<p>How does UC Berkeley consider an applicant’s statistics in relation to the school she attends? Is it done in total, looking at all applicants from a high school to UC Berkeley? Or is done by college applied to at UC Berkeley (separating applicants by L&S, CoE, CoC, etc.)?</p>
<p>Also, how does UC Berkeley decide how many applicants from a given school should be accepted?</p>
<p>The University of California has two paths for applicants to qualify, these are the same for the entire system. </p>
<p>The Statewide Path means you have to be in the top 9% of all California students by GPA and SAT/ACT. Here is the website with a calculator [University</a> of California - Statewide path](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/index.html]University”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/index.html) </p>
<p>The Local Path means that you have to be in the top 9% of your high school by GPA. The high school has to actively participate in the program though, not every one does. Ask your school office. Here is the website: [University</a> of California - Local path](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/local-path/index.html]University”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/local-path/index.html)</p>
<p>I don’t know if this is the same for all high schools, but I got a letter from my high school that I qualify and that they urge me to apply to the UC system. </p>
<p>The thing is, that it only gets you admission into the UC System, and not a specific campus. From anecdotes that I’ve heard, most of the weaker applicants who are eligible are usually put somewhere like UC Merced or UC Riverside. Admission is in no way guaranteed to UC Berkeley, and I believe that it is impossible to get in through just being eligible. After you hear back from all the UCs you applied to, and if none of them admitted you, they’ll place you in one. </p>
<p>UC Berkeley has a holistic process so I seriously doubt they have quotas for different high schools. They take the best applicants regardless of the school. My own high school (senior class of about 500) has varied from 0 admits to over 15 in one year.</p>
<p>In regards to the major, each major has slightly different admissions quotas for overall applicants. Some are impacted, which means that they hard to get into and capped. On the application UC Berkeley does not let you choose a back up major (unlike all of the other UCs). I know that CoE is a lot more selective than L&S for example, and that Economics is impacted within L&S.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply.</p>
<p>I know that Economics is an impacted major within L&S, but does that change the admitted percentage for applicants that list Economics as their intended major? Supposedly everyone applies to L&S undeclared even if a major is listed, right?</p>
<p>I have never seen an official response or stats from Cal, but from anecdotes I have heard that applying to an impacted major may change your chances. Even though you are undeclared, you are still marked for the major. It seems odd that Cal does not offer a back-up major on the UC application when all of the other schools do.</p>
<p>According to the Hout report, L&S freshman applicants are considered as one pool, while Engineering applicants are admitted by major.</p>
<p>Since admission into impacted or capped majors in L&S is determined at the time you declare a major, there is no need to admit freshmen by major into L&S, since all L&S freshmen enter undeclared. L&S students must complete the prerequisite courses for their majors before declaring (or applying to declare) their majors.</p>
<p>Let me add a small but I think important point: UC ELC is not looking to see if you are in the top 9% of your high school, they are looking to see if you are in the top 9% of students from your high school that apply to the UC system.</p>
<p>So any students from your HS that don’t apply to the UC system are not included in the UC calculation. It would be very possible to be ranked say top 12% of your HS and still make it in to the ELC top 9% because some perhaps didn’t apply to UC schools.</p>
<p>ELC is top 9% of each high school, as described here:
[Eligibility</a> in the Local Context (ELC) Program | UCOP](<a href=“http://www.ucop.edu/student-affairs/programs-and-initiatives/undergraduate-admissions/elc/]Eligibility”>http://www.ucop.edu/student-affairs/programs-and-initiatives/undergraduate-admissions/elc/)
[University</a> of California - Eligibility in the Local Context](<a href=“University of California Counselors”>University of California Counselors)</p>
<p>Note, however, that the top 9% for ELC is based on a benchmark UC admissions GPA calculated from previous classes at the high school; it is not from your current class rank as determined by your high school.</p>