<p>On another thread, a poster said that some people consider Berkeley a safety school....is that true?</p>
<p>yes it is true.. several people at my school applied to berkeley as their safety and the only other schools they applied to were Ivy League</p>
<p>given that UC Berkeley had over 5000 applicants with perfect SAT scores, and close to 2/3 of the applicants with perfect SATs were rejected...hard to concieve anyone saying UC Berkeley is a "safety".</p>
<p>"given that UC Berkeley had over 5000 applicants with perfect SAT scores, and close to 2/3 of the applicants with perfect SATs were rejected...hard to concieve anyone saying UC Berkeley is a "safety"."</p>
<p>Source?</p>
<p>Berkeley was my top choice (out of state) and I'm glad I'm almost DONE here haha but in retrospect i should have applied to more schools including some Ivies. I just didn't think I had a chance at top Ivies. But for me it was #1, so not a safety. I'm sure there are people who think of it as a safety.</p>
<p>yes, there are most likely some people who consider berkeley a safety.
but there are probably many, many more who consider it a reach.</p>
<p>I don't see what's wrong with the idea that there might be people that consider Berkeley a safety. There are some pretty smart genius high school students out there, and these types of students can easily get into Berkeley and are more focused on Ivy League schools and what not.</p>
<p>I've said it before and I'll say it again: Berkeley is not a safety for anyone. It can be a safe match at best, and that's for the really awesome applicants who have pretty good shots at HYPS. Let's face it, Berkeley can be a real crapshoot, as demonstrated by this year's admissions. And the best an out-of-stater can get for Berkeley is a match.</p>
<p>Berkeley can be a safety school because if one has relatively high test scores and medicore extracurriculars, one will be admitted. Generally, public school admissions are more predictable than private school admissions. I'd say only the top 1% at an above average high school can consider Berkeley a safety, given that these applicants also have high test scores and some extracirricular involvement.</p>
<p>I'm thinking of Berkeley as a safety - then again my main shot is U Penn, but I'd be amazed - and pleased - to receive an acceptance letter from Berkeley.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"given that UC Berkeley had over 5000 applicants with perfect SAT scores, and close to 2/3 of the applicants with perfect SATs were rejected...hard to concieve anyone saying UC Berkeley is a "safety"."</p>
<p>Source?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I too would love to see the source for this.</p>
<p>"Berkeley can be a safety school because if one has relatively high test scores and medicore extracurriculars, one will be admitted."</p>
<p>Tell that to the California resident who had a good GPA (~3.8 UW), 35 on the ACT (corresponding to a 2340-2390 on the SAT), and mediocre ECs (model UN with awards, hospital volunteering, and tennis) and who was rejected from Berkeley and didn't get in even after an appeal.</p>
<p>Cal obviously stresses GPA, but ECs are important in order to distinguish among their applicants (some 47,000 this year). Further, it's apparent that Cal doesn't care so much about scores, since its score ranges are somewhat mediocre in comparison to its peers, while 99% of its students were in the top 10% of the class (something like 90% had over a 3.75).</p>
<p>So no, having great test scores and mediocre ECs doesn't make Berkeley a safety.</p>
<p>The acceptance rate for Cal is about the same as that for Penn -- it is not a safety school for anyone since they eliminated the procedure for accepting certain students based on "numbers" only. But a student applying to Letters and Sciences with an A average (unweighted) and SAT scores over 700 in each category can probably assume he/she will be admitted. California residents who apply to one UC and have top scores will probably be admitted to another UC even without applying (Riverside, for example), but it would be wise to pay the additional application fee and also apply for a truer "safety" -- like UCSB.</p>
<p>
[quote]
given that UC Berkeley had over 5000 applicants with perfect SAT scores, and close to 2/3 of the applicants with perfect SATs were rejected...hard to concieve anyone saying UC Berkeley is a "safety".
[/quote]
</p>
<p>There is no source because it is not true. Much less than 5000 people score perfect every year, and I doubt that all, even most, of the perfect scorers applied to Berkeley.</p>
<p>"On another thread, a poster said that some people consider Berkeley a safety school....is that true?"</p>
<p>Yes.</p>
<p>I can see why someone would consider Berkeley a safety, as in a "last resort," but not as in "there's a 90% chance I'll get in."</p>
<p>Considering berkeley as a safety depends on the caliber of the student. This is not feasible for the average high scoring high school student.</p>
<p>I'm sure that there are students that place 1st or 2nd in math/science/lit competitions nationwide that would definitely consider Berkeley as a safety. There are some high school students who are simply amazing. For the vast majority of students the answer to your question is obviously, no.</p>
<p>On one of my chances threads someone said Berkeley would be a safety for me, but I really don't buy it. I think there might be a select few who could consider it a safety, but, really, why risk it? Just apply to another UC that's easier to get into as well. $60 is definitely worth it for peace of mind. The person ranked number 3 in my class with around 2100 on the SAT and some decent ECs (artist, paintings displayed in major local galleries, cross country) was rejected, and I thought he'd be in for sure, while another guy ranked like 14th with 1800 SAT got in.</p>
<p>Berkeley is very safe. low crime, great campus security. Very safe.</p>
<p>^I can't tell if that's sarcasm or what.</p>