So, I was recently accepted to Irvine’s CHP program for Political Science, which left me a little confused as to how my standing with Berkeley or LA was. Through my research, it seems like I have a chance, but I figured I would give it a shot and start one of these threads.
Unweighted GPA: ~3.6
UC GPA: 3.96
In-State
SAT: 2280 (2310 superscored)
SAT II: 780 World History, 760 Math II
APs:
12+ AP’s.
All A’s, 5.0 GPA Senior year, sent a supplemental “disability” form earlier in January for a disease I had during my sophomore year. Unrelated to my studies except a possible correlation to the decline in my grades that semester. Through that supplemental form, however, I was able to send my first semester senior grades along with a very good and comprehensive recommendation letter.
Taken pretty much all the AP’s offered at my school.
I feel like my Extra Curriculars were what got me into Irvine’s program and other similar ones. I’m not going to go into much detail, but they are rather unique and I feel like I did a good job in articulating my purpose and intent of each and every activity I did. They have to do with everything from government to aid in foreign countries to president of DECA. This is definitely the strongest point of my application; essays + EC’s.
So yeah! Let me know your feedback and if anyone was in a similar boat or know someone who was during their application process please let me know. Any help would be fantastic. Thanks!
@StevenToCollege yeah, i realize that. which is why i was kinda surprised i got CHP from irvine. i’m pretty confused as to what that means for the rest of the UC’s. I also got regents at Riverside, so i’m really in a weird position. going into the application process i wasn’t expecting anything from Berkeley but now i’m in a very grey area.
Well said. It’s all very unpredictable.
For example, my son received invitation for Berkeley and UCLA Regents.
But he only got UCI CHP.
Just don’t lose hope, and you will prevail.
I’m not sure how each school decides whom to invite. My son got invited to Berkeley and UCLA Regent’s and got regular admission to San Diego, Irvine and Davis.
Thanks for the info.
I understand that probably your son cannot compare.
But did he find Regents at Berkeley really makes that much of a difference?
In other words, is it really that big of a deal?
@echolocation yeah, it all seems pretty arbitrary to me as well.
does anyone have any personal anecdotes of people in a semi-similar position statistically as i am? again i’m lost as to what to expect and any kind of closure will help
My daughter last year was invited and awarded UCLA Regents but regular admit from UCB, UCI, UCD and UCSB. She got something from UCSD (forgot what it was).
I thought only engineering majors are harder to get into. If you apply as a MCB major aren’t you technically “undeclared” because you are entering the college of Letters and Science?
But did he find Regents at Berkeley really makes that much of a difference?
In other words, is it really that big of a deal?
@StevenToCollege My son only got INVITED to Berkeley Regent’s, but he didn’t receive it. He got Regent’s at UCLA. He still chose Berkeley. The biggest advantages he felt he was giving up were priority registration for classes and priority for housing. As long as you are willing to take unpopular discussion sections, he hasn’t had any problem getting into classes. He ended up getting the housing he wanted, but I think that was just luck. Next year he’s moving to an apartment with friends so housing priority wouldn’t matter anyway. There are other perks (the money would have been nice!), but I don’t think he’s missed out on a lot of opportunities by declining UCLA Regent’s.
Is it true that some campuses are more “holistic” than others in the way they stack applicants? If some are more stats-driven and some have an agenda that isn’t as clear, that would certainly account for the different results. I’ve heard that several of the UC campuses disfavor private school applicants and I’ve also heard that highly competitive public schools, especially those which practice grade deflation, tend not to fare as well with Regents invites and even admission to UCLA and Berkeley. I’m sure it’s also a matter of which major a student is pursuing and how impacted that major is.