How much does UCB take additional info into consideration+chances for a rec letter?

Colleges & Universities University of California - Berkeley
1

I submitted my UC app about an hour ago, and applied to the UC Berkeley College of Chemistry for a Chemistry major. Unfortunately, my grades are not up to par. I got straight A’s (in a-g) for freshman year, but I got 7 B’s and 5 A’s sophomore year, and 2 B’s (first semester only) my junior year (most rigorous course load for juniors). UC GPA is 3.59 UW/3.95 UC/4.14 fully weight. Highest single SAT is 2210 (680CR/800M/730W/10E), ACT is 33C (35E/35M/28R/32S/31W), 800 SAT 2 Chem, 770 Math 2 (ik, bad), 5s on Chem, APUSH, Chinese, and 4 on Lang (self study).

Of the 22 UC grades I have earned, 12 of them were honors/AP, the 10 rest were arts requirement and course requirements for sophomores. I had a personal circumstance that impacted my grades severely sophomore year, and I wrote a 100 word explanation about it in “Additional Info”. My sophomore grades are not a representation of who I am as a student in the slightest way. How will UCB take that into consideration? Also, given that I am a CA resident, will they grant me a rec letter?

2

@basedchem Your situation is probably the exact reason why they created the LOR. I’m pretty sure you’ll get a request for LOR. Don’t fret about it. The trend seems to indicate that the request goes out about 5-6 days after you submit your app.

3

@tigerbookmark Thank you for your response! I’m currently very worried because I know GPA is king at UCs, and the fact my UC GPA is lower than some people’s unweighted GPA is extremely embarrassing.

4

bump

5

@basedchem I am on the same boat. I got a “D” first semester (made it up though) I moved to a new school in AP World History. I explained my rough transition in the additional comments section. Current UC GPA: 3.92 Weighted normal gpa 4.31 unweighted gpa 3.65.