Waitlisted, OOS. Already opted in last night. Had the essay ready to go just in case and sure enough it was necessary.
Waitlisted for Native American studies. Parents are both alums and my first name is literally Berkeley. They didn’t ask me for a letter of rec but I was wondering if it would hurt to send one anyways. Anyone know how to send in letters of rec?
@austingal what did you write about in your essay? Did you write about why you’d like to go to Berkeley?
Waitlisted for Neuroscience
ACT: 34
GPA: 3.95 UW & 4.34 W
5’s on AP CALC, AP USH, AP WORLD, AP MACRO & MICRO
Taking AP Stats, AP Comp Sci, AP American Gov and Multi Varliable Calculus
Extra Curriculars: Student Ambassador Co-Chair, Peer Tutor, Peer Counselor, Leader of 3D printed prosthetics team, part of Robotics, political writer for publications, played club volleyball for 4 years, nationally ranked libero, competitive beach volleyball player, volunteer at Girls. Inc
Great LOR too.
Anyone know if waitlist admits only get into berkeley spring semester?
Also^^ : accepted into WashU, Vanderbilt, USC, UCLA, UMich, Boston College
Denied: Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Brown, Cornell
35 ACT
4.09 UC GPA
Took 8 AP tests and I’m taking college classes at my community college right now
I think my grades last year really hurt my chances (6 AP classes RIP) so I’m thankful that I even got waitlisted! Hopefully they will reconsider once I upload my transcripts for this year.
Probably going to write my essay about how Berkeley is a good fit for me.
Do you guys know if its possible to send a letter of rec?
Guysssss I was so ready to not have to worry anymore now I have to worry about waitlist ughhhh
What percent is usually accepted off the wait list?
Also I noticed that on the waitlist form it requests final fall, winter, and spring grades. I only have my final grades from first semester because second semester is still in progress. Should I just fill out the fall one?
@emmarose98 it varies depending on year and college. For 2014-2015, the admit rate was approximately 20%. For 2015-2016, the admit rate was 54.8%. So, seeing as the gap between the two years is really big, it’s super hard to predict this year’s admit rate.
/secretly hopes for 100% admit rate/
Also, in regards to your second question, the FAQ states that you can submit your transcript OR you can self-report the grades; if I were you, I’d simply send them my transcript for first semester to avoid all the confusion (because that is, in fact, what I plan to be doing).
Berkeley requested LORs yet my 2 teachers had a tough time figuring out how to submit them because they are not familiar with the UC portal (OOS student). I met with my councilor and she called the Berkeley admissions office to see if they received my LORs. They confirmed that yes that had received them. Yesterday when I went to view my admissions decision I noticed there was a red X mark and said “awaiting” next to my 2 LORs. I’m not sure what to do about this because it was something out of my control that prevented Berkeley from seeing my requested LORs which I can only assume hurt my chances (and very frustrating!)
I’m going to call the admissions office and possibly write about this issue for the waitlist essay (seems like maybe a waste of the essay?). Any suggestions?
Well, I’d first just call them about it. Personally, I’d think that writing an essay about something else (rather than expressing your frustration with their system to the admissions office) would be better.
@emmarose98 That actually might be a decent topic to write about. Like, you know, it can’t be subject to comparison because if you write a bad or a “too ordinary” essay on perhaps why you want to go to Cal, its easy for admissions to compare with others and see whose essay is better. Get what I mean?
The Wait List FAQ says: (https://apply.berkeley.edu/apply/update?id=fc6fe77f-037b-4a82-a795-e8af4e37eaa3)
Share, in 500 words or less - anything we may not have already learned about you through your application.
Topics to use for the statement may include: Awards and recognition obtained since the point of application, Explanation of any course changes, challenges faced since the point of application. Please remember there is no right or wrong answer, simply the opportunity to share additional information.
^I guess I’ll just stick to what they say lol just describe some new activities I’m involved in and basically the challenges that I faced in my final senior year awaiting for admission decisions and stuff. What do yall think?
Also I did a little more research and I thought I’d just kinda throw these stats out there with the hopes that some of you guys could help make sense of the numbers:
As I said earlier, 2014-2015 had a 20% admit rate, whereas last year had a 54% admit rate. However, looking at the common data sets for both years, their admit/enrollment/waiting list numbers are all roughly similar:
F a l l 2 0 1 4:
http://opa.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/uc_berkeley_cds_2014-15_august.pdf
Admit: 11,816
Enrolled: 5,466
Number of people offered waitlist: 3,375
Number accepting a place on the waiting list: 2,143
Number of wait-listed students admitted: 437
Waitlist admit rate: 20.4%
F a l l 2 0 1 5:
http://opa.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/uc_berkeley_cds_2015-16_8-3-2016.pdf
Admit: 12,048
Enrolled: 5,550
Number of people offered waitlist: 3,760
Number accepting a place on the waiting list: 2,445
Number of wait-listed students admitted: 1,340
Waitlist admit rate: 54.8%
I just find this particularly strange because UCB has stated that “the percent of students admitted from the waitlist depends on the number of enrollment spaces we have available and the number of students who opt-in to the waitlist.”
(source: 2017 March Waitlist FAQ). If that is true, why is there such a huge gap between the two years?
Obviously, 2015 had higher numbers overall (by a few hundred, but nothing particularly significant in the face of thousands). The only big difference is the number of waitlist students admitted; almost three times the number were admitted in 2015 than in 2014.
Ideas, anyone? The only reason I can think of is that back in Fall 2013 (2013-2014) they over-enrolled, so there was not much space as they needed keep their Fall 2014 class smaller. Unfortunately, I cannot find the common data sets for Fall 2013 to confirm this (and a part of me doesn’t, because the fact that so many waitlisters were admitted last year could mean this year’s rate would be lower, ugh).
@guavayogurt Maybe it is because they realized that those who enrolled in 2014 off of the waitlist was a low number. Many people who are waitlisted and still opt in may have SIR’d somewhere else and a majority of them may have declined Berkeley’s offer.
Waitlist chemistry major in L&S, in-state. At least the Berkeley waitlist lets a larger percentage in! Anyone know anything about FRF program? It was mentioned a lot in the class of 2020 waitlist thread
That’s actually a really good theory @ncc1738 , now that I actually think about it.
The reason why it was really hard for me to find Fall 2013 datasets is because, starting in Fall 2014, UCB began to expand their waitlist dramatically. Before then, there would only be a few hundred people, but afterwards, it ballooned to thousands.
So, 2014 was probably more or less of a trial year, hence the low number.
Last year, as you said, they probably realized that they accepted to few people from the waitlist (and maybe more waitlisters who were admitted ended up declining the offer than they expected), so they increased the number dramatically.
TL;DR I suppose it’s not entirely wishful thinking to expect an admit rate closer to the Fall 2015’s 54% (it may not be as high, but it’s most likely not as low as 20%).
Waitlisted with major in the Social Sciences. OOS student (FL), 4.6 WGPA, 4.0 UWGPA, 20/443 students, 1400 new SAT, good ECs and extracurriculars, and submitted two LORs.
Sorry if this was already asked, but when do they typically respond about waitlist decisions? And how do they select people off of the waitlist? Is it kind of random, or do they prioritize certain applicants?
@charcoalatey2021 they re-review waitlist applicant’s original application as well as the optional personal statement and grade submissions
YEA, @spicysausage that is a good question. Does anyone know if its possible to send a letter of rec? I was thinking bout the prompt since they never gave us a prompt. Maybe how Berkeley is a good fit for me is a good way to start. We already stated enough on those 4 essays we wrote 
(and the additional comment)… Does anyone knows if this is a first time, first serve thing? Because I don’t want to b.s. it, I want to take my time to do the essay… :l