<p>It’s a common misconception that it’s much easier for an in-state candidate to get accepted at UC Berkeley and UCLA than an OOS candidate.</p>
<p>I dont think I am the one making the misconception, but rather you are by assuming that all application pools are equal. The Cal OOS application pool is highly self-selective; the typical OOS applicant is much stronger than instate applicants which is why they share similar admission percents. Also consider that 90%+ of Cal students are instate and what that implies about application pools. </p>
<p>And I disagree with the statement “California residents who don’t meet the fairly high numerical standards to qualify for admission to the UCs simply don’t bother to apply.”
Its only a single check mark more to apply to one of the most prestigious universities in the world and many people are willing to throw away a mere 60$ for a crack at that. Teachers at my high school even told the students to ‘go for it’ because of that. I believe that is the reason that Cal DOES have a 20% admission rate. Compare it to 33% for Vanderbilt which is ranked about the same on USNWR. </p>
<p>Anyways, I merely call Cal “safe” because its much more stable for the top instate applicants, I am not trying to push the idea of it being a safety. And it would be totally different if she were applying into engineering.</p>
<p>*
LOL well, it’s not like I’m going to be “yeah, I lost tons of weight! Go slimfast!” on my application.*</p>
<p>Well I wrote about losing 35 lbs playing DDR on my Mudd application; youd be surprised what works for you ^_^. Afterall to lose the weight you need determination and persistence.</p>