Importance of Awards for OOS kids

Colleges & Universities University of California - Berkeley
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<p>How important are awards for an OOS applicant to UCB?</p>

<p>By looking at the application, it looks like UCB would place much more importance on the awards section than say… Stanford would, only because there is less that UCB has at hand to look at. The UCs have no recommendations or school reports, and they have a 1000 word limit on the essay, while many top schools request 2 or even 3 short essays in addition to the personal statement (and in addition to short answer question sets too).</p>

<p>For an OOS applicant, it looks like national awards are a near-must, but looking in the Official Chances thread, it seems that students who are brilliant yet lack prestigious awards still have good chances for a spot in the ~2300 spots available for OOSers.</p>

<p>I guess I’m asking this question because Berkeley OOS is a selective school with a public school application style. But, the question: How important are awards for an OOS applicant to Berkeley?</p>

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<p>I’m sure it’s helpful, but test scores (very high) and grades (perfect) are the key for OOS. The UC admission process, in the end, is mainly based on grades and test scores. They read the whole application now more than ever before, trying to create some level of diversity, but in the end it’s mostly a numbers game.</p>