3.96, rejected by Berkeley and waitlisted by UCLA

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

Berkeley released their admission yesterday and I’m still in shock: I can’t believe a 3.96 GPA couldn’t get me anywhere. I agree that my major was super competitive, but with a 3.96, I just didn’t anticipate it would happen to me.

My stats:

International student
GPA: 3.98 at the time I submitted my app,. 3.96 at the time I updated
Major: Econ at Berkeley, Biz Econ at UCLA
Prerequisites: Finished
Igetc: Done
Extracurricular activities: Working 19 hours a week as an accounting assistant, PTK
Personal statement: had my counselor and a friend proofread it, they said it’s alright. However, when I copied and pasted the statement, somehow I accidentally left out one word on my part 2, it’s “looking” in “looking for”.

Could I possibly be rejected just because of that one word? Have the schools ever rejected anyone just because of their personal statement? Or is it because of my lack of extracurricular activities? Or my grade trend? Because they stated i was rejected under holistic reviews, I started to take it very personally and wonder what’s wrong with me as a human.

I’ve opted in the waitlist at UCLA, though it’s just a slim chance. For Berkeley, should I appeal? It was literally the love of my life, I even studied in advance materials for the stat course, and started to research about apartments, and now everything has just been broken in pieces…

2

I doubt that a mistake in your essay is the reason for your rejection.

From you post, I noticed a few things. First, that you applied to two very, very, VERY competitive majors. A 3.96 GPA for those isn’t so stellar, its what is expected. Second, your ECs seemed average. Just having those two compared to others with many more ECs would put you at a disadvantage. Third, you didn’t specify if you are transferring from a CC or another university. If it was another university, that also put you at a disadvantage.

You are welcome to appeal, but please know that it is unlikely.

3

This year admission is tough. Don’t take it personally.

4

I applied to transfer from a CA community college.

5

may as well appeal. to be clear when those people said your personal statement was “alright” they probably meant it was worthless and thought you’d take a polite hint that they were zero percent impressed.

6

Okay, so if I were you, I’d take fluff classes this year and apply again with a focus on ECs. Volunteer, join clubs, tutor, anything.

Also look into the TAP programs, like UCLA’s: https://www.admission.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/ADM_CCO/tap.htm

7

Is there anyway I can find out for sure why I have been rejected / waitlisted so I can decide to go on with appealing or not? Because I wasn’t be accepted by either school, I’m sure there’s something universal. If it’s because of the essay/extracurricular activities, I’m gonna go on with my life and attend another school because one additional year for a brand name is not worth it in my opinion.

8

TAP for Berkeley, is what I am assuming you meant? Yes, but it is not quite as clear cut as the UCLA program:
http://my.berkeley.edu/site/Clubs?club_id=2200&sid=16701&pg=news

9
  1. The state of California has an obligation to educate it's tax-paying residents first and foremost. The state has been in a storm of criticism, by its residents, for not admitting enough local students. So as an international student, this was not to your advantage. Strike one, but they would have liked the $55K you would have paid per year.
  2. You major for a super competitive discipline? Strike two. There are only so many seats for classes and soooo many applicants locally, and world wide, with 4.0 and above. You were competing with 10's of thousands of students for a rare spot.
  3. You'll get credit for working as your EC.

Re the essay: Nothing will change because you lacked a verb. They look at the content and the story, not so much at the mechanics of one word. If the gist of the essay was why you wanted to go there instead of a unique talent or experience, then that’s a big no-no.

  1. You shouldn't have assumed that you were a shoo-in, since that attitude may have reflected in your essay:

“I just didn’t think it would happen to me.” Really?

You didn’t even think that you could possibly be rejected? Why not? Thousands of students get rejected from that particular school. It’s a reach school.

“Love of your life”??? A school can’t be the “love of your life”. Too weird, did you actually say this in your essay? Strike three.

Additionally, studying, in advance, for a Berkeley stat course, gives me a hint that you may have been a little too over-confident. They don’t like that.

Also, as an international student, you would be paying full fees; they don’t like to reject full-pay students so I would say it is the major that you selected, that was the cause of your rejection, not enough spaces.

Appeals only work if there was a technical error.

No one is less than human if rejected from a college. It’s not an all or none thing. You learn from this experience, and move on.

10

Actually, if OP was a CC student they are considered a CC student for admissions, not international. You are right, they are considered international for purposes of tuition however.

11

@kvn394 tough break. what do you plan to appeal about? there has to be a technical error made or you need to bring something new to the table that wasn’t mentioned in your original application. ucb tends to look for more ECs i hear, at least you got waitlisted for ucla. you’ve gotten some good advice here, you could spend another year trying to boost up your EC and work on your personal statement

12

also, if you’ve spent any time on this forum you’d know lots of people with your gpa have been in similar situations. even with a 4.0 there’s no guarantee.