<p>Eh, now I’m wondering how I got into Berkeley when my GPA was lower and my ECs were minimal. </p>
<p>I did apply to a major in their Arts & Humanities division, which is a lot easier to get into, but still…I feel I don’t deserve to have gotten in to Berkeley lol</p>
<p>@cayton Now you’re just rubbing it in… (jk, Congratulations!)</p>
<p>And to your point on applying to a major in Arts and Humanities. I applied to that same general field and did not get in… so your theory didn’t work out well for me.</p>
<p>UCB has 42% acceptance rate for L&S. It also depends on the course rigor, on the internet, we don’t know if 4.0 is from taking 12-13 units or from taking 20-21 units, I think it makes a difference.</p>
<p>Good point @drGoogle.</p>
<p>So @pragmatic23, if you’re not white and you’re not under-represented, you’re Asian.
Am I psychic, or what? 
</p>
<p>@pragmatic23 </p>
<p>Sorry, lol</p>
<p>But history is in the social sciences division, which is much harder to get accepted to. Philosophy is in the Arts & Humanities, so…</p>
<p>@lindyk8 Looks like I’ve been outed.</p>
<p>@cayton Ah, I guess you’re correct. </p>
<p>@Cayton </p>
<p>It must have been your stellar personal statements </p>
<p>@ocnative </p>
<p>All I wrote about was my intense love of learning and I tied it into why I study philosophy because of that. Maybe they liked that personal statement that much. :O</p>
<p>Also, @bomerr thinks I got in because I’m a minority; he implied it in a PM he sent to me, lol</p>
<p>That hurts, man. :P</p>
<p>I regret not applying to UCB, I thought my GPA was too low. I had a 3.45. </p>
<p>@Cayton Do you know what ethnicity bomerr is?</p>
<p>@CollegeDropout1
Ya I said that, I thought it would be kinda rude to say it on the forum tho.</p>
<p>white. </p>
<p>@collegedropout1 my GPA is low for Berkeley and I have a 3.8 haha… </p>
<p>@JewBacca What’s your major again? Mine is low as well: 3.73 for Psychology.</p>
<p>@2016Candles I’m sorry for being a total ■■■■■ (I’m not being sarcastic; when you first replied in my other thread telling me that I didn’t get Cal Grant probably because my GPA was too low and other things, even if I already posted my GPA in there, it made me think negatively of you. And when I saw your name in here I think I might’ve snapped. I thought, why is this person allowed to give advices in here.). I was dropping my own stats to boost my cred in the debate. I am very particular about maintaining a 4.0 GPA because it seems to me that people are underestimating how nontrivial it is to maintain that, especially with the pressure involved. For example, this person with a 3.98 did not get in: <a href=“3.98 GPA CC Student Not Accepted To UC Berkeley or UCLA - UC Transfers - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1498334-3-98-gpa-cc-student-not-accepted-to-uc-berkeley-or-ucla-p1.html</a> and it was inexplicable. Personally, this one case made me feel that I should never get one B or I might end up like him. The pressure kills. I really am sorry for the hostility.</p>
<p>@GA2012MOM I consider myself a romantic realist. This is why I posted counterexamples when people kept shoving their “common sense” assumptions. Also, together with @lindyk8, I just gave you a link to show that the “2 for 1” study habit is an established strategy–not mandatory, but a good rule of thumb. I am surprised that you find spending 2 hours per unit as not “studying smart.” In a 5-unit calculus class with tons of homework, the problem sets take 5 hours to complete, the assigned subchapters take 1-5 hours to read, and I spend around 24 hours to study for an exam. For physics, it takes much more than that. And just writing a non-BS essay (they say knowing how to BS is a skill, but I don’t buy that) with 5 external reference books can take more time than that. Add to that the extra workload of 2 lab classes per semester, which is an additional 8 hours per week. And yes, I agree that overbooking myself may not have been a good idea, but 20 units per sem is barely enough to complete IGETC in 2 years together with CS prereqs and the 3 physics series. As I said,to make this thread more useful for future and current applicants, please suggest ECs and post their estimated workload. I agree that in the OP’s situation, he may not have had an excuse, but we still don’t know his workload so it is too hasty to play the “no excuse” card (although as I explained, there is a valid excuse, and as other admitted Cal students with no ECs demonstrated, the application readers listen to those valid reasons as long as you write them down).</p>
<p>@DrGoogle As I cited earlier using UCLA stats, having a 4.0 GPA for history with an average applicant GPA of 3.4 and admitted GPA of 3.7, having a 4.0 may offset the disadvantage of having no ECs, and people with no ECs getting admitted to Cal in collegeconfidential (I posted those too) also make the “get an EC, there is no excuse” argument weaker in the context that thinking about ECs can stress you out and affect your GPA (as what the OP initially worried about). In the confessions of an application reader in here: <a href=“Lifting the Veil on the Holistic Process at the University of California, Berkeley - The New York Times”>Lifting the Veil on the Holistic Process at the University of California, Berkeley - The New York Times; they do take a whole point out of five for not having “more extracurricular activities and engineering awards.” However, a URM with no relevant ECs and much lower grades and SAT scores was only deducted 1.5 points total. This holistic process, as explained in the article, deals more with a “perceived” level of privilege above the hard stats and ECs.</p>
<p>@pragmatic23 To me, your biggest mistake was not appealing the decision. There must be something else that held you back other than fear of a second rejection? Because why else would you post this thread, asking for a justification, implying that you knew you had a chance but at the same time accepting that you did not deserve to be in Cal? Do you think that staying an extra year solely for ECs would get you accepted next year?</p>
<p>@Cayton I never read your personal statement, but whatever you put in there must’ve reflected who you are as a person (I mean it IS a personal statement, but so many applicants miss that glaring point), and I trust the readers’ judgment on your admission. I believe you deserve it! But it seems that you CHOSE not to go to Cal anyway so d:</p>
<p>@JewBacca I heard the average GPA for CAL was 3.6. Your GPA seemed very competitive, especially for any major outside of the CoE.</p>
<p>@sarahchun - You kinda suck at apologies ( if that’s what that was). I’m really over this conversation. </p>
<p>Wow, Why is everyone being so hostile towards each other? </p>
<p>@Cayton </p>
<p>wow seems like you and bomerr are never on good terms. </p>
<p>@CollegeDropout1 </p>
<p>Actually, the average admitted GPA for Cal this year (for transfers) was 3.77 </p>
<p>@ocnative What is your source? </p>