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<p>Uh, I think the answer is quite obvious why: they don’t know if they will get into Berkeley EECS. Those students who you refer to who didn’t apply OOS are either extremely confident or are foolhardy, probably the latter. Somebody who applies to Berkeley EECS and doesn’t get in might still have gotten into, say, Cornell, whose engineering programs are pretty darn good, in fact, better than UCLA’s engineering programs which I would presume would be the backup option. But you would never even have the option of going to Cornell if you don’t even apply.</p>
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<p>I would further question what is meant by the word ‘prospective’ anyway. Let’s face it. Most 17-18 year olds don’t really know what they want to major in, and they certainly don’t know what they want to do for a career. Just because you’re a ‘prospective’ EECS student doesn’t mean that you’re actually going to major in EECS. Once you get to college, you may well find something else more interesting and decide to major in that. Most students at any school will shop around and change majors. </p>
<p>Heck, even if you do indeed major in EECS, that doesn’t mean that you’re actually going to work in EECS as a career. As a case in point, about 25% of EECS students at MIT end up taking jobs not in engineering, but in management consulting or investment banking. Another large chunk went to graduate school, and some of them will also end up in non-engineering jobs afterwards. For example, I know a guy who is finishing his PhD in EECS at MIT and will then take a job at McKinsey (the world’s top management consulting firm). Heck, your career can be even more eclectic than that. One of my former roommates majored in EECS at Cal and then later became a real estate salesman. </p>
<p>The point is, nobody actually knows for sure what they are going to end up doing with their lives. Just because you think you might want to major in something now doesn’t mean that you won’t want to change majors later, and even if you do major in that thing, that doesn’t mean that you will end up pursuing it as a career.</p>