Class of 2013 admit rate?

khan
Thu, 14 May 2009 01:23:41 +0000

My two cents…

First off, regarding “selectivity,” specifically the SAT scores reported by US News and other ranking organizations for accepted Cal students - the SAT scores are not super-scored (summation of the best scores for each section, regardless of which sitting) like they are for the elite private schools. Albeit, it is the UC system that chooses not to superscore the SAT scores and therefore doesn’t report them. This therefore, makes the average SAT’s for accepted students appear to be lower than they really are compared to other universities. I don’t know for sure how much of a difference it would make, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the average SAT scores, if superscored, up 100+ from what’s currently reported.

Secondly, Berkeley doesn’t utilize waitlists like many of the elite privates. Waitlists are an easy way for a university to, on the surface, appear to have smaller acceptance rate and produce a bigger yield. If enough of the regular acceptees decide to attend the university, the university is able to maintain a high yield number and low acceptance rate. But that university has a “back-up” in case not enough regular acceptees enroll… they can start picking people off their waitlists to fill in the “empty spots.” This doesn’t eat into their acceptance % (as far as I know). So they basically have a free-pass or back-door that plays to their benefit and plays up the college rankings nonsense. Berkeley on the other hand accepts a higher percentage than it otherwise might because it utilizes no waitlist. Basically, it accepts the same amount of folks that could comprise a “regular acceptee” list and a “waitlisted” list. The logic being that amongst those accepted some will choose other universities, but enough people will enroll for their next year’s freshman class. Because there are lot of fluff or buffer acceptees, this leads to a higher reported acceptance rate and smaller yield numbers.

Thirdly, the ~21% acceptance rate that is normally reported is the fall acceptance rate. There is a fair amount of acceptees that are Spring admits that aren’t factored into that 21% number. That’s one of the reasons why people keep feeling like Berkeley accepts so many students, despite the reported 21% acceptance rate. Spring admissions contribute to the perception that Berkeley isn’t as selective as one might think it should be (as well as transfer student acceptance percentages from community colleges).

My opinon is that Berkeley should be more selective (accept less students), but not limit the definition of selectivity to just SAT scores or GPA. I am a proponent of superscoring the SAT scores and the use of a waitlist. Cal should also accept more out-of-state students to add a bit more geographical diversity as well.

Anyway, just taking a small step towards more selectivity could reap a lot of benefits for the university.