With so many high performers to choose from, how does Cal decide who gets accepted?</p>
<p>Very carefully. And with a lot of work.</p>
<p>Berkeley calls its admissions process “holistic review.” That means a person – not a computer – read each one of the 53,000 undergraduate applications that came in this year. And it means the university considers more than just grades and test scores when scoring applications.</p>
<p>Admissions officials look for evidence of leadership skills, dedication to community service, pursuit of special talents and how students have responded to the opportunities and hurdles they’ve faced. Other UC campuses look at those features, too, but many of them use computer analyses to admit some students, assigning points to different parts of the application.</p>
<p>Berkeley was the first to give each application a single score and make sure all applications were read by a person when it began holistic review 10 years ago. UCLA followed a few years later. Irvine and San Diego have phased it in over the last two years, and Davis is planning to use the holistic method next year.</p>
<p>Process hit as subjective</p>
<p>UC officials say holistic review is the best way to differentiate between applications when competition is fierce, as it’s long been at Berkeley. As more people apply to college and the state cuts funding to public universities, competition is getting stiffer at many UC campuses.</p>
<p>That’s why UC’s Board of Regents in January told all campuses to use the holistic admissions process in place at Berkeley, which has become a model not only in California but across the nation.</p>
<p>“(Berkeley) was one of the first institutions in the country to implement holistic review in a high volume environment,” said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers in Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>“Historically it’s been a feature of highly selective liberal arts colleges that can afford to pay that kind of attention to individual folders.”</p>
<p>Since Berkeley began holistic admissions, Nassirian said, the University of Washington, University of Wisconsin and Oregon State have followed suit.</p>
<p>Critics have said holistic review is too subjective and that UC’s use of it amounts to an attempt to skirt California’s ban on affirmative action in college admissions.</p>
<p>But a 2005 analysis by a Berkeley scholar found little support for the claim.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s director of undergraduate admissions said the university is looking for “diversity in its broadest sense.”</p>
<p>“Being an engine of social mobility, we want to have students that represent the broadest cross section of not just socioeconomic demographics, but also geographic demographics,” Walter Robinson said.</p>
<p>High school data included</p>
<p>Application readers do not see students’ race. But they do see lots of data Berkeley computes to put each application in a broader context.</p>
<p>First, application readers look at data about the applicant’s high school: How many students qualify for free lunch, are not native English speakers, complete college-prep courses and apply to UC.</p>
<p>On the next screen, the applicant’s grades and test scores are ranked against three groups: other students from their school who applied to Berkeley; the entire class of applicants to Berkeley; and other students from their school who applied to any UC.</p>
<p>“What we’re always asking readers to do is understand our pool (of applicants). And given the applicant student’s context, where does that applicant fall in our pool?” said Susan Pendo, Berkeley’s assistant director of undergraduate admissions.</p>
<p>Context is critical in holistic review. A student who takes three Advanced Placement courses, for example, would be seen as ambitious if his high school offers only three AP courses. But a student who takes three AP courses at a school that offers 20 might not be viewed as favorably.</p>
<p>“Lots of applicants to Berkeley have a 4.0,” Pendo said. “What we’re looking at is, what’s the strength of that curriculum? What’s available at that school? … Is it a 4.0 on the most rigorous program available?”</p>
<p>This way of reviewing applications is so much work that Berkeley hires 75 seasonal workers – at $19 an hour – to help read applications for two months a year. They include high school counselors, retired principals, and graduate students.</p>
<p>Seasonal application readers do not make final decisions about who gets in to Berkeley. They score applications, which are then ranked into bands. Most applications are reviewed by two different readers. If their scores are very different, the application is read a third time.</p>
<p>The ultimate decision is made by Berkeley’s full-time admissions staff. And even though students now learn their fate by logging on to a website, Berkeley still sends old-fashioned letters, too.</p>
<p>Robinson said that about 1,000 students a year challenge their rejections.</p>
<p>“It’s hard if you are the parent, not to mention the student, who has that super GPA, over-the-top test scores and you didn’t get an offer,” he said.</p>
<p>"Those are very difficult conversations to have because parents have been making plans for their children since the day they were born, and then someone like me sends a letter saying, ‘I’m sorry to inform you … .’ "</p>
<p>Editor’s note: This story has been changed from the print version to delete an erroneous reference to Berkeley being the most selective UC campus. Corrected on March 24, 2011</p>
<h2>© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.</h2>
<p>Interesting Editor’s note: “Editor’s note: This story has been changed from the print version to delete an erroneous reference to Berkeley being the most selective UC campus. Corrected on March 24, 2011”</p>
<p>@UCmouse:: nice article. Thanks for posting</p>
<p>So, it is better to attend bad school and do good in that school. No need to attend very competitive high school.</p>
<p>@ki89ol - my pleasure. And, not necessarily – take a look at this chart to view the number admitted to each UC (2008-2009) from the CA high schools to see how many were admitted (and to which campus) from what you may consider a bad school:</p>
<p>[Enrollee</a> counts by campus and by high school](<a href=“http://statfinder.ucop.edu/reports/schoolreports/summary_reports_excel.aspx?Report=CountCampusHS&Year=2008-09]Enrollee”>http://statfinder.ucop.edu/reports/schoolreports/summary_reports_excel.aspx?Report=CountCampusHS&Year=2008-09)</p>
<p>More UC data/charts @ [University</a> of California: StatFinder](<a href=“http://statfinder.ucop.edu/reports/schoolreports/summary_reports.aspx]University”>http://statfinder.ucop.edu/reports/schoolreports/summary_reports.aspx)</p>
<p>Berkeley website says the site is being updated now. Definitely soon, might even be a little before 4 pm. SB was apparently supposed to be 4 PM too, and it came out a little after 3 or something.</p>
<p>^SB came out at 2:30</p>
<p>Yep, if I remember correctly from last year, decision should be up in a half hour or so.</p>
<p>Looks like the data is being loaded right now :)</p>
<p>2:30? Oh. I didn’t apply, I just remember hearing back from my friends who did at that time lol. Anyway, should be soon! Good luck!</p>
<p>who thinks it’ll be up at 3:30?
It better be, since I have work! Darn work >:l
I’m already late…</p>
<p>I have work, too! Except for I’m not expecting much from Cal. Go Levi’s!!</p>
<p>Anytime now. its being uploaded aslfdgjalfgjlafkjglasdkjfhdfgsgdhfdg</p>
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