Lets all just stay positive…how wonderful that we are a part of this conversation. And as the senior member here, I would like to advise that each and everyone of you should select a school and stick with it !! Go for your degree and go for what excites you. I signed up for CC because once accepted to UCSC and U C Davis I allowed myself to feel Cal may be a possibility. My heart is racing and I’m kind of a basket case. I dropped out of college 30 years ago.
Re-reading my application and PS relieves my anxiety and boosts my confidence.
Hi guys… two more days to go and I’m so desperate to get in… chance me please?
I’m a California community college student who got rejected from UCSB and UCLA last week and I am still devastated. I thought the rejections from both campuses somehow or pretty much serve as a strong indicator of what’s coming from Berkeley… Anyway, Cal has always been my dream school and I really want to be prepared before looking at the result although I don’t really have any hope of getting in; maybe like a 0.1% chance I’m expecting.
Long story short, so here it goes:
international student, came here 2 years ago
GPA: 3.68 (I know it’s super low… I accidentally got a C in Physics and it pulled down my GPA from 3.81 to 3.68)
major GPA: 3.72 (if that matters…)
Major: computer science (L&S, super competitive)
essays: 8.5/10?
activities(CC): computer science club officer; math club officer; tutoring as far as I remember
volunteers: not that many…just save the bay
activities(high school): science club officer (lab assistant but better)
drama club officer (scriptwriter, director, technician)
volunteer: fundraising for the handicapped; free tutoring if that counts haha
70% of my personal statement is about how much I love computer science and what I’ve done so far including helping dad collect circuit boards from garbage cans to build a computer when I was little; started programming in elementary school (wrote some game similar to super mario and a shooting game in high school; used 3DS max for graphics, etc); joined a light rail transit system (something like a subway but not underground) project in my city and got recognized for my performance and received an award (also in high school; btw it’s still in construction lol)
when I graduated from high school I got into the best law school in my city under the pressure from family expectation but eventually gave it up for computer science (I followed my heart!
)
30% about my personality and life experience
okay I know it’s not that impressive compared to the rest of the applicants 
I thought my PS was fine until some people told me Cal loves sad stories but I’d already submitted the application so… but I could’ve totally topped a bunch of applicants in terms of life struggles cause I come from an abusive family (parents fought a lot when they divorced. I got hit a lot for no reason. Punches on head and body… would bleed sometimes but no one cared…I was in elementary. Dad wouldn’t take my custody so my mom did. He took my bro’s and sis’s and at that time I felt abandoned. Mom also suffered from depression so she used to hit me a lot too.) Anyway, I didn’t include any of those in my PS cause I wanted the officers to be happy when reading my experience. My PS is generally very bright and positive.
well it’s probably a big mistake not including that…
Oh, I also did the interview and I’d rate it a 8.5/10 for English proficiency but a 7/10 for content.
somehow I think I got in Davis just because I tagged:(
I do know someone with a lower GPA and less impressive PS got into UCSB tho (same major). Any idea why?
Thank you for reading this guys and if possible please give me some insight (feel free to be honest with me, I’m prepared!)
Is it even possible to call admissions & get your decision early?
Someone just said that they did and found out about their admission decisions? Super confused
At this point you’d have to call tomorrow, which means you could just wait 24 more hours…
There’s no way that’s true. Can you imagine if it were? The information would spread like wildfire and the poor admissions people at Cal would be fielding calls from anxious students all day long.
One has to ask themself, why would an admissions office burden themselves in such a way when decisions will be available via MAP very shortly? The answer is they wouldn’t.
Does anyone know exactly how admissions review our apps? Do they really just read it twice and vote for a yes or a no?
Hello all!
I’m a prospective transfer for Fall 2017, but I’ve been following this thread casually since the beginning just because it’s nice reading how amazing and different everyone is. Thank you for being super inspiring and best wishes for the results on Friday everyone!
I had some burning questions before the admissions go out, if people don’t mind answering:
Were there just the normal two personal statement prompts for the application for this year? I checked the UC website and it appears future applicants also have to answer additional personal insight questions (so one required question, and 3 out of the 7 other questions they list). Do you think this would be more advantageous or not to just answering two prompts as I’ve heard it was in the past?
And finally, what drives you all to be so studious and passionate about what you do? I’m always interested about learning about other people which is why this thread has been keeping me company through these past months even though I haven’t applied yet. I always see stats from people and little snippets of what their personal statements are about, but I’d like to know who the people behind these numbers are.
Thanks!
“All applications are read in their entirety by professionally trained readers. That means, we review each application in its entirety, word by word, page by page. Many applications are read two or even three times.”
In the faq of last year’s rejection letter, there was an answer to the transfer selection process…I should have shared here.
It said 30 professional trained readers review your application twice or 3 times at most. It kept stressing that main criteria is grades and preparation.
I can remember the last two sentences were like this:
“Demonstrated interests in a major and personal qualities such as, leadership,brah,brah,brah,are considered. However, the primary criteria in transfer admission is still UC-transferable GPA and academic preparation.”
@Hiroaki0422
so basically I’m screwed
DId your personal statements answer the questions? Did you provide reason for wanting ti pursue your major efficiently enough? Also, UC’s are not looking for sob stories, those types of stories generally do not answer the questions that the prompts ask you to write about. You could have added your sob story to the additional comments section, however.
Either way, you should be grateful for your acceptance to UC Davis, it is a really good school!
- They changed things around for your cycle. I think the personal insight questions add more depth to the personal statement. This way, you are able to pick three prompts that appeal best to you, instead of being forced to respond to a prompt required. The prompts you choose will give more depth than the traditional two-prompt personal statement that previous applicants had. Also, they’re all shorter, which is a huge plus. More writing is required, but each individual prompt has a shorter maximum.
I like the new system more than the old PS, and I wish they had the personal insight questions for our cycle.
And finally, what drives you all to be so studious and passionate about what you do? I’m always interested about learning about other people which is why this thread has been keeping me company through these past months even though I haven’t applied yet. I always see stats from people and little snippets of what their personal statements are about, but I’d like to know who the people behind these numbers are.
- Deep interest in my subject(s), a desire to work to the greatest extent of my ability (which stemmed from caring minimally about academics in high school - my lowest GPA was a 0.73 due to certain extraneous circumstances, and I graduated with a 2.9, so I knew I would not have been admitted to any schools I was interested in, yada yada). So my motivation stemmed primarily from my own mistakes in the past. Also, making my loved ones (and myself) proud is a large contributing factor, but perhaps not as much as the first two, as most of my motivation is internal.
I find my subject(s) fascinating, and that undeniably makes me more studious. I’m majoring in Philosophy, and hope to minor in Russian Literature if I attend Cal. In high school, I found the vast majority of my classes to be incredibly dull. Now I’ll be finished with general education classes, so I can focus pretty much entirely on classes in my major/minor.
@goldencub LOL gotcha. makes sense 
and THANKS HAHA dogeeeee
Let me know if you need help with reading Russian literature in original language
This is the only UC I applied too, holding my breath until Friday
Yeah, a friend of mine got into UCB. She claimed that she met the admission officers during the reception and that each personal statement gets read at least 4 times by different officers. That’s what I heard. At this time, I believe our destiny has been set. And so, I wish everyone the best.
@UCLAFFF
first of all thanks for replying. Yes I think so. My reason is I really love coding nothing special lol. I guess it’s a good enough reason at least to me. But I don’t think PS even matters that much for my major. I personally don’t like playing sympathy cards so I didn’t mention it anywhere. Davis is definitely a good school I was just wondering if I would still get in if I didn’t tag lol
Haas hired a bunch of new readers (the job ad was still up in December), so who knows how that may have impacted their admissions cycle this year.
The day before.